Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Facebook and Bourdieu

One of the criticisms towards social networks is that it's all about numbers and the meaning of "friends", as we know it, is lost. In the past, the social discussion was all about friendship that is based on trust, respect and mutual appreciation. With the social networking trend, especially Facebook, we are now embracing a new jargon, which is the outcome of the web 2.0 lifestyle. Words such as networking, degree of separation and virtual friends has become common in our every day life and conversations.

Speaking of the advantages, one of the main benefits of social networks is the ability to keep in touch with a large number of people, not sure they all should be called friends, but again it's all about networking and not friendships. The equation is fairly simple, the more friends you have, the larger your networking is and greater the options you will have in life. Now more than ever, it's all about knowing the person the knows the person with the right information and contacts for you to use.

To summarize, there are 2 main points in this post (1) the social discussion and logistic has been changed. Based on bourdieu's theory (French sociologist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Bourdieu#Language) , social trends influence and dictate the social jargon and (2) the importance of quantity is growing, how many connections have you got on facebook is the right question and not how many true friends/ soul mates you have. So come on people, start spamming the world with networking requests!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Blue Print for career success

Simplicity – we all know the feeling of reading an article that is just too complicated and not clear enough. In this case just try to transfer all the words into a scheme including arrows and boxes. Also, when writing a marketing plan it is much recommended to transfer the goal, objectives, vision and the strategy in a clear, simple style, format, structure and language.

People oriented – Networking, Networking and more Networking. Business is done between people and not boxes. From my point of view, business is much more about people than about numbers. The sooner you get it the better you'll be in doing business.

Brand it – acknowledge the fact that you are the brand of yourself. For better branding strategy and career management, write down the values and characteristics of yourself.

Write it down - one of the most productive methodologies starts with organizing the data according to a logical, organized way and by writing it down. It also helps to remember, if you are like me having lots of not very important details in your head.

Take a deep breath & rationalize – being emotional equals being not in your top ability to make the best decisions. Try to isolate your emotions and think about your career as a race that you are going to win.

Stay focus with your goals – staying focus in life is definitely a key success factor. Set your goals and keep your objectives clear! Do not go all over the place, this way you will get lost and decrease the chances for full accomplishment.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Mind your own business!

One of the most important principles in life, especially when you are waisting your time with the wrong career. People often tend to be followers, after opportunities and destiny in life. I believe that it is not the ideal situation and by choosing the right position the objectives and preferences should be the leaders and not the other way around. It is also OK to make some mistakes but the important thing is to learn from it ASAP, become stronger and more importantly identify your goals in life.

Choosing your profession means choosing also the industry you are interested in. Being an
expert, having a deep understanding and growing from there is a key success factor for enjoyable, self fulfilling career. Waiting too much with the right decision is also not recommended as comfortable is not playing on our side for the long run. Take an action, decide on the change and maximize your chance for happiness!

The change should come form the inside and sticking with this feeling is essential. You will need to remind yourself constantly that even though the journey for the right career is long and challenging it is the only option for happiness.
Take a chance on your self, you deserve it!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Hot Air Balloon - Yarra Valley Victoria Australia



"It was a love of the air and sky and flying, the lure of adventure, the appreciation of beauty. It lay beyond the descriptive words of men-where immortality is touched through danger, where life meets death on equal plane; where man is more than man, and existence both supreme and valueless at the same time." Charles Augustus Lindbergh


Sunday, May 13, 2007

The secret Law of attraction

The secret Law of attraction

I have just seen this movie (
http://www.thesecret.tv) as part of a social and bounding experience with work colleges. Ignoring the fact that it was just a bit too long, I have enjoyed it and more importantly related to the message of it.

Being positive, optimistic is a key success factor for fulfilling your goals in life and being happy. Thinking about your objectives in life and imagining you are accomplishing them enables you to think about the How after knowing the What. We shouldn't be wasting our energy on anger, hate or any other negative feeling that doesn't get us anywhere. It is important to keep your thoughts focused on what you want to attract to your life!

From a personal level, I am indeed very lucky to have the privilege to share my life with the most positive person I have ever meet - Itai Levitan – who helps me to direct my energy to a peaceful, relaxed and joyful feelings.

International business development for the telecommunications industry

International business development for the telecommunications industry

While realizing the Israeli export to Azerbaijan has grown by more than 400% last year especially the telecommunications products (consist 75% of the export) and the government's intentions to invest a major part of their oil revenues on developing the ICT in the country; I have decided to check out this emerging market before it gets to crowded.

I should have predicted the challenges of this delegation by the difficult start…one of the things that I insisted on is getting the commitment of the major Azeri mobile, fix operators and ISP's to meet with the Israelis companies. It sure wasn't easy and long term planning is not a common strategy in this country. After endless emails, phone calls and discussions I have finally had a sufficient number of Azeri companies that were committed to take part at the seminar and business meetings.

Being as optimistic as I am, I have managed to recruit 11 telecommunications companies to join the delegation, doubling the prediction number of 5 companies…After sending few emails with the important information (market research, agenda, tentative meetings, and business opportunities) and conducting endless talks with the Israeli companies and the embassy, I was informed that the Azeri Minister of communications has to join the president for a delegation outside the country in the exact same dates. As a result, I have decided to postpone the delegation, to be continued…

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Monday, March 26, 2007

Tip of the month

According to the Feng shui fish in the house strengthens the wealth and helps with job hunting!

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Business development blueprint

While having a strong marketing background (both theoretical and hands on experience), I came to realize through my current position as an international business development manager, the unique characteristics of the business development profession. Buizdev is a combination of marketing and sales and from my perspective is linked more to sales and management than to traditional marketing. The following points emphasize the main guidelines for a professional business development manager:

1. Initiate business activities and cooperations with potential customers and colleges
2. Networking within the industry
3. Getting to know as many people as possible, you can never know when it will be handy. Being people oriented is definitely a key success factor
4. Being creative about business opportunities – think outside the box
5. Your objective should be clear, understandable, and simple if the conditions permit.
6. Being alert to new opportunities
7. Being updated with new technologies, news etc.
8. Keep in mind that you represent the brand and make sure you deliver the required image
9. Be focused and don’t let distractions to get in your way of executing the marketing strategy
10. Follow up every meeting and opportunity – people like to be remembered and a thank you email is a necessity now days
11. Marketing communications tools such as business cards, power point presentation, brochures should be available
12. Doing you homework about the people and company you are about to meet
13. Be aware and learn about cultural differences
14. Remember to have fun while accomplishing your missions!

Vacation, vacation, vacation - much recommended as often as possible!




Welcome to Corin's blog


Saturday, October 08, 2005

Gokouun o inorimasu and Shana tovaAs history proven, this is a date of new starts, promising beginnings and innovative discoveries. In 3761 BCE the epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar was established and today 236 years ago Captain Cook discovered New Zealand. So all is left for me to say is Gokouun o inorimasu! (good luck in Japanese)

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

iPhone - 11.01.2007 by Corin Rotary

iPhone

After launching the Macintosh in 1984 and successfully redefining the MP3 market in 2001, Apple continues to surprise. Yesterday Steve Jobs in his casual garb, has introduced the new innovative state of the art designed phone - iPhone.

At the personal level, I haven't been so excited since visiting the Apple underground store in the 59th St and the 5th Ave, Manhattan (last week). Allocating a major part of the store space to tutorial classes[1] and sending invoices straight to the customer's personal mailbox, means focusing on cost effective and value added services at the same time. Taking into consideration what really matters to gadget freaks [2] (haven't really viewed myself as one until this very moment) applied technology, brand association and clean cut, contemporary design, Apple delivers a HOT product into a boiling industry.

Innovation has been the key value of Apple and Jobs has managed to actually apply this strategy into practice. The harmony of strategic rationale and talented execution sounds as clear as Apple's common tracks: Coldplay, U2 and of course John Mayer.

Innovation is when registering 200 patents on 1 tiny device that is an iPod, a phone and an internet mobile communicator. Take the bitmap giant screen with the multi-finger technology for example with the highest resolution screen with only 1 button and this is what you would call breakthrough user friendly technology at the size of only 11.6 mm. Forget 3G it's WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0!

Jobs, like always is playing in the big guys' court. Google, Yahoo!, Disney, Paramount, Cingular, AT&T will enable him to achieve his 1% market share, 10 million phones objective.

iPhone, like big brother iPod is expected to receive a fair bit of criticism especially from major competitors. At the same time, it is almost guaranteed a quick and efficient market penetration.

Those of you who know me more than a day or two can easily recognize my true enthusiasm. This is even more exceptional taking into consideration the old fashion, 1st generation mobile I have been using for years and couldn’t care less about…





and now the only question that that I've got is who can bring me an iPhone from the states in June? And btw I want it all including the Mac and the Apple TV!

So, Stevie, let's get this show on the road!
[1] Mainly about apple products and usage
[2] Early adopters