Donna Summer died on the morning of May 17 and many people reacted by taking to the Internet and online music services.

Radio Remembers Donna Summer: Songs Get Huge Airplay After News of Singer’s Death

According to data provided by Next Big Sound, fans flocked to her Wikipedia page. Normally receiving close to 2,000 hits a day, her page garnered a whopping 1,480,461 page views on May 17. Further, an increase of 419,476 plays on VEVO was a 48% increase from the norm. 23,834 people — 19% more than on any other given day — took to Facebook and became fans of Donna Summer’s official page.

Online listening sites also responded by creating tributes featuring the Queen of Disco’s greatest hits.

Donna Summer – In Memoriam: There Will Always Be a You

Slacker Radio launched a station in honor of Summer and her legacy that can be found in the Slacker Spotlight station category anywhere Slacker is available. The curators at Sharemyplaylists.com have also put together their own tribute that people can listen to and share on Spotify.

As reported by social sharing analysis company Monstro, Donna Summer’s music represented 4.53% of all shares yesterday on Twitter. Heavy sharing activity came from the following platforms, led by Rhapsody. 91.67% of all shares by Rhapsody listeners were Summer songs.

Donna Summer’s Enduring Billboard Chart Successes

Percentage of All Music Shared (May 17)

Rhapsody – 91.7%
Rdio – 33.7%
ThisIsMyJam – 27.6%
Spotify – 23.6%
SoundTracking – 11.7%

In prior weeks, Summer averaged about one share every four hours across all monitored services, while yesterday (May 17) there were an average of 139 shares per hour, with the peak at 637 per hour at noon EST.

Tributes For Donna Summer: Questlove, Nile Rodgers, Sheila E., George Clinton, More React

According to Spotify, Donna Summer saw a 3,000% increase in streaming activity on the on-demand platform. Her top song on Spotify was “On the Radio” which received 56,001 plays yesterday, according to Nielsen BDS. Other top hits included “She Works Hard For The Money” and “Bad Girls.”

Most Played Summer Songs on Spotify (May 17)

“On The Radio” – 56,001
“She Works Hard For The Money” – 31,932
“Bad Girls” – 29,802
“Last Dance” (Single Version) – 25,386
“Dim All the Lights” – 25,343

Lastly, the top five songs that were shared, according to Monstro music, differed slightly from those that fans listened to on Spotify.

Most Shared Summer Songs (May 17)

“I Feel Love” – 522 shares
“Hot Stuff” – 434 shares
“Last Dance” – 268 shares
“Love to Love You Baby” – 183 shares
“MacArthur Park” – 127 shares

Source Billboard

But remarkable entrepreneurs do more than make money. They are the few who possess qualities that don’t appear on balance sheets but do make a significant impact on the lives of their employees, industries, and communities.

Here are nine qualities of remarkable entrepreneurs:

1. They find happiness in the success of others.

Great business teams win because their most talented members are willing to sacrifice to make others happy. Great teams are made up of employees who help each other, know their roles, set aside personal goals, and value team success over everything else.

Where does that attitude come from?

You.

Every great entrepreneur answers the question, “Can you make the choice that your happiness will come from the success of others?” with a resounding “Yes!”

2. They relentlessly seek new experiences.

Novelty seeking—getting bored easily and throwing yourself into new pursuits or activities – is often linked to gambling, drug abuse, attention deficit disorder, and leaping out of perfectly good airplanes without a parachute.

But, according to Dr. Robert Cloninger, “Novelty seeking is one of the traits that keeps you healthy and happy and fosters personality growth as you age… if you combine adventurousness and curiosity with persistence and a sense that it’s not all about you, then you get the creativity that benefits society as a whole.”

As Cloninger says, “To succeed, you want to be able to regulate your impulses while also having the imagination to see what the future would be like if you tried something new.”

Sounds like every successful entrepreneur I know.

So go ahead – embrace your inner novelty seeker. You’ll be healthier, you’ll have more friends, and you’ll be generally more satisfied with life.

3. They don’t think work/life balance; they just think life.

Symbolic work-life boundaries are almost impossible to maintain. Why? You are your business. Your business is your life, just like your life is your business – which is also true for family, friends, and interests—so there is no separation, because all those things make you who you are.

Remarkable entrepreneurs find ways to include family instead of ways to exclude work. They find ways to include interests, hobbies, passions, and personal values in their daily business lives.

If you can’t, you’re not living—you’re just working.

4. They’re incredibly empathetic.

Unless you create something entirely new—which is very hard to do—your business is based on fulfilling an existing need or solving a problem.

It’s impossible to identify a need or a problem without the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes; that’s the mark of a successful entrepreneur.

But remarkable entrepreneurs go a step farther, regularly putting themselves in the shoes of their employees.

Success isn’t a line trending upwards. Success is a circle. No matter how high your business—and your ego—soars, success still comes back to your employees.

5. They have something to prove – to themselves.

Many people have a burning desire to prove other people wrong. That’s a great motivator.

Remarkable entrepreneurs are driven by something deeper and more personal. True drive, commitment, and dedication springs from a desire to prove something to the most important person of all.

You.

6. They ignore the 40-hour workweek hype.

Studies show that working more than 40 hours a week decreases productivity.

Whatever.

Successful business owners work smarter, sure, but they also outwork their competition. (Every successful business owner I know who reads those stories probably thinks, “Cool. Hopefully my competitors will believe that crap.”)

The author Richard North Patterson tells a great story about Robert Kennedy. Kennedy was seeking to indict Teamsters head Jimmy Hoffa (who some believe is chilling in Argentina with Elvis and Jim Morrison). One night Kennedy worked on the Hoffa case until about 2 a.m. One his way home he passed the Teamsters building and saw the lights were still on in Hoffa’s office, so he turned around and went back to work.

There will always be people who are smarter and more talented than you. Remarkable entrepreneurs want it more. They’re ruthless—especially with themselves.

Remarkable entrepreneurs simply work harder. That’s the real secret of their success.

7. They see money as a responsibility, not a reward.

Many entrepreneurial cautionary tales involve buying 17 cars, loading up on pricey antiques, importing Christmas trees, and spending $40,000 a year for a personal masseuse.

Wait—maybe that’s just ex-Adelphia founder John Rigas.

Remarkable entrepreneurs don’t see money solely as a personal reward; they see money as a way to grow the business, reward and develop employees, give back to the community… in short, not just to make their own lives better but to improve the lives of other people too.

And most importantly they do so without fanfare, because the true reward is always in the act, not the recognition.

8. They don’t think they’re remarkable.

In a world of social media everyone can be their own PR agent. It’s incredibly easy for anyone to blow their own horn and bask in the glow of their insight and accomplishments.

Remarkable entrepreneurs don’t. They accept their success is based on ambition, persistence, and execution… but they also recognize that key mentors, remarkable employees, and a huge dose of luck also played a part.

Remarkable entrepreneurs reap the rewards of humility, asking questions, seeking advice,  recognizing and praising others…

9. They know that success is fleeting, but dignity and respect last forever.

Providing employees with higher pay, better benefits, and greater opportunities is certainly important. But no level of pay and benefits can overcome damage to self-esteem and self-worth.

The most important thing remarkable entrepreneurs provide employees, customers, vendors – everyone they meet – is dignity.

And so should you, because when you do, everything else follows.

Source Inc

Name: Keepon

Big Idea: Keepon is a little robot, developed in Japan, that is used to research childhood communication and interaction. The consumer version, MyKeepon, funds the construction and distribution of Keepons to labs around the globe.

Why It’s Working: Keepon’s simple design and mannerisms make it an effective communication tool that doesn’t intimidate kids with autism. Also, its cuteness factor is nothing short of infectious.

It tilts. It bounces. It turns, and it looks. It happens to have a cute, simple face. And for kids, it has a magnetic attraction that just begs for interaction. It is Keepon, and it’s a tiny robot that helps scientists learn the finer points of childhood communication.

Developed in Japan by Miyagi University’s Dr. Hideki Kozima, Keepon is a robot that looks fairly simple — just two beady eyes and a black nose on a soft, yellow rubber body. Even the robot’s name is simple: “Keepon” is a portmanteau of the Japanese word for yellow (ki) and the sound that Keepon makes when he bounces up and down (pon!). And it’s this simplicity that piqued the interest of Carnegie Mellon Ph.D. candidate Marek Michalowski.

“Kozima found that children were very frequently afraid of a big mechanical robot, even when it was designed to look like a child,” Michalowski explains. “Maybe if there was a very simple robot that physically exhibits minimal social appearance, it would cut through the noise for children.”

From Sendai, Japan to Pittsburgh, Pa., Michalowski and Kozima brought the little yellow Keepon back to Carnegie Mellon to conduct research on communication for children. Michalowski’s research delved into rhythms as a tool for childhood communication, while Kozima focused on autism’s effect on interaction in kids. Michalowski says that kids who participated in the study were at ease with Keepon’s friendly face and upbeat behaviors — and those with communication troubles made remarkable progress.

“We’ve found that the interactions that result with this robot — when it’s situated in a playroom under control of a therapist — have been really exciting,” says Michalowski. “We end up seeing behaviors from these children that we or the therapist or the parents don’t normally see.”

“It turns out that this appealing character designed for autism was more broadly engaging for the community,” Michalowski explains. “Since the videos, we had a lot of requests from toy companies to make something with this character.”

Under the distribution company Beatbots, Michalowski and Kozima began offering the research-grade KeeponPro and the consumer toy MyKeepon. Although MyKeepon lacks the cameras and extra robotic sensors of the KeeponPro, the little robot has touch sensors and a dance mode that grooves to any song. And, the proceeds of the MyKeepon go towards subsidizing KeeponPros for other labs. Michalowski says that the biggest challenge in developing MyKeepon was keeping it low-cost while staying true to Keepon’s original capabilities.

“Our goal was to maximize the degree to which we could keep the integrity of Keepon’s character in the form of a toy,” Michalowski says. “We worked very hard to think about what the interaction values would be with the toy and how it would behave.”

The mission of Beatbots, according to Michalowski, is to create a two-pronged approach to designing characters that are universally appealing and also supportive of important and specialized work. In short, Michalowski is excited that Beatbots can channel the public’s excitement for cuteness toward an important cause.

“Selling the toy allows us to continue the development of new robots,” Michalowski explains. “But more importantly, it allows us to donate these robots to people in that field.”

Series presented by GE

Source Mashable

1. Feed the hunger for participation.

People want to be a part of something bigger. For TED, the desire to scale to a global level was enabled by an empowered community, who were ready and willing to translate talks into different languages.

To date, TED Talks have been translated into 86 languages through all-volunteer efforts.

2. Encourage sharing.

There are 1200 TED Talks now online that have been viewed collectively more than 800,000,000 times.

Cohen explained that the increasing widespread use of social media naturally played a part in this process, but more importantly using the tools of the web in the best possible way to increase the sharability of content.

“Online users are exquisitely vulnerable to distraction” said Cohen.

With a rise in mobile, TED embraced the trends of their community and purposely designed their online talks to be optimized for small screen, cut long intros and started the videos strong.

TED also made sure videos are framed close to the speaker’s face. So on a mobile phone, viewers can see the emotion of what is being communicated.

And TED videos can be watched through many devices, embedded, downloaded as free podcast, etc. By embracing open (free) models they aim to reduce the barriers between the ideas and their intended audience.

3. Listen to your users.

Your users will usually be the ones to give you your best ideas. They’re the ones interacting within the space in ways a brand may not have ever imagined unless they actually listen.

“We don’t have a monopoly on good ideas,” said Cohen; tapping into that empowered community for global research and development.

Many of the best ideas for TED and their expansion has come from how they listen to requests from their community.

Ask yourself, what do you really need for your company? What do your users want?

4. Reach people everywhere (not just online.)

How are you engaging your community beyond a piece of content online?

The success of TED talks fueled a demand by individuals to start having their own TED talks and bring the positive message to their part of the world. Instead of allowing it to happen on its own, TED embraced this desire and created the TEDx platform.

This TEDx umbrella gives individual communities this power to come together and host their own TED-like events. For TED, it’s ability to ensure that their message continued to flourish in the way they intended.

5. Don’t forget to tell a story.

At the heart of great media are great stories.

Compelling and diverse content presented in a variety of interesting ways keeps people engaged. What are you creating for your brand’s audience? Is it providing some value that warrants their time?

Cohen cited presentations from Wael Ghonim and Hans Rosling as a sampling of these truly moving presentations that strike a chord and spark conversations in all parts of the world.

Image source: TED

Source Social Fresh

These aren’t those Twitter mistakes that you read about in the paper or see on TMZ.

These are simple and easy-to-fix mistakes that are often made by people who just don’t know any better. (For me, it took having my boss at my first social media gig telling me to watch my spelling and to lay off the exclamation points.)

For you, I asked around at Constant Contact to see if anyone had any input on mistakes that make businesses look dumb on Twitter. (Also, check out 25 Things that Make You Look Dumb on Facebook.)

Here are 25 things to be aware of on Twitter:

1. Not leaving enough space to retweet. The first lesson every Twitter newbie should learn: just because you have 140 characters, doesn’t mean you need to use them all. It’s usually a good idea to keep posts to about 120 characters to allow people who retweet with the RT format the ability to do so without having to edit your tweet for length.

2. Not shortening links in your Tweets. This is one of the most common mistakes and it doesn’t need to be. Check out link shorteners like bit.ly or ow.ly. You’ll also be able to track the number of clicks the links you’re sharing get with these tools.

3. Looooong Twitter handles. Are you noticing a pattern? If your handle is longer than the first half of your tweet, you’re losing valuable space. Keep handles as short as possible so you have enough room to actually write something.

4. Too much self promotion. A little self promotion is good for any business but if your timeline is riddled with “I’s or We’s” and your only retweets are about you, then you’re doing too much. Follow the 80/20 rule. Post 80% helpful or entertaining content and save 20% for the self-promotional stuff.

5. #HashtagAbuse. Hashtags are without a doubt the most interesting part of Twitter. But in addition to sometimes being hilarious, they are extremely helpful for organization purposes. Don’t abuse the hashtag, save it for when you need it.

6. Not responding to Tweets. If you’re not being social, why are you on social media? You might not be able to respond to everything, but do your best to answer questions and address any negative feedback. And don’t forget to say thanks when it’s positive.

7. Automatic direct messages. Too many people send automatic direct messages to new followers. Don’t do this. You don’t want the first impression that you make on your customers to be from a robot.

8. Too much negativity. No one wants to follow a depressing tweeter. Keep your tweets positive and your followers will act accordingly.

9. QR code avatar. Nowadays you see QR codes in some crazy places, don’t let your Twitter account be one of them. Make your avatar something that reflects you or your brand.

10. Too much abbreviation. Sometimes you’re going to have to abbreviate but try not to abandon grammar to the point of being unreadable.

11. Spelling errors. Spelling errors are going to happen but try to keep them to a minimum. People will notice them and it can make your business look sloppy. Review before you hit send. (Watch for some common misspellings, like There/Their/They’re/Your/You’re.)

12. Tweeting without a strategy. Never tweet just for the sake of tweeting. Take some time to decide why you’re on Twitter and what you want to get from it. Let that guide your content.

13. Too much dialogue, not enough content. Twitter is all about sharing content. You want to engage with followers but you also want to give them content that makes them engage with you.

14. Too much content, not enough dialogue. Confused yet? It’s all about finding a balance. Unless you’re a news outlet, then I’m looking for more than just news. Use your content to drive engagement from your followers and start a discussion.

15. Only tweeting 9-5. No one expects your Twitter to be a 24/7 operation but your followers don’t log off when you go home for the day. Hootsuite is a great option for managing and scheduling tweets.

16. Tweeting without the facts. This is the number one way to hurt your credibility and tick your followers off. Be a helpful source of information in your industry, not a rumor mill.

17. Tweeting too often. There’s no set formula for how much you should be tweeting. But unless you’re the most interesting person in the world, chances are if you’re clogging up their timeline they’ll get turned off in a hurry.

18. USING TOO MANY CAPS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!! You wouldn’t yell at your customers in person, don’t do it on Twitter. Use sparingly for maximum impact.

19. Bad talking competition. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Building connections is a great way to build your following and many of your competitors’ followers would likely be happy to follow you too.

20. Not connecting your business website to your Twitter account. 80.5% of small businesses DO NOT link their sites to their social networks. Don’t let your business be part of that group. They’re missing potential followers and most importantly customers.

21. Outdated Twitter profile. Your profile says a lot about who you are. Tell people what you’re all about and give them a reason to follow. And make sure it’s up-to-date.

22. Responding with the same answer from multiple admins. It’s good to respond to people’s tweets, but if multiple people are tweeting from your handle, get on the same page and agree on the right voice for your brand.

23. Facebook/Twitter overflow. Connecting your Facebook and Twitter feeds might seem like a good idea but if your Twitter is solely just a feed for your Facebook, then it defeats the purpose of being on Twitter in the first place.

24. Asking too many questions. A question can be a great way to get feedback or start a conversation but if you’re constantly asking, “How’s everyone doing?!” and no one is answering then it’s not adding to the conversation.

25. Not sharing the love. If people are promoting you on Twitter, show them some love back. A retweet can go a long way on Twitter and so can mentioning someone when you share their article or post.

Didn’t realize so much could go wrong with just 140 characters? Don’t worry. everyone, and I mean everyone, is going to make some mistakes when they’re starting off. The best you can do is keep this list in mind and try not to let a couple missteps ruin the party.

What are some of the things you think make people look dumb on Twitter? Tell us in the comments below!

Source Constant Contact

Image Stevie Mack Designs

The most frequently downloaded apps by affluent Americans are Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue and Gilt Groupe. Only two – Saks and Gilt Groupe – support purchasing direct from the mobile app.

Nearly three-quarters of affluent consumers said there is no monetary limit to what they would spend via a mobile app.

Over half (56%) use apps to find out more about a product or brand but 45% still prefer to make purchases in-store as they enjoy the experience.

Mobile app features that are popular with affluent consumers include in-store inventory, cross-store sizing and availability, product details, loyalty program information, and exclusive or early access to sales and promotions.

Sixty-percent of affluent consumers own a smartphone compared with 48% of the general population and mobile shopping is the second most-popular activity they conduct on their devices.

“Luxury brands must acknowledge the impact of technology advancements in the mobile space and find a humanistic way to connect and engage with their consumers through mobile,” said Milton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute.

A short video detailing some of the study findings can be viewed online.

Source Biz Reports

Your college years must be the years of gaining knowledge, but nobody is truly conscious of the significance of financial literacy.

A majority of the college students feel that their institution didn’t really train them for the “real world”. They believe that their college might have provided them with formal teachings, but didn’t really introduce them to the real world skills.

With no real work experience and no savings, a number of students are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Hence, financial education is something that’s extremely important in every student’s life.

When it comes to financial education, social media plays an important role. Lots of students use social networking to remain in touch with their family and friends. As an administrator, instructor, or parent, you can communicate effectively with students via Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, and YouTube.

According to a study conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute, a majority of the first year undergraduates spend time on social networking websites. Again, a lot of colleges and universities have begun using Facebook and Twitter in the classroom. If students are utilizing an online medium such as Twitter and Facebook to share their thoughts, they might be more interested in joining discussions in the classroom.

Social networking sites are also an affordable means to communicate news to both students and alumni. Once you start remaining advanced with the technology that students use on a day to day basis, it’ll help you be more effectual with your ideas, alumni dealings and campus outreach.

Using Twitter or Facebook

Look for friends – Get in touch with other schools, students, administrators, and professors who are using social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter.

Share information – Inform students about forthcoming occasions, campus news and useful resources. You may also share information with other staffs.

Use in classroom – Lots of schools are encouraging Facebook and Twitter participation in their classroom, since this is a simple way for students to take part in lecture halls or outdoor class.

Place questions – Use the platform provided by Facebook and Twitter to raise questions and initiate a conversation.

YouTube in the classroom

In contrast to accepted belief, educational and interesting YouTube videos do exist. A website has been created by The National Endowment for Financial Education where users may submit comments or videos about goods they previously purchased but never used.

Instances of videos include an obsession to buying the latest cell phone, spending $10,000 per year on a diet coke habit, or purchasing an old-fashioned costume and regretting it later

Source Edudemic

Source CTU

When are you better off using Twitter, or LinkedIn?

And what exactly is Google+ good for, anyway?

The business consultant network Zintro recently pulled research from more than a dozen sources including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google  to put together this infographic, which will help you develop your social strategy.