{"id":11763,"date":"2015-09-25T08:37:44","date_gmt":"2015-09-25T08:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.francinebeleyi.com\/?p=11763"},"modified":"2025-04-23T19:10:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T19:10:22","slug":"how-to-go-from-zero-to-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/francinebeleyi.com\/how-to-go-from-zero-to-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Go From Zero To Hero? 7 Lessons From \u2018Girls Can Code\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new BBC program \u2018Girls Can Code<\/a>\u2019 features five young women addicted to their smartphones but with no desire to have a career in the tech world. They embark on a 2-week journey to figure out whether they can become tech enthusiasts. The show is part of the BBC\u2019s \u2018Make it Digital<\/a>\u2019 initiative to inspire people to get involved in the digital world.<\/p>\n

Here are the seven<\/strong> key lessons that anyone can apply to get from zero to hero:<\/p>\n

#1. Get The Digital Secret <\/strong><\/p>\n

Is there any secret to succeed in a Tech venture?<\/p>\n

Cait O\u2019Riordan, VP of product and music at Shazam<\/a>, the app that identifies the music playing around you, reveals the secret: Understand people and the data that explain their behaviour.<\/p>\n

At Shazam they are obsessed\u00a0to create products people will love. They study how people interact and use their app. They want to understand why people love a particular song so they track everything.<\/p>\n

They know exactly who is using their app — 120 million users\/month, when — within the 10 seconds of a song starting and what that means. With all this number crunching the company can predict what song will chart 30 days ahead.<\/p>\n

You have to get dirty with the data and track everything to target the right people at the right time.<\/p>\n

#2. Do Not Confuse Sales With Marketing <\/strong><\/p>\n

After the data crunching session at Shazam, the participants are sent to Fulham Broadway to promote a music act. The target is\u00a0to exceed the average \u00a330\/h the band would normally earn.<\/p>\n

But right in the heat of the moment\u00a0 they make a classic mistake and jump straight into action without any strategy or planning and start collecting money from people on the street.<\/p>\n

With a lot of hype, smile and energy spent they manage to achieve their goal. Their only focus was to reach the monetary goal but they missed the point. \u00a0The assignment was to\u00a0market the band not to sell! What is the difference?<\/p>\n

They needed to find ways to raise a greater awareness of the act\u00a0 whilst making them more profitable. The band was the product to market but instead they focussed on raising money.<\/p>\n

As a result of this operation the band got a bit more money but no promotion. They didn\u2019t raise the level of interest and demand for them.<\/p>\n

What could they have done (I admit, it’s always easier to think things through in hindsight)?<\/p>\n