Rohail Rizvi- Entrepreneur in the Making

Today me and my associate went hard to work marketing Walamu at the student center. Our responses were pretty varied and it was a very interesting “experiment.” My associate did an awesome job getting people’s attention, talking to the students, and letting them know what Walamu is all about. No question she did a much better job than me. That’s why I hired her .

All in all, the results were not crazy, but not bad either. I don’t want to reveal the exact number of hits that resulted due to competition, but we do have other promotional tactics planned and this first one was really just a practice run to get a feel of how difficult it would be to go one-on-one with the students. Speaking of that, some students were very receptive to the idea and replied with an enthusiastic “Sweet!” in response to getting a business card, whereas others were non-responsive or tried to walk faster as soon as they spotted us handing out material. Right now we have to do a better job of letting the students know what exactly Walamu is because believe it or not, as easy as we’ve tried to make it, it still isn’t very apparent. Making it easier for people to understand what Walamu is is going to be one of our primary objectives for the next few weeks. Our Walamu t-shirts are coming in tomorrow and so that should increase the trust level between us and other students. I’ll let you guys know how that works.

Furthermore, Walamu has long been avoiding any sort of funding, although having come across several offers. Blame the bootstrapper in me. It’s a tough decision to decide when and how much funding to accept. Call me greedy, but so far I’ve been meaning to fund Walamu as well as I can and reap the benefits of my own investment. Nevertheless, the need for outside funding may not be as necessary as I once thought as I may have come across a secret stash of mula. Screw retirement, I’m all in.

Sorry for the long time no post. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

I had a podcast for you guys last week, but when I uploaded it to the blog and played it, I sounded like a chipmunk. If anyone knows how to convert the mp3 I have from 32 bit to 64 bit, please let me know, because I think that’s what’s causing the problem.

As for all you lucky bastards that got your hands on a new Wii or PS3, hope you’re having fun .

As most of you know, especially if you’re in college, we’re getting close to the end of the first semester. That means it’s time to rock hard with Walamu. Our hardcore marketing starts tomorrow and I’ll let you know what we’ve got planned. The reason I idled on the marketing for most of the semester was because most people hang on to their textbooks and other stuff (like dorm furniture) while classes are in session and so now that we’re nearing the end of the semester it’s time to roll out the billboards. Up til now, I’ve mainly been focusing on creating a brand for Walamu on campus as opposed to actually getting people to use it. However, now that Walamu is pretty well established on campus, it’s time to go for the goods. Here’s what’s in store for tomorrow:

I’ve ordered and received 5000 business card sized flyers.

and I’ve hired a very motivated and hard working college student/model to help talk to students about Walamu/hand out those cards. She really knows her stuff and so I have high hopes for her.
In addition, I’ve ordered some Walamu gear for us to be promoting in (can’t show you how they look, CafePress blocks that somehow).
All in all, it’s looking pretty good. Hopefully, talking to students one-on-one and letting the know what Walamu is about might be what the super-fickle college student needs to try out a new service.

Actually nevermind, no smacking needed. I’ve come to my senses.

It’s easy to say that I’ve been busy with classes and keeping up a high GPA in order get into business school, but that doesn’t really cut it. I’ve got a world of opportunities here! I need to wake up and get going! None of my dreams are going to become a reality unless I continue to work hard towards them. I’m in need of some serious visualization. I know where I want to go; I just need to visualize it and work towards that vision.

Here are some things that I’m coming to visualize right now:

Near Term
December 23, 2006- Have at least 500 new postings on Walamu and take my guerrilla marketing to the fullest. I don’t care if I end up having to (carefully) resort to credit cards; this is my one and only chance to dominate in the college classifieds arena and make Walamu something huge.

Spring 2007- Run for class president, but DON”T win (I really don’t want to run to win; it’s more about getting myself out there and expanding my comfort zone)

August 2007- Buy my first foreclosure and have found roommates to pay mortgage. This is going to save me from paying 10 grand a year living in a dorm and have nothing to show for it.

Long Term

August 2009- Have mastered the art of flipping property and successfully have flipped a number of properties.

August 2010- If I do decide to work for a bit right after college, I will use those earnings to earn a huge return playing several small cap stocks and continue to play the small cap stocks I currently own (that is if they remain to be classified as ’small cap’ stocks) for that year as I already know how to do (Just need the cash!!).
October 2010 / Age 23- Purchase this beautiful Las Vegas home.

2013 / Age 26- Purchase a Ferrari 360 Modena.

I gotta go- a lot more entrepreneuring to do .

Being entrepreneurs can sometimes make you forget why we’re really doing what we’re doing. If you’re like me, you’re doing this because you truly believe your creations will help change and improve the world. Too often it becomes too much about raking in the money and checking our AdSense totals. It’s important to take a step back from time to time and open your heart to help those in need today.

I’m currently looking to pick up one or two marketing related books, preferably something that could help out with marketing an Internet company like Walamu.com. I’ve been looking at the reviews for Seth Godin’s books over at Amazon and am not really sure which one of his titles would suit me best. I’m thinking about:

• Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers
• Unleashing the Ideavirus
• All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World
• Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable

I’m also looking at a non- Seth Godin title by the name of Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business (Guerrilla Marketing) written by Jay Conrad Levinson.

Anyone know which one of these books would be best suited for me and my efforts in marketing Walamu? Any other suggestions?