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 So!  You've just started your own business.  Congratulations... now what?  That moment of relief once you've finally launched your own business can be quickly replaced with, "Now how do I stay in business?"  Dina Kaplan, co-founder of Blip.tv, shares some of her tips in a recent article for growing a small group of video bloggers to a site that thousands of users access to host and upload their shows to.

 Kaplan understands how to grow business, with or without much funding, and here are some of her biggest pieces of advice for any business starting out. When you're first starting out, don't try to be all things to all people.  Kaplan chose a very select group of people to target when Blip.tv began - find a niche audience that you think you can serve and make their experience better and focus in on them.  Furthermore, once you've identified your audience, study them, interact with them, learn from them.  The only way to better serve them is to talk one on one and find out what exactly they want before you can give it to them.  It could be as simple as sitting down for a drink and listening to what users want to make their lives easier.  Next, Kaplan stresses hiring experts.  Typically the founders are busy doing everything for the company, but to make it grow and flourish and become bigger than yourself, it's important to hire talented people for the different fields of expertise your business requires.  She also notes that company culture is important - people talk and if your company is a great place to work, people will hear about it.  Connect with your professional community; forming relationships is crucial to helping your business grow.  Yes, you have to have a great product to offer to the public, but without the proper contacts to help you get it out there, you're sunk.  And finally, don't obsess over the funding.  This is especially important for Internet businesses, but Kaplan firmly believes if the product is a great idea, the money will come.  Focus first and foremost on the product and the market.

 These are the things Dina Kaplan has learned since she founded Blip.tv back in 2005 and transformed it from a very niche website into a very successful website.  Take these tips to heart as you're launching and growing your own business. If you need some assistance or are looking for experts to help grow your business, consider hiring Twist. We've got experts in all different fields of marketing, Internet, and branding, and we'd love to promote your product.  Go to our website to see what we're capable of or contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to learn more.