Last time the much awaited Blackberry Messenger released for Android and iOS, it was a huge fiasco. Blackberry did not plan it well, and neither did they expect such a huge demand for it. The result was that they had to roll back their launch and tweak their app and infrastructure to make sure that the huge demand for BBM from Android and iOS users can be accommodated.

So, today morning when I got mail from Blackberry stating that BBM for Android and iOS has now arrived, I was obviously quite excited.

But honestly, that excitement was short-lived. After downloading and installing the Android app on Nexus 4, I could not go beyond the initial splash screen, as it kept giving following message.

After multiple tries and starting and shutting the app, I could finally get to the screen which started the process of creating my Blackberry ID. But at the end of that process, I got yet another error, which did not allow me to proceed forward. Here is what I could achieve on the new BBM app in 30 minutes since I installed the app.

Suffice to say, even after more than 2 weeks of working on the app after the initial fiasco, Blackberry has not been able to sort out the problems.

Next 5 million in line – your turn! Open up BBM and click “I got the email” to get started on #BBM right away!

— BBM (@BBM) October 22, 2013

According to a tweet by BBM itself, in the first 8 hours since launch of BBM on Android & iOS, it has witnessed over 5 million downloads. Surely, the interest in BBM is huge, but if these kind of problems persist and people are not able to get through, then people will uninstall the messenger as soon as they installed it!

How to get BBM on your Android or Apple phone

While the app can be downloaded by everyone, creating Blackberry ID is available only for people who signed up for their updates on www.bbm.com. If you had done so, you may already have got an email from Blackberry. You will need to use the same email to register when asked in opening screen. If not, you do not need to worry. Just go ahead and register your mail at BBM website and you should get a mail shortly.

Do let us know if you were successful in full registering and using the new BBM for Android/iOS. And if you were, I would love to hear your impressions on it!

Download BBM for Android here

The yearly Doodle 4 Google India contest is back – It is once in a year opportunity for school going doodlers and artists to showcase their creative side to world!

For those who are not aware of what Doodle 4 Google is, here is a quick description. Google has a long history of celebrating various occasions, events, achievements etc by integrating them creatively into their logo. Once in a year, they arrange Doodle 4 Google contest in India open only for school students.

The doodling has to be around a single theme that is announced every year by Google. The winner of this Doodle 4 Google contest are not only compensated by monetary prize, but also their artwork is shown on the Google India page for a whole day, which also means that it is seen by millions of people hitting their search engine. The winner is sure to be a celebrity, atleast for a day if not more.

Last year, the contest was won by Arun Kumar Yadav for the theme portraying India's "Unity in Diversity"

Doodle 4 Google Contest 2013 Details

The theme for this year's contest is "Celebrating Indian Women". The participants will need to come up with creative doodles that integrate this theme around Google's logo.

How Can students participate?

The contest is open in 3 groups, one for students from class 1 to 3, second group for classes 4 to 6 and third group for classes 7 to 10. Students need to follow the simple process given below:

1. Download the form and fill in all necessary details
2. Review and download the doodle material
3. Follow the instructions on designing your doodle
4. After you’re done submit your doodle
5. Remember to add a title and a supporting statement for your doodle before you submit it
6. Don’t forget to read and understand the Terms & Conditions

Google 4 Doodle Prizes

The winners in each category will be invited to attend the final awards ceremony in November 2013. The finalists will be awarded with a certificate and a Google goodie bag. However, the biggest prize for national winner will be seeing their Doodle on the Google homepage for the whole day!

Get started with it NOW!

This was on cards – Google's hotel finder service, which allows users to search hotels across geographies has now started aggregating hotel data from Indian Online Travel agencies (OTAs).

Google's search results are not only getting better, but they are now going beyond. For many specific verticals, they directly show important information on the top of the 1^st page of SERPS (search engine result pages). They have already integrated various verticals like weather, flight information, movies and even major attractions in the city within their search results.

Try to find "ATMs in Mumbai" or "movies in Pune" or "Weather in Bangalore" in Google and you will see the information presented to you directly in the SERP, you will not need to visit any site for more information.

Now, with aggregation of Hotel data from OTA, a query like "Hotels in Pune", will now present you with a table showing name of hotel, its star rating and even the price per night! See the screenshot below:

From a web user's point of view, this is absolutely great as it saves time and effort to browse across various websites, as they get everything there and there itself.

Also, what really stands out with Google service is the fact that it is extremely fast and simple. A user can literally get all information about the hotel including photos, people reviews, rates etc without leaving Google.

While it is surely great for users, it may not be necessarily so for online travel agencies!

Why it is not great for OTA's?

One has to understand that whatever Google does, their engine runs on advertising. While, the "hotels in Pune" search may show you rich info about hotels, this information comes from OTA's that pay big money for Google Ads. Yes, they are not organic search results – They are mostly paid ones, with some exceptions. Here, read what Google says about these results:

In short, what is not happening is – majority of the search users who used to visit various OTA's (which are in large numbers in India) based on organic search results are now directed toward "Google Hotel Finder", which in turn brings lot more revenue to Google, and burn the pockets of OTA's who want their data to be shown at the top of search pages.

The traffic which used to come free of cost earlier, will now cost them big bucks. What this also does is, OTA's who have deep pockets will grow larger, while smaller ones who cannot afford "top position" will slowly die out!

What is your take?

[Source: Medianama Via: @soumyadip]

In the month of April, 2010, Apple launched iPad in the US, and within two weeks, 300,000 unites was sold and within one month, one million iPads were sold all over the world.

Product creators and Entrepreneurs still regard this launch as one of the most spectacular launches ever as it took Apple almost double the time to sell that units of iPhones.

By the time iPad 2 was launched, Apple had sold more than 15 million units of iPad 1.

Recently, in the month September 2013, Apple launched iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c, which broke all records of sales; 9 million units of these two models were sold within 3 days of its launch.

Not only Apple products, but there are some really cool games as well which break records everytime a new version is launched . For example, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game, which was launched on November 17, 2011, sold 6.5 million copies within 24 hours of its launch, grossing $400 million! Another game from the series: Call of Duty: Black Ops II broke this record when it managed sales of $500 million within 24 hours of its launch on November 13, 2012.

There are countless such examples of launch successes, when a product just hits the buzzer and public goes crazy. Records are shattered right there on the launch day itself, which is a dream come true for an entrepreneur. But are these over night successes? Or there is some art and science behind it?

Here are our suggestions for making that spectacular launch, of any product in any niche:

Earn The Permission Asset

Apple was not able to sell those 9 million iPhone units within 3 days; it took them decades of hard work, persistence and nurturing of their tribe.

You need to start building your tribe right now, right here if you are planning to launch a product. Get their permission base, and spread your message. This is the hardest part, but it pays in the longer run.

Don't Try To Please Everyone

Trying to please everyone is the fastest way to failure. Envision what you want to share, and build it for those who appreciate it. Not everyone will like your product, for sure. But make sure that those who like it, remain loyal with you for years to come.

Create A Product Worth Talking About

This sounds obvious, right? If its so obvious, then why do companies like Microsoft ship shitty products like Internet Explorer and Windows 8?

There are creators who often forget this most important factor: Create something which gets talked about. People should either love it or hate it; but there should be buzz going around your creation.

Make It Easy For People To Talk About You

Steve Jobs, the guy who propelled Apple to such greater heights didn't had a blog or a Twitter account. Yet, his message was shared as soon as they uttered them. People used to queue up from morning 4 to get a glimpse of the new shiny Apple iPhone or iPad. Such was the intensity of the speculation and hope. You will need to create that type of cult following for that ultimate success.

Culture of Wonders

Nokia certainly had the capital, the engineers, and the infrastructure to create wonders like iPhone or Galaxy series smart phones. But still, they didn't and the company was sold recently. Embed a culture of wonders inside your organization.

The element of surprise and wow should be installed inside the DNA of every employee/partner so that the product which is created is the simply the best in the class. It's an acquired habit, no doubt, but worth it.

Willing To Fail And Rise Again

Unless the entrepreneur is willing to fail, and strong enough to rise again, he wont be able to create that master product which shatters all record.

Failure is very, very important here because if you are not willing to fail, you are not willing to embrace surprise and success.

Failure is like the necessary evil which is required to kiss success. Be mentally prepared to fail, and see how the world changes around you.

Tribe Wants Recognition:

It was Apple which introduced that little tagline under your email: "Sent from iPhone" or "Sent from iPad", which gave its tribe members a unique identity, recognition for their love for the brand.

This badge of honor is very crucial to build the tribe and to share its bonding. What ever be your product, try to create a unique identity for its users, so that the message spreads optimally.

Never give up; Its just the Dip

After the initial hype of the launch, there comes a phase when things are moving slow and the growth seems to be lost forever. Seth Godin calls this phase as The Dip. Only the smartest of entrepreneurs carry themselves beyond this phase. Never ever give up in the middle; carry on the good work and see to it that your project is completed.

Conventional Wisdom Can Be Avoided

Technology changes every fortnight, so does the wisdom regarding Entrepreneurship and Leadership. And in today's connected economy, conventional wisdom has the least significance.

While discussing the 5 commandments for Entrepreneur, we mentioned this point first: Don't follow, but lead. When Apple introduced their products, it was a closed system. No outsiders were allowed inside their apps world and no 'outsider' songs were allowed to be played.

Everything was programmed in a way that only Apple authorized songs or apps were allowed. And it was pretty much unconventional at that time. But it worked. Years later, when Android was launched, it again broke these rules, and introduced an open system which again worked!

Launch It Like Google:

And lastly, a word of caution: Don't believe the hype of launch; it's not worthwhile. When Google was launched, no one noticed. It just focused on creating their loyal user base and giving out the best searches. That's it; they knew their role in this world, and kept on doing it good. After one full year was passed, Google found first mention inside New York Times, and that too as a side mention in the second page.

And now, whatever Google does, becomes a news!

No, you are not alone. Thousands of entrepreneurs' dream of a big launch, a big news on the front page of Times of India and a special story on CNBC which will let everyone know that you have arrived.

But most of the biggest companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, eBay, Paypal etc etc were launched when no one knew about it. They just launched and worked hard to do what they were doing. They nurtured and helped their loyal user base, and expanded their tribe.

So there you have it – The real secrets of a good product launch. Do you want to share your launch formulae with us? Please share your views by commenting here.

I know a friend who recently started a company. He created a financial product for the other startups. No doubt that the product was great and very useful. He kept on asking his friends for the feedback including me and we gave him generous feedback and helped him improves upon the product. Everything was done and he launched the product.

One thing that he never asked was what to do with the customer service? He was under the notion that if the product was great he doesn't even need customer service. Just 1 month down the line, he had to call me up one night and we discussed the requirement of customer service at length and that time I realized there was lot of myths around customer service that people had. Let me talk about these Customer service myths and bust the bubble!

Myth # 1: Customer Service is costly

Most of the Entrepreneurs think that Customer service is costly. But in today's internet world, customer service has become cheaper.

Yes, you heard it right; Customer service is cheaper than ever before.

With services like Cloud Telephony, SaaS based tools; you can own a corporate like Customer Service call centre without spending too much money. Check out Knowlarity , Exotel , ZohoCRM to know more.

Myth # 2: Customer Service Requires Lot Of Efforts

This is another thing that most of the Entrepreneurs dread about. People, who don't know much about Customer Service setup, think that it's a lot of hassle to set up customer service.

Believe me, there's nothing better than having an in-house customer support, no matter how less customers you have. One good hire with proper training can set up a customer service for upto 100 customers.

Moreover, this is expandable; you can continue to add more people once you have more customers. Another benefit that you can have, of having an in house customer support is the Analytics.

Yes, service customers in house will create a lot of beneficial data for you. You can analyze that data and improve your product much quickly than your competition.

Myth # 3: Social Media can be a replacement to Customer Service

This is the biggest myth and a mistake Entrepreneurs make with their startups.

They think that setting up a social media page or a handle is enough for Customer service. Let me bust the bubble, It is not.

Social Media is used for engagement and not to resolve general queries. In fact, social media is a more open channel and would affect your brand if the general queries start going out there. Social Media should be used to enhance engagement with the customers and get testimonials out.

You can always direct complaints and feedback coming to your social media page to the service page. Or you can resolve them there as well, but keeping it the only channel of support is not a good idea.

Myth # 4: It doesn't need a strategy

Another myth that Entrepreneurs carry about Customer Service is that it doesn't need a strategy, just setting up a number and a person to answer calls will be enough.

This is not correct, although, it's simple to set up and manage customer service like I mentioned above but it's important to have a strategy in place.

A few common questions like what will be the channels of support? How will the common questions be answered? What kind of training needs to be given to the reps? What tools will be used? Still needs to be answered.

There's no harm in setting up a customer service strategy so that customers can be serviced in the best possible way right from point zero.

Myth# 5: Complaints are bad

This myth has been there for ages, we have been living with this for a while now.

Entrepreneurs tend to believe that getting complaints about the business is bad but the fact is only 20% of the people speak up and complaint. That means, 80% of your customers who have had a bad experience won't even tell you, but they will surely tell 6 more people about it and turn away your perspective customers.

Wouldn't you then like listen to those complaints and rectify those issues? After all, whatever business you are into, you are here to stay and do better. Complaints help you improve your product for better, in fact, someone who is complaining is giving you a chance to do better and change the experience that the customer had.

Try and listen to those complaints very carefully and rectify them asap.

Now, that most of the myths around customer service have been broken, you should also know that a good customer service team can enhance your brand value as well as repeat business.

Customer service is an investment and most of the Entrepreneurs tend to ignore. Feel free to comment in case you have anything to add or ask.

For the first time in the history of Indian eCommerce, a major player has come out and openly admitted that they are fully experiencing the next wave of mobile ecommerce. In a statement released by Snapdeal, it has been revealed that out of 10 orders, 3 are coming in from a mobile phone.

30% of all Snapdeal orders are originating from mobile commerce, and that's a huge chunk.

We had recently discussed that Snapdeal is about to receive a fresh round of investment to the tune of $200 million, which could propel its valuation to $750 million. They are currently processing around 25,000 orders daily, and have crossed Rs 2000 crore annual revenue with a goal of surpassing $1 billion revenue by 2015.

If we observe these set of data against the backlight of mobile ecommerce, then we can truly understand its impact. What we are basically looking at is Rs 2000 crore worth of transactions on Snapdeal's mobile platform by 2015!

These insights from Snapdeal were revealed after a 6 month survey and research based on the traffic received by their main website and mobile commerce site.

Snapdeal shared that it received around 35 to 40 million visits every month, out of which 12 million reaches its mobile commerce site.

Internet access from Mobile phones has witnessed a quantum leap in the last few years, and this recent revelation from Snapdeal proves this fact.

As per the official statement from Snapdeal, this jump in traffic and sales from mobile platform has increased '10 fold in the last 12 months'; which cements the fact that Indian mobile user has now converted into an online shopper.

Additionally, it was found out that over 75% of all transactions were CoD or Cash on Delivery based, while 25% transactions were already paid for before delivery. New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad remains the top destination of their order delivery.

Some more insights from Snapdeal's traffic research:

Main Categories

When it comes to ordering via smart phones, the following are the most popular categories on Snapdeal:

• Mobiles
• Men's Apparels
• Women's Apparels
• Pen Drives & Memory Cards
• Men's Footwear

80% of mobile traffic is free

Being a content marketer, I didn't fail to note down one very important result of these findings: 80% of mobile traffic to Snapdeal is coming from organic results, and the rest 20% are the result of mobile ads.

This shows that Snapdeal's Online Marketing team has done a wonderful job of attracting free organic traffic to their website.

60% of traffic is new

Another notable observation is that 60% of all traffic originating from mobile phones are first time visitors to Snapdeal. This is again a very important metrics to be studied.

As more than half of visitors are unique and first time, this means that Snapdeal has a very strong presence in search engines and organic hits is their main source of traffic.

Android brings in 70% of traffic

Android OS accounts for more than 70% of mobile traffic for Snapdeal, while Windows and iOS accounts for the remaining 30%.

Most Popular: Stock Android browser

Among browsers, stock Android is the most popular among Snapdeal's mobile consumers, followed by Opera Mini, Chrome and UC. 86% of all visits & 91% of all orders originate from these mobile browsers.

Based on this data from Snapdeal, it is now clear that India is experiencing the next wave of Mobile Commerce, and this is just the beginning.