Technology Simplified for Small and Medium Businesses
TechWise Today Digital Magazine | November 2018
News | Views | Training | Trends | Success Stories
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In This Issue
Country Report on Russia
Finance India-Russia investment partnership
Russia’s initiatives for SMBs
Using crowdfunding to raise capital
Invest India and WhatsApp partnership
Trends
Understanding Industry 4.0
Digital Marketing
Digital skills for workers
The art of email marketing
Telecom policy for SMBs
How digital agencies cheat you
Cost-effective ad options
Digital Award
Digital marketing services Digital Award for European scaleups
Events
Social Media
India Mobile Congress Slush in Helsinki
How to manage social media
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India-Russia MoU Signed to Help Small and Medium Enterprises To increase the cooperation in the field of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) between India and Russia, the National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC) signed an MoU in October with RSMB (Russian Small & Medium Business) Corporation. The MoU was signed during the visit of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to India. Under the MoU, NSIC and RSMB Russia will cooperate and share experiences in enhancing the competitiveness of MSMEs of both the countries and also create linkages among them.
Photo: Ministry of MSME Government of India
Earlier, India’s Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, had announced the setting up of a fast track, single-window mechanism for Russian companies to
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be helmed by Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The Minister was addressing the India–Russia Business Summit organized by DIPP, Invest India, and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in New Delhi. The Minister stated that this mechanism would be in addition to the Russia Desk that had been set up earlier to promote Russian investment in India.
Digital Startup Uses Crowdfunding Platform to Raise $100,000 Developed by Mui Lab – which is located in the Japanese city of Kyoto - Mui is an interactive wood panel that is activated by swiping your finger across its surface. Using the digital display that appears on the wood surface, you can talk, send and receive messages, and check the news and weather. According to the company, you can control connected devices in your home, office or public spaces, like lighting, thermostats, and so on. When you are done, the panel goes back to sleep mode and looks just like a piece of beautifully sanded wood again. Mui Lab says this natural alternative interface connects to the internet, controls smart home devices, and is a new platform for developers. In accordance with calm design principles, Mui aims to minimize the “noise” of technology and create a calm and peaceful environment for the users. Meanwhile, Mui Lab has launched a fund-raising campaign on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter to raise US$100,000. Photo: Mui Lab
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PM Modi Explains the Relevance of Industry 4.0 for Startups in India The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, attended, and delivered an address at the event to mark the launch of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Narendra Modi at an event to mark the launch of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in New Delhi on October 11, 2018. Photo: PIB
He said the components of “Industry 4.0” actually have the ability to transform the present and future of human life. He said the launch of this Centre, the fourth in the world after San Francisco, Tokyo, and Beijing, opens the door to immense possibilities in the future. Modi expressed confidence that India would be able to take advantage of the fourth Industrial Revolution, adding that government initiatives including Skill India Mission and Start Up India are preparing the youth for new and emerging technologies.
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Modi said emerging fields, including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Blockchain, and Big Data, can take India to new heights of development, and improve the quality of life of its citizens. He said that for India, this is not just an industrial transformation, but a social transformation. He said Industry 4.0 has the strength to drive irreversible positive change in India. He added that it will help bring the required speed and scale to work being done in India. The Prime Minister mentioned how the Digital India movement has brought data to villages of India.
SocialChimp to Help Small Businesses Manage Social Media SocialChimp is a self-service platform that aims to empower small business owners with the ability to enhance and expand their social media presence, without hiring an agency. The platform allows users to post new content automatically to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, customize the posting schedule, and an option to pay for social media advertising. SocialChimp positions itself as one's new social media manager. Upon sign-up, users gain access to an automated solution for managing and growing their Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn business profiles. "We know that working professionals want to spend their time doing what they do best and not have to worry about finding relevant, engaging content to post to their followers," says Matt Arceneaux, CEO of SocialChimp. "Our business is to engage users on social media for our customers. Plain and simple." SocialChimp is a privately held social media technology company headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee.
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For Your Information
Industry 4.0
In the current phase of industrial automation, many leading companies of the world are using advanced computing models to computerize their manufacturing processes. The total automation of the industrial systems is supposed to herald the fourth industrial revolution, referred to as "Industry 4.0" or I4.0, or simply I4. In the Industry 4.0 phase, the traditional factories will operate as smart factories and use contemporary technologies such as the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Cognitive Computing. The smart factories aim to reduce their dependence on human workforce.
10 European Deep Tech Scaleups Selected for Digital Award EIT Digital has selected Europe's 10 best deep technology companies in the fifth edition of the EIT Digital Challenge during a final pitch event in Brussels. The winners will receive comprehensive support to accelerate their international growth. The EIT Digital Challenge sought for the best scaleups - fast growing startups ready to scale their operations - in five deep technology areas: Digital Industry, Digital Wellbeing, Digital Cities, Digital Finance, and Digital Infrastructure. Two hundred companies from 24 EU countries had applied, of which 25 were invited to prove themselves in front of international expert juries during the final event in Brussels. The 10 awarded companies will receive a full year of dedicated growth support from the EIT Digital Accelerator, worth €50,000. Additionally, the first place of each category will also receive a cash prize of €50,000. The 10 best European deep tech scaleups are:
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Digital Industry Enerbrain: Turning wasteful buildings into smarter, healthier and more sustainable ones with an IoT energy. Cargonexx: Intelligent transport network for long-distance truck transports in Europe. Digital Wellbeing Active Cues: Serious games that stimulate physical and mental activity for people with cognitive challenges. Medicus AI: AI-based platform that converts health data into an interactive experience.
EIT Digital Challenge 2018 Winners. Photo: EIT Digital
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Digital Cities Toposens: Robust, ultra-low power and low-cost 3D ultrasound and radar sensors for smart buildings and autonomous vehicles. Understand.ai: Training and validation data to make autonomous driving safe and reliable. Digital Finance Leveris: Modular, non-legacy banking-as-a-platform (BaaP) solution architected to address the challenges facing banks today. Kasko: End-to-end insurance platform allowing insurers to design, distribute and run digital products. Digital Infrastructure Baffin Bay Networks: Subscription-based cyber security service in the cloud. EasyBroadcast: Solving the cost and quality challenges of broadcasters and OTT players streaming video and audio content. "Deep tech entrepreneurs have a strong differentiating technology base that can be used as a barrier to entry," says Chahab Nastar, Chief Innovation Officer at EIT Digital. "For a variety of reasons, Europe has a unique opportunity to lead in deep tech.” The EIT Digital Accelerator is a pan European team of distributed, hands-on business developers and fundraising experts operating from 15 cities across Europe, along with a hub in Silicon Valley. Since 2012, they have supported nearly 300 startups who raised a total of €400 million in investment, with €100 million directly facilitated by the Accelerator. EIT Digital is a Knowledge and Innovation Community of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
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India Mobile Congress Focused on Startup Ecosystem Digital communications event India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2018 was held in New Delhi. This year’s event with the theme “New Digital Horizons – Connect. Create. Innovate.”, established the IMC as a regular platform for global and local stakeholders in the technology markets. India’s communications minister Manoj Sinha had inaugurated the 3-day event on October 25. The event focused on the startup ecosystem.
Manoj Sinha at the India Mobile Congress 2018 in New Delhi on October 27, 2018. Photo: PIB
Government claimed that over 200 startups participated in the event, displaying their products in areas such as artificial intelligence, integrated services, healthcare, pharma, security, safety, food, sports, social networking, travel, education, and disaster management.
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In his concluding remarks, the minister said – “Our government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, remains committed to make the digital communications sector a core part of our national infrastructure.” He added that the initiatives and reforms will provide a strong boost to employment generation and digital economic activity – especially in the rural and semi-rural areas of the country.
Digital Natives Do Not Possess Job-Relevant Digital Skills: ITU In the coming decade, according to International Telecommunication Union (ITU), some 10 million jobs will become available for people with advanced digital skills. These are the skills necessary to create, manage, test, and analyze information and communication technologies (ICTs). But ITU observes that many countries are projecting a shortfall of skilled workers to fill these jobs. While young people are often considered “digital natives” because the majority of them are online, most do not possess job-relevant digital skills. Governments, social partners, the private sector, academia, civil society, and other key stakeholders should ensure that young people are equipped with the digital skills they need to benefit from employment and entrepreneurship opportunities and build an inclusive digital economy and society. ITU says digitally savvy young people have higher earning potential and help digital economies flourish. Equipping young people with digital skills, in particular advanced digital skills, and providing them with entrepreneurship opportunities, will contribute to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 8: achieving decent work for all and inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
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According to ITU, digital skills are increasingly required in workplaces around the world, as ICTs are rapidly transforming jobs across industries, including agriculture, entertainment, financial services, health, and transportation.
World Bank Competition
Invites
Bloggers for Blog4Dev
In 2014, the World Bank Kenya office had launched the Blog4Dev competition, an annual writing contest that invites young people to express their views for the country’s economic development. According to World Bank, the competition is a way to engage Africa’s young people and provide a platform to share their views—and solutions—about development topics that are important to them. Since then, World Bank says, Blog4Dev has grown to include the voices of hundreds of young people from countries throughout the region who have submitted blogs on topics such as how to end gender-based violence to debating the role of the private sector in public service delivery. The competition tests originality, creativity and innovation. This year, for the first time, the World Bank Africa Region is hosting a regional blog competition, inviting young people from 48 countries to share their ideas for how they, and other young people, can prepare themselves for the digital economy and a technology-driven workplace. In 500 words or less, bloggers can tell how they would solve the development challenge in their country and how they will enhance the skills to prepare Africa’s youth for the digital economy and the future of work. Photo: World Bank
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60 Million MSMEs Provide Livelihood to 100 Million People in India A delegation of 32 Indian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) led by Ms. Alka Arora, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), participated in the 8th European Congress on SMEs at Kotawice, Poland. Inaugurating the event, Ms. Alka Arora said India is home to more than 60 million MSMEs, which have the ability and capability to access international markets and work as ancillaries to larger international firms.
Ms. Alka Arora, JS (SME) addressing entrepreneurs about the opportunities for cooperation between the SMEs of India and Poland at the 8th European Congress ,Katowice, Poland. Photo: Ministry of MSME
These MSMEs provide livelihood to more than 100 million people and create value for the entire global community. Ms. Arora said, given the impact of MSMEs in India, it is imperative to
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integrate them now into the global value chain by establishing possible linkages with international partners. In order to explore the opportunities for Indian SMEs, the Congress will be an opportunity to make direct business relations between European and Indian SMEs. Small and medium enterprises from around 50 countries participated in the 3-day event, which was held till 19th of October. The organizers had allotted a special session of one and a half hour for discussion about trade and business opportunities with India and Indian SMEs.
Invest India and WhatsApp Partner to Empower Indian Entrepreneurs In an effort to fuel the growth of India’s entrepreneurial and small business community, Invest India through its flagship initiative Startup India Hub has partnered with WhatsApp on a program that focuses on the proliferation of startups, promoting economic growth, and generating employment opportunities in India.
Invest India and WhatsApp event in New Delhi on October 31, 2018. Photo: Startup India
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WhatsApp will invest quarter of a million dollars as seed funding to the top 5 winners of the 'WhatsApp Startup Challenge' and an additional $250,000 will be directed to a select few from the entrepreneurial community to promote their WhatsApp business number on Facebook and drive discovery of their businesses. This way customers will be able to find the business and start talking to them on that WhatsApp number. Invest India is also working with WhatsApp to drive awareness about its business tools in around 15 states impacting over 60,000 businesses in the coming months through tools such as Startup India 'Yatra' program and other in-person training events. Speaking on the occasion, India’s Minister of Commerce & Industry, Suresh Prabhu, said that WhatsApp is a startup that has grown into a community and is an example of how an idea can grow to become an integral part of our day-to-day life. The Minister added that Indian startups in order to be successful have to learn to convert an idea into a business plan. He further said that the startup community is the future of India and will be the platform through which millions of youth of this country will be gainfully employed. Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Chris Daniels, Vice President, WhatsApp said that India has a great ecosystem of startups which are making huge impact in all sectors of the Indian economy. Mr. Daniels further said that small and medium businesses (SMBs) are the backbone of India’s economy, employing 100 million people. Launched on 16th January 2016 by the Prime Minister of India, Startup India, setup under Invest India, is a flagship initiative of the Government of India and is intended to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and startups in the country that will drive sustainable economic growth and generate large scale employment opportunities. There are over 13,000 startups registered with Startup India program that spreads across 448 districts covering all 29 States and 6 Union Territories.
Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ramesh Abhishek and CEO & MD of Invest India, Deepak Bagla, were also present on the occasion.
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Appeal for Donations RMN Foundation is a humanitarian organization that was formed in May 2015 as an educational and public charitable Trust for the benefit of humanity at large. It is registered with the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi at New Delhi, India. Currently, all the activities of RMN Foundation are being managed single-handedly (without any support) by RMN Foundation founder Rakesh Raman who had left his job a few years ago to run this charity. As RMN Foundation has embarked upon some major humanitarian projects during the past over 3 years, now it needs a significant amount of funds in the form of donations to expand the scope of its activities. Individual Indian donors can help RMN Foundation with their contributions using the following bank details: Bank Name: ICICI Bank Bank Branch: HL Square, Plot No. 6, Sector 5 (MLU), Dwarka, New Delhi 110 075 Account Number: 025005004368 Account Name: RMN Foundation Type of Account: Current IFSC Code: ICIC0000250
Country Report: Russia
Technology to Drive Small Business Growth in Russia The President of Russia Vladimir Putin thanked the All-Russia Non-Governmental Organisation of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses OPORA Russia and Russian business representatives for their participation in the country’s most important development projects.
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He congratulated them for the joint work to improve the business climate and in the long run to improve people’s wellbeing. “The result of our joint efforts provides new opportunities for work and personal fulfilment,” Putin said. In the next six years, Russia aims to make the contribution of small and medium-sized businesses to the country’s GDP over 30 percent, and then reach 40 percent (it is nearly 20 percent now). To that end, Russia will create about 6 million jobs and significantly improve the export potential of small enterprises and companies.
Vladimir Putin tours the workshops of the Technograd recreational and educational complex at VDNKh. Photo: Kremlin
“At my instruction, the Government together with OPORA Russia and other business associations has developed a concrete action plan, a national project to support small and medium-sized businesses,” Putin said.
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In order to create a comfortable business environment, Putin suggested that smaller companies must use digital technology to avoid a load of paperwork. “What is particularly important is that the share of high-tech products and services is growing and now stands at almost 70 percent of all purchases,” he revealed. He added that it is imperative to keep up such dynamics both in the medium and longer term. To do so, Putin said, it is important to build a systemic mechanism and “grow” high-quality suppliers so that small companies could improve their technological and managerial skills and the competitiveness of their products. “I assure you that I discuss this constantly with my colleagues and heads of major Russian companies,” Putin said.
Startup India Invites Suggestions to Improve Business Environment India’s flagship initiative for small and medium businesses - Startup India - is inviting suggestions from the startup ecosystem to submit regulatory and policy recommendations to improve the business environment in the country. You can submit your proposal and if it is feasible it will be presented to relevant government departments and regulators. The proposals must be submitted by November 19, 2018. According to the government, the decision on the submitted proposals will be taken on November 23. Photo: Startup India
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For Your Information
Mobiles or Potatoes?
Today, mobile devices lack any brand differentiation. Mobile makers have failed to realize that mobile phones have already become tasteless commodities with the same set of features on all the products from different vendors. Consumers have stopped looking for brands. They buy mobiles as they buy potatoes.
Digital Marketing Services Business is Marketing…Marketing is Content. In today’s information-driven world, it’s not possible to manage any business without the right content, delivered to the right people, at the right time, using the right communication channels. With this belief, Raman Media Network (RMN) Company - the publisher of TechWise Today - offers to provide its Digital Marketing Services to SMBs. These services are packaged under our iManager brand, which is a combination of content creation and communications using digital media channels.
RMN Company Offering Digital Marketing Training Program to Exporters of India
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With specialization in digital media, RMN Company has provided its digital marketing programs to hundreds of companies in India – in association with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). While our current rates are $75 USD per person-hour, you can contact us to hire our digital marketing services under a retainer arrangement if you have a minimum annual budget of $60,000 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) for these services. Business and trade associations in all parts of the world can also contact us for digital marketing training programs for groups of their members. The price for training programs is $1,500 USD per day. [ A ll prices are excluding taxes and other actual costs. ] Contact: Rakesh Raman, Raman Media Network (RMN) Company, 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16 Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 075, INDIA, Contact by email
Houlin Zhao of Secretary-General
China
Re-elected
as
ITU
Member States of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have re-elected Houlin Zhao of China as ITU Secretary-General during the Union's 20th Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-18) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The election took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, during the Plenary session of the PP-18 conference. Zhao won the position with 176 votes, from 178 ballot papers deposited. He contested the position unopposed. Mr Zhao, an information and communication technology (ICT) engineer who has served in a variety of senior management positions at ITU, will begin his second, and last, four-year term on 1 January 2019.
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“We continue to connect the unconnected," says Zhao. “We are strengthening partnerships to implement our common vision of a connected world, where information and communication technology is a source for good for everyone everywhere."
Houlin Zhao of China Re-elected as ITU Secretary-General. Photo: ITU
Prior to first being elected as ITU Secretary General in 2014, Zhao served eight years as ITU Deputy Secretary-General. He also served two elected terms as Director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), which develops technical standards to ensure worldwide ICT interoperability. Before that, he was a Senior Counsellor with TSB for 12 years.
Are Your Marketing Mails Making Sense? By Rakesh Raman All of us know that email application has been the most explosive outbreak on Berners-Lee’s brainchild called the World Wide Web (www) or in short – the web.
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Although it’s not possible to count the number of daily emails (or mails) that fly across the cyberspace, some estimates suggest that over 400 billion email messages are sent per day while there are over 3 billion Internet users in the world. And only a few of them are genuine emails, rest are bogus – called spam. Despite junk mails, email is considered the best form of business communications particularly for smaller businesses that want to cut traveling costs normally required in business deals. But email handling is a specialized job – a scientific art, perhaps. For smaller players, the right and wrong use of email can make or break their businesses – in that order. So, here are a few suggestions for smaller companies to effectively use this business tool, called email. After creating your website, now it’s time to inform your buyers and potential business partners about your company. Today, there are millions – estimated 700 million websites – in the world. Although your site is now available on the web, others won’t know unless you tell them about it and thus about your business offerings. Email is one of the ways to inform others about your new site. And email management techniques are different for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) categories. For example, if you’re selling some auto parts to car manufacturers (B2B category), your potential buyers are limited in number. That means, you’re operating in a niche market. In this case, you can search about the target car manufacturers in a particular geographical area using search engines or online business directories. You can know about the right contacts in a car company from its website. Now, you’ve to tell them about your products and specific offers. Here comes the most important part of email marketing: your mail content. You need specific skills to write your mail text, which has to be to-the-point, expressing maximum about your business in minimum words. So, be brief.
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To inform your buyers about the additional details about your products, etc., you can always invite them to your website by giving them its web address in your mail. And take care your mail has to be formal. Don’t start it abruptly and don’t start it just with a ‘Hi.’ Rather, address the right person like “Hello Angelina” or “Dear Tom,” etc. Then come straight to the point after your initial hello. Similarly, close your mail with respect ensuring that you’ve put all that you want to say in the right sequence. Now, suppose you’re in the B2C category – say, selling garments from your new factory that you’ve set up on the outskirts of the city. In this case, you can’t contact your potential buyers directly as we did in the B2B case. Here the number of your potential buyers can be relatively very high. You do not even know how and where you should send your mail. But you need not take it to heart. There is still a ray of hope in the form of dedicated databases that are offered by such mail database companies. You can even select the consumer group that you want to target. For example, if your products (say, garments) are for college students, you can hire the mail addresses of such college students from the database company. In fact, you’ll not be provided the actual email addresses of the consumers, but you can always ask for a small sample where your marketing email is supposed to go. Such database services are not expensive. By spending just some hundred bucks, you can get your mail sent to thousands of recipients – your potential buyers. But you must ensure through the sample that they are genuine consumers. Plus, your mail should not land in their spam boxes. Database companies can give you this assurance. You can also ask them about the success rate or open rate for your marketing mails. That means, the number of people who opened your mail out of, say, every 100 emails that you sent. That will give you some idea on the impact of your mail marketing campaign.
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Remember, in B2C mail marketing, it’s always better to create an eDM (electronic direct mailer) instead of a text-only mail. Actually, an eDM can go with some creative text along with the pictures of your products. An eDM is like a small digital brochure or an ad pamphlet – usually written and designed by professionals. The price for such services can start from $100 or something. And probably your database company can also create an eDM for you. Your eDM must have all the relevant information like product varieties, pricing, discounts, retail locations, your website address, your office address, and so on. In both B2B and B2C cases, you should repeat your mails at regular intervals. Plus, email response management is an important part of email marketing. You should be quick and careful for sending responses to the mails that you receive from your buyers and others. Although there’s no cookie-cutter recipe for email communications, these are some of the steps that can help you start email-based promotions for your products and services. If you’re stuck at any stage, don’t hesitate and just get back in touch with me.
PM Modi Launches Support Initiative for Small Enterprises The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, launched the Government’s Support and Outreach Initiative for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on November 2, 2018. Besides Delhi, similar launch programs were held at 100 locations across the country, where Union Ministers, and Ministers from State Governments were present. All these locations were connected with Delhi, for the main event, which included a special address by the Prime Minister. He touched upon several matters of vital interest to the MSME sector, including the introduction of tech platforms for marketing.
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The Indian Government says it has accorded high priority to the MSME sector in the recent years. This outreach and support program, which will run for the next 100 days, covering the entire country, is expected to provide even greater synergy to the efforts being made for this sector. The progress of this program, to be implemented in mission mode, will be monitored on a continuous basis by senior officials of Union and State Governments.
Indian Tech Startups Invited to Attend Slush in Helsinki The Finnish flagship tech and startup event Slush is organized annually late November / early December. Slush brings together the leading players of the global tech scene to Helsinki, the Finnish Capital. The event is scheduled to take place December 4 – 5, 2018.
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In 2017, it is claimed that Slush brought together 20,000 tech heads, 1,500 venture capitalists and 600 journalists from 130 countries. Furthermore, 2,600 startups and 1,300 registered investors pre-booked over 10,000 meetings that were held during the two days of Slush in 2017. Slush is built for the entrepreneurs by the entrepreneurs. Whether you are looking for investors, customers, media exposure or mentoring, Slush promises to offer a unique opportunity to reach the global audience and engage with the tech community. The event is designed for growing companies at all stages and from all industries. India’s Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) will setup a Startup India theme pavilion at Slush 2018. As part of the pavilion, 30 startups are being given complimentary passes, which can be used by them to gain access to the conference.
Seven Tricks Digital Agencies Use to Cheat SMBs By Rakesh Raman When it comes to cheating, the so-called digital brand communication agencies can beat even the most expert cheats. While their number in the market is increasing faster than the rainy-season mushrooms, they mostly target small and medium businesses (SMBs). So, if you’re planning to hire a digital agency to promote your brand, you’ve to be cautious – and cautious enough to separate the rice from the chaff. While you should be prepared to take them head-on, here are the seven tricks that digital ad agencies use to hoodwink you. While large companies may have plenty of bucks to burn and experiment with digital agencies, this article is particularly relevant for SMBs. Here are the seven tricks that digital agencies use:
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1. Website Development or Digital Communications? Today, most itsy-bitsy web development outfits work under the garb of digital agencies. When they say they’ll promote your brand using digital technologies, they will simply create a website for your brand. While a website development is a mundane work for which they can’t ask for more money, the cheating agencies will masquerade as digital agencies to extort more money from you. Be careful. 2. What’s Content? It’s content – and only content – that matters. Content is the backbone of any brand communications work. But most (almost all) digital agencies are clueless about content nuances, though they’d claim that they understand content. It is not about language alone; content is a combination of many elements like connotation of each word, placement of each word in a sentence, visual selection, user interface, design, color scheme, and so on for your brand messages. The subject of content is as difficult as rocket science. Digital agencies are totally illiterate in this field. 3. Digital Communications or Media Buying? Although they project themselves as digital agencies, their main job is to buy ad space for you on other media properties. You don’t need a media buying agency. As digital agencies still work in the traditional media mode, they will extract money from you to create and display your ads online. Media buying is a clerical work. Don’t pay even a single penny for such work. 4. Why Pay for Ad Clicks? While buying media space for you, digital agencies will ask you to spend money on displaying your ads on third-party websites like news sites. Don’t pay for any PPC (pay-per-click) ads. You might have to shell out something like $5 to $50 for every click even when a user has clicked your ad by mistake.
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Moreover, click frauds are rampant where your rivals will keep clicking your ads using fraudulent ways. And digital agencies also have secret arrangements with unscrupulous outfits that employ a number of cheap workers to click on such ads. And digital agencies will show it as their media-buying performance while you’ll get robbed in the process. 5. How to Measure Web Traffic? If by chance you fall prey to digital agencies’ deceptive designs and decide to display your ads, it’ll not be possible for you to correctly measure the web traffic on account of your online advertising because there is no reliable web analytics service available. Although digital agencies recommend services like Alexa, Google Analytics, and a host of others, none of them is accurate. Either digital agencies don’t understand web analytics algorithms or they deliberately deceive you by asking you to rely on all these crude web analytics services. 6. Is SEO Reliable? Digital agencies will also claim that they will do search engine optimization (SEO) for content around your brand. But it’s a blatant lie. On longtail or general queries from web users, even God will find it difficult to put your brand in the first one, two, or three pages of a search engine. Moreover, search engine technology itself is awfully horrible and raw. So, SEO is a big fraud happening in the web market. Plus, digital agencies will take more money from you to buy search engine-based ads. Never pay for anything that is around search engines. 7. What’s Social Media Management? Now, after the proliferation of social media, digital agencies also claim that they’ll promote your brands on social media platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and so on. But social media is a tricky ballgame. It’s not about the number of Likes that you get on Facebook or Linkedin or the number of followers on Twitter. Social media is about messaging and engagement, and most digital
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agencies are clueless about both these important social media success factors. You need not trust them. So, beware of these tricks used by the so-called digital agencies. While there’s no empirical method to estimate the result of your digital media- or social media-based brand promotion campaigns, only qualitative analysis can help you understand the utility of digital media. It’d be better if you avoid hiring any digital agency for your brand communications. But if you still want to hire them, keep the seven points stated above in front of you to evaluate them so you don’t get cheated by digital agencies.
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New Telecom Policy to Promote Small and Medium Entrepreneurship in India Manoj Sinha, a communications minister in India, says that the Indian telecom industry will roll out one million WiFi hotspots in the country by December 2019. He was attending the India Mobile Congress (IMC) event (October 25 – 27) in New Delhi. According to a government statement, the IMC inauguration ceremony was attended by over 5,000 people from 10 partner countries, and included policy makers, ambassadors, opinion makers, change agents, bureaucrats, and investors.
Manoj Sinha releasing a publication, at the inauguration of the India Mobile Congress – 2018, in New Delhi on October 25, 2018. The Secretary, (Telecom), Ms. Aruna Sundararajan and other dignitaries are also seen. Photo: PIB
The minister said the deployment of WiFi hotspots will be another step towards digital empowerment of the nation. In a major policy initiative, which will give impetus to small and
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medium entrepreneurship (SME) in telecom sector, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has decided to deduct payments for resources taken by Virtual Network Operators (VNOs) from telecom service providers, thereby reducing levies payable by VNOs. This, according to the government, avoids double taxation at various stages. A concrete plan is being made by the DoT to enable homegrown technologies for trials in the field on a large scale to enable the development and the scaling up of the products and services. Advertise on TechWise Today TechWise Today is a digital magazine of Raman Media Network (RMN) Company which is working in diversified content creation, management, and distribution businesses on a global scale. Among other activities, the company runs 4 global news sites. These are: Raman Media Network – General Global News Site [ w ww.ramanmedianetwork.com ] RMN Digital – Global Technology News Site [ w ww.rmndigital.com ] RMN Stars – Global Entertainment News Site [ w ww.rmnstars.com ] RMN Kids – Edutainment Site for Kids [ www.rmnkids.com ] RMN Company offers the following advertising and marketing options to organizations on TechWise Today. Full-Page Ad (per issue): US$ 1,500 (one thousand five hundred USD) or equivalent Half-Page Ad (per issue): US$ 800 (eight hundred USD) or equivalent Custom ad options can be discussed. Article Hosting: The client’s article of up to 800 words with an external link can be published on TechWise Today for $500 USD per article per link. The article will be written by the client. However, if the client wants us (RMN Company) to write the article for them, the client will pay an additional amount of $400 USD for an article of up to 800 words. [ All prices are excluding taxes and other actual costs. ] Contact Rakesh Raman Raman Media Network (RMN) Company, 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I, New Delhi 110 075, INDIA. C ontact by email
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Marketing Agents TechWise Today invites marketing professionals and ad agencies to work as its marketing agents on commission basis for selling ads and generating more revenue streams. Contact by email
Meet the Editor The editor of TechWise Today magazine Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page tech business column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group). Nowadays, for the past over 7 years, he has been running his own global news services on different subjects. He is also the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development. Contact Raman Media Network (RMN) Company 463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I New Delhi 110 075, INDIA C ontact by email
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