Author: Franz Malten Buemann

Hello guys, any app recommendation or a way to automatize/schedule the posting of reels on Instagram? You can schedule posts and stories with Meta Business, but not reels, and I want to post reels. submitted by /u/No-Dig-3087 [link] [comments]

Hey everyone! I’m new here so wasn’t here if I needed to introduce myself but here we go… I love to talk about local SEO and reputation management tools. Looking to learn from all of you here and share what I know 🙂 submitted by /u/HughGupta [link] [comments]

Welcome toBreaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.
Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, originating from around 20 diverse countries, have a long history of exclusion, strict immigration laws, and discrimination. When immigrants, like my grandfather, from East and Southeast Asia made it into America in the 19th and 20th centuries, most of the available jobs were backbreaking labor.
When access to employment was slim, or wages were low, many newcomers relied on building small businesses to provide for their families. Those businesses have become deeply rooted in the day-to-day life of American society–restaurants, nail salons, doughnut shops, dry cleaners, spas, markets, and many others.
Still, obstacles have continued to exist. The National CAPACD analyzed federal and membership data on AAPI small businesses and noted gaps in access to funding, a recent rise in hate crimes, and language barriers. Despite these challenges, the U.S. Census Bureau has reported around 2 million AAPI-owned businesses across all industries, from entertainment, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, real estate, tech, and more. Countless household names, like YouTube, DoorDash, Old Navy, Peloton, and Notion, were founded by Asian Americans.
Another roadblock that prevents entrepreneurs from growing successful companies is the need for more awareness of available resources. In this post, discover advice, organizations, and services that exist to meet the unique needs of AAPI business owners.
Learn From Successful AAPI Founders and Executives
Read books and articles or listen to podcasts, like this one featuring HubSpot’s CEO Yamini Rangan, to learn stories about how successful entrepreneurs have built and kept their enterprises afloat. They’ll have real-life lessons and perspectives to help you make the right decisions for your ventures.
I connected with a few AAPI founders whose companies have blossomed in the past couple of years. Here is some of their wisdom to encourage your success.
1. Don’t wait too long to start building your teams.
Sandro Roco, founder and CEO of Sanzo, says, “Don’t wait too long to start building the right team. Especially in a tight labor market, it takes time to find, recruit, hire, and onboard the right team members. And so if you wait too long, you’re actually behind. No brand or company that ever made it big did so with just the original founding team, and so it’s important to hire well.”

2. Fight for abundance.
Kim Pham, the co-founder of Omsom, says, “Fight for abundance. My sister and co-founder Vanessa and I fought deeply internalized scarcity from being daughters of Vietnamese refugees, and it pervades so much of our decision-making (especially in the early days) –– but to truly build the company of your dreams, you need to fight for that abundance and play to win. That means taking big swings and risks, but also choosing rest, joy, and celebration.”

3. Practice intention and mindfulness.
Lucia Tran, creative producer and founder of Her Studio, says, “Everything I do has to be more than just about creating photos and videos for companies. Otherwise, what are we doing but selling yet another product? There has to be intention and mindfulness in what we offer to the world – build equity in your company, care about the people you hire and the people you’re targeting, and work to bring joy to the world. I’m in the business of uplifting those who need a hand.”

4. Believe in yourself.
Steffi Lynn, illustrator, muralist, and founder of Have A Nice Day, says, “Believe in yourself, believe in what you’re doing, and keep going. Put yourself out there and be ready for anything that comes your way, because you never know what is available for you unless you try.”

Get Involved With Your National and Local Asian Chamber of Commerce
A Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit business network, not a government entity. Businesses, organizations, and individuals can become chamber members to advocate for economic development, job creation, community stability, and representation of their legislative agendas at local, state, and national levels.
In addition to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are local chambers across the country, including ones for minority communities. Becoming a member usually includes access to relationships with other businesses, discounts on services, a boost in visibility, and opportunities to have your voice heard.
Find the local Asian Chamber of Commerce in your city or state by searching the Chamber of Commerce Directory, and also check out the below organizations:
1. National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship
(National ACE) is an organization that advocates for economic development and community building for the current and next generation of AAPI entrepreneurs. With relationships with Congress, the White House, and federal agencies, National ACE leads multiple initiatives that provide grants, training, events, and amplification of AAPI voices. You’ll read about a few of their programs in the following sections.
2. US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation
(USPAACC) is a nonprofit that serves as an educational and networking organization with a gateway to corporate and government contracts, suppliers, and Fortune 1000 companies. USPAACC’s programs include business matchmaking, leadership series, legislative advocacy, pitch competitions, conferences, and awards.
Grow Your Network and Sharpen Your Skills
The National CAPACD reported that AAPI business owners primarily rely on family and friends for advice and money.
Still, a critical step in business growth is broadening your network, accumulating more opportunities, and learning new skills. Attending events, signing up for workshops, and joining organizations can introduce you to people and resources that will make the entrepreneurial journey less lonely and mysterious. Here are some networks to consider:

The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development’s (National CAPACD) Small Business Program provides financial education, coaching, and peer technical assistance for AAPI entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them build credit and capital. The majority of the business owners the program serves are immigrants or refugees.
ACE NextGen is a community of young AAPI entrepreneurs striving to have more leadership presence in America while feeling fulfilled and supported in their careers. Membership includes educational programming, conferences, retreats, and access to invite-only networking spaces in person and online. ACE NextGen members also have the opportunity to work with National ACE and Fortune 500 companies to impact business policies. 
Gold House is best known for increasing the representation of API voices and faces in media and entertainment, but it also invests in Asian and Pacific Islander-founded companies. Its Futures Accelerator is a 12-week program with masterclasses, 1:1 advising, fund investments, fundraising support, and a community of start-up entrepreneurs. Gold House also hosts the Multicultural Leadership Coalition, a union of funds that helps place leaders from underrepresented communities on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of leading private companies.
Asian Business Association educates its members on government policies on small businesses.It is active with several community organizations, public agencies, and corporations to represent the views of Asian American business owners. Members of the association are also encouraged to do business together, attend events, and recruit new talent by listing positions on ABA’s job board.
The Asian American Pacific Islander Business Summit is a free virtual event hosted by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Experts lead presentations, panels, and workshops across four tracks: Business Communication and Marketing, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Government Contract and Business Certification, and Small Business Financial Management and Investment Trends. In 2022, the summit will take place on November 13 and 14, with presentations in English and a few translation options.

Apply For Funding
Whether applying for grants and loans or securing funding from investors, having more capital will help speed up the process of acquiring the necessary components of running your business—for example, production, staff, and marketing.

Gold House Ventures connects industry-changing entrepreneurs with investors to accelerate company growth.
National ACE’s small business resource center provides virtual training on accessing capital, applying for grants, understanding government funding, marketing, and more. It also has a program called AAPISTRONG, which works with 100 of its affiliated Asian chambers of commerce to aid businesses negatively impacted by the pandemic, racial bias, and anti-AAPI hate.

Proudly Share Your Business and Be Easily Searchable
Some people are eager to support minority-owned businesses and often seek them out. Google launched the capability to add an “Asian-owned” attributeto business profiles, making it easy for customers to find businesses like yours using Google Maps and the search engine. When executing your traditional and digital marketing, feel free to affirm your AAPI roots.
There is space for your business to flourish, and an important step is seeking assistance from services and organizations created for that exact purpose. In time, these resources may help you build a strong business foundation for generations to come.

The creator economy is seeing a huge boom, and many marketers are looking for ways to use it in their campaigns. The most common way marketers leverage this new economy is by collaborating with creators to expand audience reach. But what should marketers look for when hiring creators?
In this article, the experts at HubSpot will explain what to look for when working with creators. The following information is perfect for marketers looking to collaborate with creators and creators trying to attract partnerships with brands.

5 Things to Look for When Hiring Creators
Here are five things businesses and brands look for when hiring content creators.
1. A Results-Driven Approach
“As a results-driven person, the first thing I care about is producing results, especially when working with creators,” said Brandon Huang, Partnerships Lead for the Creators Program. “I take a close look at all the quantitative metrics that I can regarding a creator: their reach, their engagement, how consistent they are with posting, and how consistent the results are on the content they create.”
Creators should regularly track their metrics to have concrete numbers to show potential brands and quantify their success. Some metrics creators should follow are:

Traffic
Conversions
Impressions
Click-through-rate (CTR)
Engagement

Business owners should also be mindful of these metrics when scoping out creators to work with to get an accurate impression of whether the creator can help the brand achieve its goals.
“For example, with YouTube, you want to see consistency in views per video because it makes it easier to model out from a business perspective, and I, as a partner, have a better understanding of the results I’ll get from working with this creator over a longer span of time,” Huang said.
2. Great Work Ethic
“Work ethic is also important to me,” Huang told me. “Can I see the effort they are putting into creating content and marketing their content to reach new audiences?”
Huang said a creator’s work ethic could also be assessed by how they bring on the right resources or personnel to support their operations.
As he puts it, “The best creators understand how to delegate and create infrastructure around them, so they don’t have to do the marketing part if they don’t want to and truly focus solely on creating content.”
To ensure you’re hiring a strong content creator, you’ll want to ask creators about their processes. How do they juggle all the responsibilities of being a content creator? It’s critical that the content creators’ you speak with have a thoughtful response to that question.

3. Alignment
HubSpot’s Head of Creators Partnerships, Alanah Joseph, says audience alignment is essential when collaborating with any creator.
“When we reach out to a creator, we have a pretty good idea of the content they cover,” she said. “However, we’ll request additional data on their audience to better gauge how well our advertisement will resonate within the creator’s content.”
Joseph said creators could prove a collaboration will be effective by surveying their own audience or knowing their audience exceptionally well. Tip for creators: You can know your audience better by creating detailed buyer personas. You can also monitor audience feedback, comments, and engagement.
However, audience alignment isn’t the only factor to consider when hiring a creator..
“Culture and personality fit are also important factors to consider,” Huang said. “Since we are focused on building relationships, it’s not just about results … but also how easy it is to work with a creator.”
It’s essential to ensure the personalities, values, and ethics of both the brand and the creator align for a smooth collaboration because the goal is for that initial collaboration to become a beneficial long-term partnership for both parties.
“As a team player, I need to make sure that I’m bringing on creators that my colleagues will enjoy working with for 1-2+ years,” Huang said. “Even simple things like being responsive through communication, taking feedback well, and really reciprocating that they care about my goals just as much as their own goals — which I’m trying to help with — goes a long way. This is truly meant to be a partnership and not a singular transaction.”
Businesses should partner with content creators who approach the opportunity with a positive, cooperative, team-oriented attitude, and content creators should embody that attitude when working with brands.
“Good partners are good people,” Joseph said. “We genuinely enjoy working with and supporting creators. When a creator is friendly, willing to collaborate, and professional, we will find more opportunities to work with the creator or offer a long-term partnership.”

4. Unique Style
Content creators should bring their personal touch to any project because brands want a campaign to stand out and capture the audience’s attention.
“Editorial style and editing style are both important,” Huang said. “Do they align with HubSpot? There’s more flexibility here, but certainly, unique editing captures my attention, and incorporating humor is a really fun way to make educational/business content more exciting.”
5. Authenticity
Finally, authenticity is a critical component you’ll want to consider when hiring a creator.
As Joseph told me, “Authenticity is key. Authenticity builds trust, so when a creator brings their full selves to their content, their audience trusts them. This is important for a brand looking to run advertisements within the creator’s content. If the audience trusts the creator, they will be more likely to trust the creator’s recommendations.”
Whether you’re a brand looking for a creator or you’re a creator looking to partner with a business, hopefully these tips will help set you up for a successful business partnership in 2023 and beyond.