marketing log

Choose Your Poison (but make it strong)

2010-03-22T11:52:00.000+02:00

One of the biggest sources of confusion small business owners face when deciding on a marketing strategy is navigating through all the outreach opportunities available and choosing the one that is right for them and their particular business. Especially now with the onslaught of social media and the bonanza of opportunities which it brings (twitter, facebook, linkedin, youtube, foursquare…to name a few).

In the end, the best marketing strategy is the one you can most fully embrace and utilize. There are a lot opportunity out there, don’t try to be a jack of all trades. Decide on your resources (time, money, etc.) and choose the medium you want to focus on based on those resources and your overall business/marketing objectives and goals.

But whatever you do, if you focus on two overall goals and you far ahead of most of your competitors

1) Be awesome! It is much better to narrow the marketing mediums you utilize and focus on being the best at the strategies you do employ. Don’t have time to do facebook and twitter? Choose one and make you campaign incredible. Successful marketing isn’t an all or nothing thing. In the end, it isn’t the business who has the most campaigns, but the business who has the smartest campaigns that wins the consumer’s business.

2) Be consistent! Make sure all your marketing efforts point your consumer in the same direction and tell them the same story. A good test of this is to step back and take your/your business’s name out of all your different campaigns. Would your consumer still be able to tell they all were representing the same company?

Marketing is about choosing your poison, but making it strong. A weak shot will either have no effect on your target customers or simply make them sick to their stomachs.

[Via http://flyingpigcommunications.com]

Nintendo President shifts the onus of mature games development

2010-03-22T05:40:00.000+02:00

What are Nintendo's priorities?

Reggie Fils-Aime, the President at Nintendo of America, has recently given his explanation as to why there seems to be more ‘mature’ games coming from third-party developers on Nintendo platforms.

Let’s face it, whether you like their consoles/games or not, Nintendo has done a lot for the video games industry. Not only is the company one of the early pioneers in the market, it is still standing strong today; developing some of the most innovative products in an industry that is ever-evolving. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Mario, Donkey Kong, and Zelda franchises (among many others) recently got awarded the Academy Fellowship at this year’s British Academy Video Games Awards, and rightly so. Not only has he led teams of developers in bringing us some of the most iconic games in history, he’s still involved with some of the most anticipated upcoming titles today.

Being in the industry for almost thirty years; he has undoubtedly seen many changes in how games are developed. However, games aren’t the only things that have changed. Us gamers that grew up in the 80s have also changed. Whilst we still enjoy games that have classic gameplay mechanics that hold everything together, our tastes have changed as much as they have stayed the same. This current generation of consoles has seen Nintendo come under heavy fire for not providing enough for the more ‘hardcore’ gamer and the ‘mature’ demographic .

Speaking to MTV, Fils-Aime states that Nintendo are not experts at creating ‘mature’ games and that their developers “don’t particularly enjoy making that content”.

“They probably could make stellar content, if they chose to. We choose to do something else. So it really is up to the third-party developer to create that great content and bring it to life on the platform.”

First of all, we have to wonder what one means when describing games as ‘mature’ in nature. If that term is used to describe the visuals as photo-realistic, then I suppose Nintendo are guilty of not providing enough titles that look that way. If we mean it in terms of cerebral interaction, I would say the company has done more than its fair share of bringing us titles with original concepts and lateral thinking. If it means games with sex and profanity in it, well, I doubt we’ll ever see characters like Princess Peach or Samus Aran stripping off whilst swearing and cussing like there’s no tomorrow.

Whatever the definition of ‘mature’ is, there seems to be more games catering to that demographic on rival systems like the PS3 and Xbox 360. So with Fils-Aime putting the onus of developing these types of games on the third-part developers, is that a fair course of action? Is that productive?

Even if first-party developers have “chosen” not to focus their efforts on ‘mature’ games, Nintendo still has to make it as easy as possible for third-parties to make decent games and get a good response from critics and gamers. One key factor is marketing. Nintendo has focussed so much on marketing the Wii and DS/DSi as family-friendly consoles, they seem to have completely ignored the so-called ‘mature gamers’. What use is it if third-party developers spend the time and effort to create ‘mature’ games if ‘mature gamers’ aren’t interested in the consoles they are on?

Compelling ‘mature’ titles from third-party developers like MadWorld, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles (among others) haven’t sold as well as they perhaps ought to have, mainly because of the lack of marketing. Nintendo has to start making more of an effort when it comes to helping third-parties advertise their games. Not only that, but the way they do so too. Stop using ‘celebrities’ like Ant & Dec to face marketing campaigns. Stop focusing the appeal of the Wii and DS/DSi to the ‘casual’ gamer and let the world know that the consoles are for everyone.

Simply shifting the responsibility to third-parties but doing little to help them does no-one any favours.

[MTV] Reggie: Nintendo Devs Don’t Enjoy Making Mature Games

[Via http://trevchan.wordpress.com]

More than words...It's your Strategy (part 2)

2010-03-19T11:51:00.000+02:00

Now that we have discussed the importance and purpose of a well-thought-out strategy, it is time to walk you through how to actually develop a strategy. We start by working backwards to determine where and what we want to be in the future. Once you have an end goal to strive for, you can back-fill in the pieces that will be needed to achieve the long term. Here is our process:

Create a vision for your practice. When you first decide to open your business, you had a plan in mind for the way your company will fit into this world and leave its mark. We have all been there. This type of forward thinking can allow you to paint an image of what you want your practice to be like in the future. This can include values, image, size, and scope. The vision can include your values and ideals. These things, pulled straight from your imagination, will need to be reflected in the look and feel of your business.

Set the long-term goals for your business and milestones for achieving the vision. How many long-term goals will it take for you to achieve your vision? Do you plan to become a fortune 500 company with your small business in fifteen to twenty, years or do you want to stay small? Think about what goals would take multiple years and write them down. Now create milestones that will show tangible results of moving toward each one of those goals. Milestones are measurements at points in time that let you know you are getting closer to completing your goals.

Set the short-term goals and milestones over the next twelve months, which will lead you toward achieving those long-term goals. Continuing to work backwards, move from the long range planning to the short term. The short-term goal setting is what you want to achieve in the next twelve months. That will lead to long-term objectives, which, in turn, will lead to the vision of the company. At this point you may be thinking, ‘I am too small of a business for this to apply.’ Rest assured, nothing could be further from the truth. Even if you are a one-person show, these steps provide the basis for decision making. It will also help you determine what you want to do with your business, what you want it to become, and what you need to do to make it happen. In the short term, your goals may be to increase sales 20% by doing more direct sales calling. Well, now that you set the goal, what are you going to track to make sure you are actually getting there? Set monthly objectives that will make your successes and failures apparent. It is better to know if you are failing or moving in the wrong direction in the first month, then realizing at the end of a twelve-month cycle that you have been failing all along.

Create the detailed steps needed to achieve the short-term goals and clarify the success factors. This is the how-to portion of to make things happen! What is the highly detailed process or plan for achieving the short term? What needs to be done? How will it get done? Why is it important to the success? Where will you need to do these things? Who will being working will you to help you achieve them? When do you expect it to be complete and what defines complete?

We mentioned a plan above to increase sales 20% by doing more phone calls. Think about this example. Who is going to do this? What is going to be offered? How will you do it? Why will the customer be interested (benefits)? Where will your calls be focused and when is the best time to call prospective clients? All of these questions need to be included in your battle plan before you can execute it. If you are just starting a practice , developing these questions and plan may only take an hour, but for someone who has a larger thriving practice, it may take a bit longer. In either case, spend the extra time thinking heavily on each component to make sure that the plan is created right the first time around.

Establish a communication system for how, when, and where people will communicate. Communication is the key to putting this all together. Communication is vital to creating any type of business. Think about a football team with all of the different positions on the field and the importance of everyone knowing their role and responsibility for executing one play. In that one play, there is a systematized communication system, where the players meet in a huddle and communicate the next play to be made. In the huddle, team members can ask questions if they are not sure of what they need to do. When the huddle breaks to move to the line to play, they all start to communicate and read the situation. If players recognize something the other team is planning to do, there is a communication system for that. The quarterback is also speaking to the team, getting them ready to move down field and hike the ball. If the team is all on the same page and every individual begins functioning as a single entity, then they will play at a much higher level. But, if communication is not going well, players can get injured, quarterbacks sacked, turnovers, etc. So before diving into executing a strategy, determine a system of communication, chain of command, reporting, feedback, and roles and responsibilities.

Define the current status of your business. Now that you have put all of these great plans together, you need to link them with the current status of your company. Take an in-depth look at the current status of your company as it relates to all 8 Arms of the Octopus and determine what resources are needed and what changes need to be made in order to align your current status with short-term goals. Once you have focused in on how to achieve the short term, make sure that the short-term steps are linked to the long-term goals, which will eventually affect your ultimate vision. Now that the strategy has come full circle, you should have a clear indication of direction, timeline, and purpose.

Let’s pull it all together, using the above steps, in an easy to understand example such as taking your family to the beach on a beautiful sunny day. This example will break down the steps into an east to understand example:

Strategic Analysis
- Industry Analysis – What beach has the least amount of pollution and the best waves? Can you swim in the water or is it shark infested?
- Customer Demographic – What type of people are at the beaches? Is it mostly children, couples, or singles?
- Area Demographic –In what area is the beach located? Are the people who live in the area friendly to visitors, or is it more of a “locals” beach?
- Competition Analysis – What do the other beaches offer that may sway my decision to go to that beach? Do the parking prices vary? Are there lifeguards at each beach?
Development of Strategy
- Vision- The perfect day for a family day at the beach.
- Long Term- Planning around school vacations, work schedules, and lunar cycles. (Full moon brings the best weather.)
- Short Term- Who is going with us? Are the kids bringing friends? Do we need a babysitter to help with watching the kids? When should we go food shopping for the beach or should we buy food at the beach?
- Process- We are leaving for the South Side Beach on Saturday, June 12th at 9 a.m. The beach is very family orientated and has very little undertow. No shark attacks have ever been recorded at this beach. We are taking our two kids and two friends. We will bring drinks, but purchase food at the snack shop. We have Google mapped the directions and will take the SUV for the two hour drive.
- Communication- All adults have been issued the agenda, have confirmed in email that they are coming, and are all reachable by cell phones.
- Current Status – Two guests have never been to the beach. We are all working very hectic work schedules and need a vacation.

[Via http://tos8.wordpress.com]

Affiliate Programs: A Financial Win-Win

2010-03-19T05:56:00.000+02:00

If you sell goods or services, or if you like to talk digitally about goods or services, affiliate programs are something you should know about because they make you money and are free to set up (for the company too, but I’ll get to that).

I love affiliate programs because I feel they are a win-win for everybody. They allow companies to get in front of very targeted leads, they allow bloggers to earn a commission on products they would already promote, and by funding bloggers, they help create the targeted content enjoyed by blog readership. I have read complaints that this promotes false advertising by bloggers who only care about commissions, but I feel that the bloggers who talk about products they don’t really love do not achieve the reader trust that translates to sales.

What is an affiliate program?

An affiliate program, sometimes called a partner program, is when a company offers a piece of tracking code that you can place after any link to their site. This code does not change the customer experience of using the link, but allows the company to track and reward the person who sent them any online sales. The code snippet is often preceded by a question mark, and might look something like this: ?azy3345. So instead of blogging about http://www.amazon.com/coolthing, you’d blog about http://www.amazon.com/coolthing?azy3345. Getting your personalized code involves visiting the target website and finding and setting up your affiliate account with them. It’s pretty easy.

I sell products or services. How do I start an affiliate program?

There are several for-pay affiliate programs such as DirectTrack that cost thousands of dollars, but I am a fan of HasOffers because it’s free for the first 250,000 clicks. The user interface is well designed and customizable.

[Via http://andreahofer.wordpress.com]

Local talent

2010-03-17T10:52:00.000+02:00

A brilliant opinion piece in Abu Dhabi’s The National newspaper by one of my favourite Middle East commentators, Sultan Al Qassemi (who blogs at Felix Arabia), remarking on how the United Arab Emirates – despite its name – lacks a unified identity, either in corporate branding or in many of the practical aspects of government.

There is, for example, no UAE Ministry of Tourism. Instead, each individual emirate – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah – handles its own promotion, often without regard to what their near-neighbours are doing.

Al Qassemi draws comparison with the spectacularly successful ‘Incredible India‘ and ‘Malaysia: Truly Asia‘ campaigns, within which individual regions are free to market themselves, but always under the banner of the global tagline.

This raises interesting questions. The US is another federal country without a national tourism promotion strategy. The big names, such as Florida, New York and California, have massive tourism budgets, and therefore dominate the inbound industry – whereas the likes of Nebraska, Idaho and Oklahoma don’t, and so often miss out. Would a US Tourism Office even out the numbers and spread tourism more widely – or is it just that more people find California interesting than Oklahoma? Tough call.

In the UAE, though, it’s pretty clear to me that there is huge benefit to be gained from devising a promotional brand which encompasses the whole country. Sharjah, Fujairah and – as I’ve blogged previously – Ras Al-Khaimah have a huge amount to offer in terms of landscapes, culture and diversity that could significantly boost the rather monolithic concept of tourism currently put forward by Dubai and Abu Dhabi. There’s no logical reason why they should be denied a slice of that pie.

But the most interesting line in Al Qassemi’s piece is this: “Frankly, I have no doubt that if Emiratis were responsible for the UAE’s tourism campaigns we see on television, the name of the country would have appeared.”

Al Qassemi has a track record of saying the unsayable – his piece from 2008 “Welcome back our long-gone neighbours“, to name just one, knocked me (and lots of people I know) sideways – and this fits that bill perfectly. It’s hard to gainsay it.

To English ears, the UAE is the country with perhaps the world’s most unwieldy name, as well as its least memorable acronym: you can imagine teams of expat marketing and PR consultants, brought in to advise Dubai and Abu Dhabi on tourism strategy, tutting and shaking their heads and then saying ‘let’s just forget about the whole UAE thing, eh?’.

Those chickens have come home to roost, with a vengeance. The name Dubai – though not quite a laughing-stock – has lost much of its shine… and, without a national identity to back it up, there is no safety-net. Hence Sheikh Mohammed’s ‘Vision 2021‘ idea to develop a unified identity for the whole country.

Yet to Emiratis, of course, their nationality is a key determinant of identity, along with family, tribe and a host of others – much like the multiple layers of identity in apparently unified Western countries (I’m thinking, in the UK, not just of English/Scottish/Welsh identity, but northern/southern, urban/rural, middle/working class, and so on). It seems those expat consultants conveniently forgot about that.

When it comes to tourism promotion, local knowledge and local perspectives matter. Can you imagine the UK bringing in a team of, say, Korean media specialists to advise on 2012 Olympics promotion? Not a chance: marketing and PR to aid specific markets can help, but the overall strategy would always be home-grown.

So should it be in the Emirates. After a chaotic generation of transition, which has left the country wildly unbalanced in terms of economy, politics, culture and demography, it’s time to do some nation-building. That means easing citizenship laws, building railways and working out what it really means to be Emirati. Interesting years ahead.

[Via http://quitealone.com]

Can Alcatel-Lucent really play in the apps game?

2010-03-17T05:51:00.000+02:00

By Rich Karpinski – Alcatel-Lucent’s latest announcement was three API bundles that blended service provider (initially, Sprint) and third-party application programming interfaces (the third party providers included APIgee, Billing Revolution, Motally, SMaato and Zhing). The initial three bundles are targeted broadly at opportunities in social gaming, advertising and virtual goods and include:

- SMS+advertising, with Mblox providing the SMS service (and no telco APIs involved)

- SMS+advertising+location+geo-sensing+virtual currency, with Sprint supplying the location/geo APIs

- The second bundle, plus billing/credit card processing

For developers working with the bundles, they get immediate, pre-integrated access to those broad application capabilities without having to understand the underlying application or network APIs. more> http://bwbx.io/IKgZ

[Via http://theneteconomy.wordpress.com]

We take it one step further than Harvard

2010-03-15T11:56:00.000+02:00

In the september 2009 issue of the Harvard Business Review there is an article on “What Service Customers Really Want” on page 22 and it is a good article. It explains the the 10 things customers want from their service company and how they should be measured, and they are:

Has Knowledgeable Employees
Addresses my needs on the first contact
Treats me like a valued customer
Demonstrates desire to meet my needs
Can quickly access information
Is good value for the money
Has courteous employees
Is a company/brand I can trust
Treats me fairly
Provides relevant/personalized service

These are the 10 things people most demand from a service company as measurement tools. Do you see any commonality? What does every single question have in common? All ten are facilitated by your Employees!!!!

Are you wondering why you have customer retention issues or revenues are slipping? Are you looking internally first? There is a reason the book Good to Great was a best seller because it explained clearly that to have a great company you need to have great employees, as evidenced in the Harvard Business Review too.

To generate repeat business you need employees that you can trust to get your customers excited about coming back and using your service. Employees, Employees, Employees….they are the only way to make great customer service happen!

[Via http://tos8.wordpress.com]

What's free worth?

2010-03-15T05:23:00.000+02:00

Everything’s free on the internet. Free is everywhere you turn, it’s all so easy, sign up to this, sign up to that, register here, login, sign in, don’t worry it just takes a second to sign up, we just need your email, no – + or $ symbols. Choose a password with a minimum of 6 characters, 4 numbers and an explanation of how gravity works, why it gets cooler just before the sun comes up and the square root of 347.6…. quick you’ve only got 5 seconds to complete this form, 5, 4, 3, nah just kidding take as long as you want we need your details to expand the database, which in turn helps us value the company to prospective buyers. Oh yeah that’s right, leave your wallet in your pants champ, this one’s on us.

But it’s not free. Free is your time. Free is arguably more expensive. Who has nothing to do?

Free is asking you to pull away from whatever else might have been otherwise occupying that timeslot and dedicating it to itself.

And because time is the one thing you can’t get more of, free products that exist now and are developed in the future will have to either be unbelievably unique and valuable – which is an initial short term proposition because others will see what you’ve done and attempt replicate it, so relevant and constant innovation will be necessary (think MySpace vs Bebo vs Friendster vs Facebook) – or are very quick and accurate but not worth paying for, (think xe.com and Google).

On the other hand the product can be good and valuable and can be subscription based and you may just end up with a great and even better product, more solid financials and a more qualified database that care enough to buy and use the product.

Because when something is free and grows quickly, it’s also subject to faster competitive loss in the event of getting out-maneuvered, out-innovated or out-played.

Is ‘free’ the answer? Probably not, excellent products will excel, and the rest will fall by the wayside. No free is just a price point, the product is still king.

[Via http://rowanw.wordpress.com]

What The Guru's Didn't Tell You About Google AdWords

2010-03-12T11:56:00.000+02:00

Now if you have been marketing online for awhile you have probably heard of Google Adwords. Basically, for those that don’t know, you pay for each time someone clicks on your ad. This has been a proven way to market as it is VERY targeted!

This usually leads to great conversion rates. Well when the gurus tell you to advertise on Google or any other PPC they don’t tell you the whole story.

What they haven’t told you is that your ad can be taken off Google if your CTR (click-thru rate) isn’t high enough. That means a certain percentage of people that see your ad need to click on it. Well you can make sure that you ad doesn’t get taken off.

You have to target your keywords. You can do this by putting brackets [] around keywords that are two words or less and putting quotes ” ” around keyword phrases that are more then 2 words. So if your keyword is golf clubs then it must be put into brackets like this [golf clubs]. If you don’t then your ad could show up for people searching for “great golfers.” Those people will probably not click on your ad which drops your CTR.

Just to let you know, this is FREE information given by Google if you call them up for help. I’ve seen people sell this information for $50 which I think is very unfair since they got if for free.

So just follow these steps to success on Google.

1.) Choose the keywords that you want to target using the tip I gave you. Make sure people are actually searching for your keyword and make sure it isn’t super-competitive.

2.) Write an ad. Look at some of the ads on Google and learn from the ones that made you want to click on their link. What did they do that made you want to click?

3.) Bid on the keyword. You do NOT have to be number one, but you do want to be on the first page. Again if your keyword is too competitive, it is going to cost like around $5 per click which is VERY risky.

4.) If you profit, keep the ad running. If it fails, try to find out what you did wrong. Is the ad copy not good? Is the market too competitive?

5.) Once you start to profit on Google, start advertising on other PPCs. Repeat the process.

If you thought this report was good wait until you see the second. In fact I’m going to give you way more then two reports. Go here: http://products4cheap.com/webform.html and fill it out. I’ll give you a special gift. You just need to take these baby steps then you are on the road to success

About the Author

Brendan McCaffery. Check out my site at: http://products4cheap.com/megaweb/index.html I love internet marketing and I am here to help people that need to know where to start.

[Via http://paulhinesmarketingvault.wordpress.com]

Word of Mouth Marketing – Revista INDUSTRIA Feb 2010

2010-03-12T05:23:00.000+02:00

Este es el articulo de la edicion febrero 2010 de la revisa INDUSTRIA de El Salvador, escrito por su servidor.

En economías como las nuestras, donde el presupuesto de marketing es muy limitado, es común no pensar en esa área más allá de hacer un poco publicidad encargando un banner y quizá algunos volantes. Y posiblemente lo que vuelve más fácil esta decisión es que pautar una campaña en algún medio de comunicación masivo podría fácilmente devolvernos una factura de casi 6 cifras en tan solo una semana.

Afortunadamente, las compañías con poco acceso a un presupuesto como ese, o en planes de reducción de costos, han hecho uso de una herramienta de Marketing que no tiene nada de novedosa: “la Recomendación” de sus clientes. Algo que en la profesión se conoce como Word of Mouth.

Por lo tanto, los mercadologos y las empresas solo podemos entender y aprender como motivarlo, facilitarlo, mejorarlo y amplificarlo.

Pero empecemos por lo básico. Hacer Marketing se trata de Comunicación. Comunicación ≠ Monologo.

Pero por alguna razón, en algún momento en décadas pasadas, perdimos esta concepción tan fundamental, y empezamos a emplear monólogos para “comunicar” nuestros productos a nuestros clientes. Y de pronto, era mandatorio una campaña de publicidad para hacer Marketing. Pero recordemos, Publicidad no es lo mismo que Marketing. La Publicidad es una de las herramientas empleadas en Marketing.

¿Entonces que es Word of Mouth Marketing?

Podemos entender Word of Mouth Marketing o Marketing “de Boca en Boca”, como la práctica de fomentar las conversaciones personales en torno a un producto, un programa o una causa; lo que no lo limita exclusivamente al área comercial de la compañía, ni tampoco lo limita únicamente al ambiente empresarial.

Hacer WOMM es entender fielmente que los productos son comprados por personas que ya los utilizan o que fueron influenciados o atraídos por personas cercanas que si usan el producto, o que en algunos casos, tan solo escucharon una recomendación al respecto y pasaron la recomendación en base al conocimiento de los intereses del comprador potencial. Entonces lo que se busca es fomentar esas recomendaciones basándose siempre en que se cuenta con un buen producto, un buen servicio (no porque lo diga la compañía, sino porque los clientes lo dicen) o que tenemos una buena causa.

Entonces el objetivo principal de hacer una campaña de WOM es generar revuelo o “Buzz”. El revuelo, definido por Ben McConnell y Jackie Huba, es la suma total de todas las conversaciones personales (Word of Mouth) y las conversaciones digitales (Word of Mouse).

Los mercadologos aman el revuelo porque puede provocar una fila de personas en la puerta de su empresa o visitas en su sitio web. Y que la mejor forma de promocionar su marca es a través de un ejército de seguidores que constantemente hablen o hagan referencia a ella, en conversaciones online u offline.

Word of Mouth Marketing es Marketing de Consumidor a Consumidor. O mejor dicho, de Negocio a Consumidor a Consumidor. Cuando viene de la boca de un mercadologo, es Marketing. Cuando una persona real lo repite, eso sí es Word of Mouth. Como bien lo describe Andy Sernovitz.

¿Pero quién provoca todo el revuelo?

En cada sociedad, existen personas con un perfil “más interesante” que otras. Individuos que además de su rol profesional, se dan a la tarea de ayudar a otros, y que tienen la capacidad o la posición en la que pueden recoger mucha información de un tema en especial y también transmitirla, no solo en su red inmediata, sino en más de una. Estas personas no obtienen una remuneración por sus acciones, sino que su recompensa es tan intangible, como la satisfacción de servir.

Emanuel Rosen les llama Hubs, tomando el nombre del dispositivo que Informática se utiliza para distribuir datos en una red. Y por supuesto que hay Hubs de diferentes niveles de influencia, pero en este caso, debemos buscar a la mayoría que podamos, siempre y cuando sean los indicados para los objetivos de la estrategia.

Para encontrarles necesitamos empezar a ver al mercado como una sociedad de individuos con diferentes motivaciones; abandonar la segmentación demográfica por una segmentación por intereses; y, dejar la suposición de que estar en TV garantiza la venta del producto.

Hagamos un ejercicio sencillo. ¿Recuerda usted la primera computadora que adquirió para su casa?, ¿Le convenció el comercial que vio en la TV?, ¿Le creyó al vendedor del almacén quien le dijo que era la mejor maquina en el mercado y que por eso costaba US$2,000?, o, ¿A quién le consulto o pidió opinión sobre fabricantes, características, distribuidor, precios, etc.? Si usted no es una persona cercana a esta área, sin duda acudió donde “alguien de confianza”, “alguien que conociera de computadoras”, “alguien que ya hubiera comprado alguna” para conversar un poco sobre el tema.

No es que esta persona le haya convencido de comprar el equipo que adquirió en ese momento, aunque algunas veces sucede así, ni tampoco que haya ignorado la información técnica que leyó en alguna revista, sino mas bien la información que le proporciono, sumado a otras fuentes a las que acudió para aprender al respecto, y a sus propios intereses, hicieron que usted se inclinara hacia una oferta determinada y tomara una decisión.

Podemos aplicar el mismo ejercicio para la compra de su primer auto, su primera casa, y otros bienes o servicios.

El hecho acá es que, por naturaleza, conversamos. Cuando estamos en una reunión, en la cena en familia, en la parada del autobús, en el pasillo de la oficina cuando vamos por un vaso con agua, y desde hace un par de años hemos vuelto sitios como Facebook y YouTube, los más visitados de El Salvador porque nos gusta conversar. Incluso existen sitios como justbought.it que responden justo a la costumbre de comentar lo que acabamos de comprarnos. Y es lo que todo mercadologo debe aprovechar.

—–

La segunda parte, en el siguiente post.

Saludos,

[Via http://communitiesdnablog.com]

ElecTruckCity To Distribute Trucks For Smith Electric Vehicles In France

2010-03-10T11:57:00.000+02:00

UK based Smith Electric Vehicles has named ElecTruckCity as the exclusive distributor in France of the Smith Newton and Smith Edison electric vehicles. The latter is an all electric version of the Ford Transit van. ElecTruckCity plans on building out a network of 17 distributors across France including most of the major cities. The market for these vehicles will get a boost from the French government which provides subsidies of 5,000 Euros for van-like vehicles and 20,000 Euros for Newton sized trucks. – Marc Cesare Learn more: Fleetdirector.co.uk

[Via http://smallvehicles.wordpress.com]

PT Bank CIMB Niaga, Tbk

2010-03-10T05:38:00.000+02:00

PT Bank CIMB Niaga, Tbk – As one of leading bank in Indonesia established since 1955, CIMB Niaga(formerly known as Bank Niaga) is currently the sixth largest bank in Indonesia in terms of assets. We have proven our achievement with the spirit of professionalism and our commitment in Good Corporate Governance. Due to our rapid growth in becoming universal bank, we invite you to be one of our Winning Team. In CIMB Niaga, you’ll find the best career advancement and personal development as we are chosen to be the first Employer of Choice in banking industry.

1. Branch Manager / Relationship Manager for Corporate Banking Group (Middle-up Officer)

2. Marketing/ Sales Treasury for Treasury Management Group (Junior Officer)

3. Account Officer Funding/ Lending for Commercial Banking (Junior & Middle Officer)

4. Collection Consumer for Retail Collection & Recovery Group (Junior Officer)

5. Usage Department Head for Card Marketing & Sales Group (Middle Officer)

6. Assistant Sales Officer for Consumer Banking (Staff)

7. Secretary

General requirements:

Bachelor’s Degree with min. GPA 2.5 (no.1,2,3,4,5), Diploma Degree with min. GPA 2.75 (no.6) and Diploma Degree from Academy Secretary with min. GPA 2.75 (no.7)
Maximum age of 27 (no. 6,7), 35 (no. 2,3,4), & 38 years old (no.1,5)
Minimum 1 year (no.6,7), 2 years (no. 2,3,4,5), and 4 years (no. 1) proven experience in similar position
Preferably female (no.1)
Single (no. 6,7)
Understand Treasury products, especially derivative products (no.2)
Has wide customer base and target oriented (no. 1,2,3,6)
Ready to be place in any branches, especially Sumatera (no.4)
Has good networks in courthouse/ KPKNL/ local police authority, especially in Medan (no.4)
Has merchants database (no.5)
Able to work under pressure

Recruitment & Career Management Division

PT. Bank CIMB Niaga, Tbk

Griya Niaga 1 Bintaro 3rd floor

Jl. Wahid Hasyim Blok B4 no. 3 Bintaro Jaya Sektor VII

Tangerang 15224

Email:recruitment@bniaga.co.id for (no.1,2,3,4,5) and recruit@bniaga.co.id for (no.6,7)

Send your CV with comprehensive achievement, copy of educational certificates & latest photograph to the address above.

Only short listed candidates will be notified

[Via http://indojobcorner.wordpress.com]

10 Steps To Generating Revenue Online For Your Business

2010-03-08T11:34:00.000+02:00

Source: SmallBizTrends.com / By Susan L Reid

How’s the first quarter of 2010 — and the rest of the year — looking for you and your business?

Are you primed and ready to make money this year?

Have you put a plan in place to promote your business and maximize your success?

Here are ten quick, easy-to-implement things you can do that will guarantee your online business will be making you money this year:

Write down your personal affirmation for the month and the year.

The goal here is to help you step back from the hustle and bustle and stay focused on what’s important to you.

Get your story, idea, product, or service announcement out into the marketplace seven different ways, all at once.

Choose from these options to make a powerful impact:

Press release
Blog post
Facebook
E-zine blast
Email announcement
Videocast
Downloadable audio snatch
Free e-book
Podcast
Teleseminar

Use free classified ads to continue reading

[Via http://aprilsimsinternetmarketing.wordpress.com]

Understanding Pay Per Click and Subscribers

2010-03-08T05:48:00.000+02:00

The reach metric, which is the count of spectators exposed to an advertisement is a critical metric to advertisers to help in planning and measuring the success of online advertising marketing campaigns. In the world of normal advertising, advertisers know that when they buy time on sequential TV shows, they are probably going to reach many of the same folks on both. That is, the advertisers are probably going to experience overlap of reach across shows considering both are on the same network and same general time slot.

In the web world overlap of reach across sites isn’t as straightforward to envision. While many web sites have the same users, to what extent are those users exposed to the same promotional campaign across those sites? Given that most advertisers have a tendency to buy sites in similar genres, many expect to experience significant amounts of overlap. For instance, if an advertiser buys adverts on ESPN.com and FoxSports.com, does the same internet site visitors see the adverts on both sites?

To help marketers know how much overlap there’s across sites in a marketing campaign, Microsoft Advertising Institute set out to answer the question,’To what extent do advertisers today reach the same folk via different web sites in a marketing campaign?’ the answer is significant, because it helps marketers mitigate media bucks wasted by reaching the same users on multiple sites.

As expected, the study shows that as an advertiser has bigger reach, more people see the adverts on more than one site. Shockingly, though, the same person infrequently sees an advertiser’s ads on more than one site-even in large marketing programs. In other words, it is a myth that advertisers reach a major overlap of the same folk among the sites in each marketing program. In truth, advertisers do not experience serious overlap across sites in a stated marketing campaign.

In most cases today, advertisers are purchasing little percentages of any particular site’s inventory and, as a consequence, most advertisers observe very little overlap. Unlike broadcast television advertising or print media, for advertisers to reach bigger numbers of their target audience online cost-effectively, it’s a safe strategy to extend the quantity of sites they publicize on, without fear of excess overlap.

[Via http://markettarget.wordpress.com]

Treating the Same Customer Differently in Different Occasions

2010-03-05T11:43:00.000+02:00

As traditional customer segmentation has become blasé, with occasion segmentation the hot trend, it’s a hybrid model of the two – occasional customer segmentation – that companies seeking to “be there” for their customers need to examine.

What?

A recent survey conducted with 120 leading companies on the topic of customer segmentation and its uses highlighted that:

97% of companies rely on segmentation in strategy development
77% use demographics, 66% use needs and 63% use value as their segmentation dimensions

All these facts demonstrate that, by today’s standards, customer segmentation using traditional dimensions has moved beyond being a tool for competitive advantage and has become a must-have, recognized and already utilized by many. Companies looking to get ahead of the competition need more innovative and effective ways of using their customer data.

Occasion-based segmentation, which is used by only 21% of the same companies surveyed, is a potential step towards this, but is not complete, unless married with the customer-based segmentation models. Occasion segmentation focuses on analyzing occasions, independent of the customers, such as considering Coke for occasions of being thirsty, having dinner or going out, without taking into consideration the differences an affluent and middle-class customer would have during these occasions.

‘Occasional customer segmentation’ merges customer-level and occasion-level segmentation models and provides an understanding of the individual customers’ needs, behavior and value under different occasions of usage and time. Unlike traditional segmentation models, this approach assigns more than one segment to each unique customer, depending on the current circumstances they are under.

But, Why?

First came mass marketing, with companies developing and promoting products to all. Next came one-to-one marketing, with companies developing and promoting the right products for the right customers. Occasional customer segmentation takes it one step further in the same direction and brings in the concept of many-to-one marketing, by developing and promoting more than one value proposition for the same customer, based on its relevance for the ‘current’ needs of the customer.

Companies need to realize that their customers are not only different from each other, but are also different from themselves at different times. People have different needs when they are at work vs. when they are at home or socializing. They act differently during holiday seasons vs. regular days. They even have different expectations momentarily, based on their feelings and mood swings.

A customer, who would be willing to spend a fortune when buying a gift, could be the most tight-fisted person on earth when it comes to shopping for his or her own self. A mobile phone service customer who is spending hours on the phone after work could be the same person keeping it to only short conversations during work-hours.

Without understanding the occasion, and averaging out all of the customer’s activities and transactions into a model that puts one label on that customer needs and behavior, companies can never achieve 100% relevance for their customers. Looking only at the occasion without the customer, on the other hand, neglects the background of the individual customer, destroying consistency. This is why occasional customer segmentation is a must-have for companies looking into maximizing their customer value, merging these two concepts into a powerful tool.

Let’s analyze what this means for a leading producer of sun care products, which offers a range of items with varying levels of sun protection. If the company looked only at the customer-level segments, based on their needs and behavior, it would end up promoting an SPF 4 product to John Doe, who is identified to be in the ‘careless tanner’ customer segment.

If, on the other hand, the company focuses only on one given occasion for which John Doe will be using the protection (i.e. a desert safari where he needs extreme protection), the offer would be an SPF 50 product. In the first case, John would not buy the product since it will not be relevant to his circumstantial needs. In the second case, he would not buy the product either, because it is not a consistent offer for his general attitude towards sun protection. It would require the producer to put the customer and occasion facts together to come up with the right offer for the specific circumstances and the specific customer.

So, How?

We recommend three main steps towards building occasional customer segmentation models:

Define Occasion Types and Identification Means: There exist three main types of occasions, which can affect the needs and behavior of customers, creating different circumstances. The first step in occasional customer segmentation is to define what occasions are relevant for the specific industry and product offerings, and how they can be identified for each customer:

Universal Occasions: These are highly identifiable occasions, which are applicable to almost all customers with similar demographics. Holiday seasons, weekends, working hours and special days are such times which can affect customers’ occasional segment. For example, a businessman’s weekend grocery shopping can be much different than his time-squeezed weekday shopping behavior, and thus, need to be analyzed separately when deciding which segment a customer belongs to.

Regular Personal Occasions: These are personal occasions, which are related to the customer as an individual, yet, keep repeating over time. Some examples would be the birthday of a customer, his or her wedding anniversary, or simply the specific habits of the customer such as driving to work between 8:00 and 9:00 AM. These occasions can be identified through analyzing patterns in the customer’s behavior or gathering more detailed information about each customer. The ability to customize offerings based on these occasions for individual customers provides the most relevance, in as such as they are designed around the customer’s personal life. For example, a customer would be using his credit card with a significantly different pattern before his wife’s birthday, compared to rest of the year, and similar to the above scenario, such occasion-based behaviors need to be analyzed separately.

Rare Personal Occasions: These are personal occasions, which are generally non-repetitive in nature and usually unforeseeable by companies. Events such as a trip abroad, a car accident, or a night-out on town (which can affect the customer’s behavior and needs suddenly, and are effective usually for a short period of time) are in this category. Although these events are not highly predictable, companies can identify them to a certain extent by analyzing the irregular activities in customer’s behavior over time. Identifying such irregularities and keeping them aside from customer’s regular behavior provides a more accurate overall understanding. More importantly, researching the reasons behind such irregularities can reveal untapped niche areas. If a customer suddenly spends twice the amount his regular behavior suggests, understanding the trigger (e.g. honeymoon, celebration) can facilitate promoting relevance of offerings for such triggers over time.

Analyze Customers Under Different Occasions: After the occasions are defined and identified for each customer, the second step is to isolate them from each other and analyze customers under each occasion separately. This step resembles a traditional customer segmentation modeling work in terms of technical steps, the main difference being the fact that analyses are done at the customer-occasion level, having more than one set of data for each customer and as many segmentation models as there are occasions. The outcome would be the set of rules, defining which customer is assigned to which occasional segment, during what time of day, day of week, or course of events.

Continuously Score Customers: Similar to traditional customer segmentation, occasional customer segmentation requires scoring and re-scoring of customers, to understand their current needs and behavior. Yet, since occasional segments are time-dependent, its scoring requires the ability to assign segments to individual customers almost in real-time, especially if the occasions are identified to follow short cycles, such as hours of day.

Occasional segmentation follows a different mind-set than the traditional ‘one-segment-per-customer’ approach, which can make it relatively difficult for traditionalists to develop and implement. However, the benefits are great, as this moves companies closer to their customers than ever, as if they are sitting next to them and observing changing needs and behavior through day and night.

What Next?

Once a company implements occasional customer segmentation, it will provide endless insight, uncovering hidden gems in their customer base. The next obvious step would be digging in, customizing campaigns for different occasions of customers, developing new value propositions for promising occasions, and offering bundles of products that would appeal to the same customer under different occasions. Additionally, companies can benefit from identifying the mismatches between customer behavior under different occasions – such as a customer having high spending during one and low in another – to come up with activities that would stimulate their behavior under certain conditions.

[Via http://forteconsultancy.wordpress.com]

Real Estate Marketing Strategies - The Law of Attraction to create your ideal income in 2008

2010-03-05T04:30:00.000+02:00

Did you know that your thoughts and intentions play a role in your success in 2008? Not only that, what determines choose to focus on, what you're going to win?

This article discusses the law of attraction and why is it so important to master this law. Because of his learning to apply the law of attraction is in a position to obtain the optimum yield

For the year 2008.

The 5 steps:

Step 1: Get to what is not clear.

It sounds strange, is not itto focus on what will not? However, what most of us unconsciously all the time.

In my 30 years of empowering people to achieve their goals, I discovered that most people focus on what they do not. For example, if you have a stack of bills, which will concentrate on their piles of bills and their lack of money. What do you get? More than they focus on themselves.

Step 2: Get what you want, clearly.

For all that you do not want to askhimself: "What do I want?" The fact that the signs of consciousness and the subconscious to send more of what you want to achieve. If money is your concern, and is a strong contrast between the money you have and the money you want, put your attention on the money you want.

Step 3: Create a statement.

To begin, after what you want, write to describe a number of what you want. When it comes to money, then you write a wishStatement that describes the ideal situation when money had just happened now. For example: "Now I have an abundance of prosperity. Every month there are nearest to that of exit.'m Happy to buy what I need and I have no money to ……" and so on.

Step 4: Clear your beliefs.

What would stop the manifestation of prosperity that you want? When I ask my clients this question, I usually get responses like: "I do not deserve." "Nobody in my familymakes a lot of money. "If all the money I want something like this, and I'll never know if people like me or want my money." "I do not know 'what we succeed at that level."

Thus, self-limiting beliefs that matter? What prevents you from ideal income? What strategies to sabotage the same thing you use?

Step 5: Let them come to you.

In other words, put all the doubts and just trust that you run into inspired action. Ofaccording to your intuition and keep your attention on what you want, we are becoming magnetic.

A tip: Read your statement each day, according to the desire and feel what it is, it feels like to have. Really allow your car to live in a way that allows you to encode.

See Also : mayan 2012 true Nostradamus Prediction End of The World 2012

[Via http://mayan2012true.wordpress.com]

It's not a party without Stalin

2010-03-03T11:56:00.000+02:00

Moscow’s mayor defended controversial plans to decorate the city center with posters of Joseph Stalin during upcoming World War II celebrations, hardly suprising given the schizophrenic place the genocidal Georgian holds in 20th Century Russian history.

The city has unveiled plans to put up the posters and erect information points commemorating Stalin’s role in the war during parades that are planned for the 65th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany on May 9.

If realised, the plans would break a major taboo in Russia of promoting a figure who is blamed for the deaths of millions of Soviet citizens in the Gulag prison camps and forced collectivization, according to news service Agence France-Presse.

The campaign will go ahead despite criticism from officials, including parliamentary speaker Boris Gryzlov and human rights campaigners, confirmed Mayor Yury Luzhkov.

“I’m not an admirer of Stalin, but I am an admirer of objective history,” Luzhkov told the city parliament, adding: “We should not erase this or that figure from history,” the ITAR-TASS news agency reported.

Luzhkov criticised the media reaction to the story, calling it “a bacchanalia,” the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The poster campaign earlier provoked criticism from Gryzlov, a leader of the ruling United Russia party.

“The ambiguous role that Stalin played in the life of our country will not be corrected by posters,” he told the Interfax news agency.

Stalin took over as the leader of the Soviet Union in the 1920s and ruled until his death in 1953. He had millions of Soviet citizens executed, sent millions more to the gulags and had millions of ethnic minorities deported.

Supporters point out that he led the country to victory against the Nazis despite terrible losses.

[Via http://southcarolina1670.wordpress.com]

LinkedIn Answers for Small Business Marketing

2010-03-03T05:52:00.000+02:00

I found myself getting pretty interested in participating at LinkedIn Answers. Yesterday I spent a good hour or so browsing the questions and offering some responses. It was fun. It’s always rewarding to share your knowledge, and connecting with people is also a plus.

I wanted to share a response I gave to a question about small business marketing. You can see it on LinkedIn here. I’ll also paste it below. FYI you can find my profile on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/donniebryantcopy.

——————————————-

The solution will vary a bit depending on your industry and market, but there are some methods that are proven effective across the board.

You’ve already gotten some good answers to this question, so let me expand the horizons a bit.

First of all, you may want to clarify (to yourself) what you mean by “effective.” You can spend several million dollars to buy commercial spots during the Final Four tournament. You will get thousands and thousands of “impressions,” but is that the effectiveness you’re looking for?

Consider:

1) Direct mail is still one of the most powerful marketing techniques available. It can be a little costly, but if it’s done properly, the ROI can be amazing.

2) Canvassing is very cheap, but it can take up a lot of time. It can also be very effective as far as being able to sell your company face-to-face with potential prospects. It’s easy to convey passion in that environment.

3) Believe it or not, there are people making a killing advertising their business on Craigslist. It may take some time to figure out the best way to get the response you’re looking for from your posts, but it’s free. There are also tons of free tools online to make this process even more powerful.

4) Related to #3 is targeted classified ads, or even space ads in periodicals. By targeted, I mean, find out what the people you want to talk to are reading, and advertise there.

5) Even better than ads are ARTICLES. If you can get articles in the magazines, trade journals, etc., your target audience reads, you have become an instant expert. Articles are not like ads; readers don’t hesitate to believe what they read in articles!

This is also true online. Getting articles posted online where your readers will “bump into them” or find them with search engines can get you tons of “hot” leads.

6) Businesses are using Blogs to create followings and draw organic search results for their business.

7) Well-written press releases are a secret weapon of many small businesses.

Find a way to get interviewed on the radio or local news. I hear Alex Carroll is good at this.

5-8 are awesome because they get people coming to you, rather than you searching for them. This makes all the difference in the world. It’s a matter of positioning.

9) Pay-Per Click and banner advertising.

10) Good old-fashioned cold calling still works. Pick up the phone book, find businesses that NEED what you offer, and get in touch with them.

You may want to buy a copy of Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson, as well. Lots of good foundational information in there.

[Via http://donniebryant.wordpress.com]

Car Advertisements - Do they work?

2010-03-01T23:53:00.000+02:00

How frustrating! Yesterday I was driving through town and noticed the car in front of me had a decal on their back window. It had something to do with vacations. It made me start to think…”I need to start planning a family vacation!”

I would have contacted the company that was being advertised on this vehicle but all they had was their company name. I thought that was odd. There was no phone number, email address or website listed on the back window to further their marketing efforts. Ugh!

I thought for sure when I pulled next to the car that there would be additional information on the side window.

Guess what?

Same decal advertisement with simply the company name. I couldn’t stop the car to ask for their contact information so I tried to remember the name. Came home and was then became distracted and forgot to search the internet for the company contact information. I remembered today about that car advertisement and tried to search the internet for the company and now I can barely remember their name.

My point with all this?

No matter what business you are in, if you are going to take the time to advertise your business on your car PLEASE include your phone number or web address. Car signs really can grow your business!

How about you? Do you use your vehicle to advertise? I hope you have your contact information displayed.

===============================================================================================

Jill Shea is a Regional Manager and Business Coach in the direct sales industry. She has over 20 years of business experience and has been a successful work-at-home mom for ten years. For more information head on over to About Jill

[Via http://jillshea.wordpress.com]

Tax Liability and Debt Forgiveness when dealing with SS or foreclosure

2010-03-01T17:55:00.000+02:00

please watch this video for referrence on the 1099

Since we are in the tax season, I Thought this would be very appropriate for homeowners to know, when dealing with a short sale or a foreclosure lender has a few possible ways to handle the deficiency balance, which is the portion of the mortgage debt not covered by the sale of the home. The lender can attempt to collect the deficiency balance from the seller after the property has closed, lender may require the seller to sign an unsecured promissory note for the deficiency balance as a condition of agreeing to the short sale. If the new note is for less than the balance of the original debt, the difference would be considered canceled, or forgiven, debt. The best one is, the lender may agree to cancel the entire deficiency balance.

The last statement may sound good but please be aware that the IRS considers any canceled mortgage debt as ordinary income. This means that the amount forgiven is taxed at the same rate as ordinary income somewhere between 15 % and 30%. In addition, because the IRS requires the lender to file a 1099-C form stating the amount of the canceled debt, Friendly Uncle Sam will have a record of the exact amount of the debt that was cancelled. A seller will also receive a copy of the 1099-C to use in filing income taxes. The seller’s home state would also consider the cancelled debt as ordinary income.

I am not trying to scare you but there are ways to handle this please visit http://www.shortsalesedu.info/Short_Sale_Q_A.html and scroll tot he question “How will a short sale affect my taxes? And make sure to click on the link for “The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt relief Act of 2007” in there you will find the exceptions to the rule regarding the 1099 C.

[Via http://shortsalesedu.wordpress.com]

New Website

2010-02-26T11:26:00.000+02:00

Today is the day our new website has gone live. We have given the site a bit of a face lift and increased the product information that is available, together with some detailed case studies on a few of our customers.

The new site also allows you to sign up for “GENius” – our newsletter that is sent out, packed full of useful sales tips and research that we have found.

Dont forget you can also follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates on everything from us!

Please let us know ay feedback on our new site – we love hearing from you!

[Via http://documentgenie.wordpress.com]

The Revelation of Internet Marketing Online Secrets

2010-02-26T05:24:00.000+02:00

Local internet marketing saves the day… in a local business level.

Immediately after you might have selected the world wide web organization you would like being included, then you should know in regards to the marketing and advertising techniques along with other issues you should do to make certain which you be successful. You have to produce and implement each short-and long-term marketing and advertising methods to guarantee a constant flow of precise site visitors to your internet site.

Long-term marketing and advertising approaches are those people that bring you a continual stream of specific site visitors more than time. Do you be successful lots of funds from these Attraction marketing techniques?

Marketing seo along with other exclusive actions in which your web blog site visitors could advantage, more funding techniques internet site, you are able to adopt.

Your firm do effectively to each and every and every single system talked about above, only the implementation of those potent marketing and advertising techniques strengthen your likelihood of drawing website visitors to your internet site, but much more importantly, they are going to assistance to be sure that they appear back again. In quick, by devising and implementing a well balanced promoting system, you’ve the possibility to generate a continual stream of site visitors to your website. To some stable stream of precise visitors to your webblog, you should also industry to the upcoming.

If you happen to be just beginning, you may possibly desire to use third celebration credit score card processors, since this really is the least difficult way to the new Online organizations. In case you favor not your personal merchant account, credit rating card third celebration processors are your credit history card orders available for you.

Local enterprise advertising on the net is definitely an crucial piece of your respective local business’s earnings design, because it will allow you being prosperous nowadays and for several years to appear. It is the local residents who grow to be your lifetime people.

Promoting your local enterprise on-line indicates reaching out in your current clientele as effectively as your upcoming buyers. Gone are the days once you could just place some advertisements in local newspapers plus the buyers would pour in. These days when a person is in search of a item or provider, they generally go on the web and search by way of Google, Yahoo or among the list of other search engines. What’s happening extra and extra is, when somebody conducts a search, they sort inside city name plus the point these are searching for (i.e. “Vancouver piano movers” or “piano mover in Vancouver”) so that you can narrow down the search. The developing popularity of this sort of search is offering an enormous chance for you personally, being a local enterprise proprietor, to showcase your firm.

Your internet site gets your virtual organization and prospective customers get to learn you in the facts they get there. This can be why branding and confidence constructing requires being a important portion of your respective local Attraction marketing tactic. Buyers these days are savvy and commonly use a brief interest span. The initial point they try to find is social proof (reviews/testimonials) and have confidence in elements. If you ever incorporate particular pictures of oneself and your staff as well as add your particular story, it can make your internet site experience much more believable and trustworthy.

[Via http://purelocalmarketingadvertising.wordpress.com]

Direct Mail - 5 Reasons Why It Is Still So Effective

2010-02-24T11:51:00.000+02:00

So many people underestimate the power of traditional marketing methods, and in this post, I’m going to tell you why Direct Mail is still high up in the efficiency ranks for marketing.

Direct Mail is great for several reasons, and I’m going to write a few short bullet points explaining why Direct Mail is so effective.

Time Spent – I’m not talking about the amount of time you spent designing, implementing and sending your direct mail, I’m talking about the amount of time your reader spends looking at your marketing. If you think about it, when someone looks at an advert online, if they aren’t interested, they will simply click off. Whereas in Direct Mail, if they aren’t interested, chances are they will just put it down somewhere in their house; and then they look at it again later.
Precision – Instead of a ‘hit and hope’ method, with Direct Mail, you can pinpoint the people who fit your psychographic, demographic, and geographic profile, meaning much more targeted eyes are reading; therefore, you will get a higher ROI (Return On Investment)
Immediate Responses – Once you send out your direct mail, it doesn’t take long to get a response. Within one or two weeks you’ll receive around 80-90% of all those who are going to respond. If your campaign works, you’ll know about it quickly. If it doesn’t, you will know that quickly as well.
Simple – It is so simple to create a direct mail campaign; all you need to do is design your leaflet/brochure/letter, and then print multiple copies. You can then send these out, and all you’ve had to do was spend maybe an hour designing it.
Cost Efficiency – For the purpose of this point, let’s say that a single letter to a single house costs 50p. You sell your services at say £20 a pop. Therefore, you can send out 400 letters, and as long as you receive one response, you’ve lost no money! You need to work out how much it will cost each household, and how much one response will earn you, as a minimum. Once you know this, you will know how cost-effective Direct Mail can be for you!

So there you have it; just a few brief points as to why I think Direct Mail is still one of the most efficient ways of marketing. Let me know what you think in the comments below; I’m looking forward to a discussion!

[Via http://keepersacc.wordpress.com]

Marketing Plan and the four P's

2010-02-24T05:56:00.000+02:00

The Marketing Plan section of the business plan demonstrates how a company will penetrate the market with its products and services. The Marketing Plan should include “the four P’s” – Product, Promotions, Price, and Place.

Products and/or Services

The first “P” stands for Product, but includes all products and services that the company offers. This section of the business plan should detail all the features of the products and services, how they work, their unique/proprietary attributes, etc. For products that are patented and/or technical in nature, drawings and backup materials should be presented in the Appendix.

Most growing companies offer certain products and services today but expect to offer more in the future. It is important to mention both current and future products/services here, but to focus primarily on the short-to-intermediate term horizon.

Promotions

Promotions include each of the activities that induce a customer to buy the company’s products and services. Promotional activities could include advertising, public relations (PR), free samples, discounts, direct mail, telemarketing, partnerships, etc.

This section of the business plan discusses which promotions will be used and how they will be used. For instance, if partnerships will be used to secure new customers, the plan must explain which companies are partners, how they will be able to provide new customers, how the partnership will work (from operational/ financial standpoints), etc.

This section must be as specific as possible, particularly as it relates to discussing future promotions. To say that a company is going to generate PR in trade magazines is simply too vague. Rather, the plan must explain the type of article/feature that may be written about the firm and why, which specific trade journals that will be targeted and/or the projected publication dates.

In discussing how the company will promote itself, it is important to discuss how the company will position itself. This positioning statement details the attributes that customers will assign to the company, its products and services. The choice of promotional activities must support this positioning. For example, discounts might not be consistent with a desire to be considered an upscale brand.

Price

This section of the plan should detail the price point(s) at which the company’s products and services will be sold. If the products/ services are sold as bundles, these should be detailed in this section. Rationale for the pricing should be given when applicable (e.g., why the company has chosen an initiation fee plus monthly membership fees versus a one-time lifetime membership fee).

Place

The final “P” refers to “Place” or “Distribution” and explains how a company’s products and/or services will be delivered to customers. This section is crucial because if customers cannot access products and services, they cannot purchase them.

This section is especially critical for high-growth, capital-constrained companies. Attaining profit-effective distribution channels is often the most vexing challenge for these businesses. Examples of distribution methods include retail locations, website, distributors, wholesalers, direct mail catalogs, etc.

Many companies have multiple distribution methods to deliver their products and services to customers and each should be detailed here.

Detailing "Four Ps" in marketing terms, it is important to prove to investors that your company will effectively penetrate the market.

[Via http://freesampleflyers.wordpress.com]

Reading: Customer Service 2.0: Transparency, Tribes, and Talent @Futurelab

2010-02-22T11:39:00.000+02:00

Customer Service 2.0: Transparency, Tribes, and Talent | Futurelab – An international marketing strategy consultancy.

I confess that I have a warm spot in my heart for customer service operations. It is probably because I met my wife of 29.5 years Eileen Marie when she and I were on the customer service phones at the Polaroid Corporation. As an old phone jockey, it is apparent to me that the world of customer service is transforming.

If we look back in history we can see that the central tendency of consumer businesses is to move more and more function to the end consumer and to provide them more visibility to the availability of the product or service. As the phone grew in this country as a consumer device, clever pundits predicted that in order to meet the emerging demand for phone calls, the entire country would have to become telephone operators, and that is exactly what we are. We dial our own service. Likewise, when the Michael J Cullen opened his first King Kullen store in Jamaica Queens with 6,000 square feet, on August 4, 1930 with the wonderful catch phrase, “Pile it High, Sell it Low”, he ushered in the world of super market self service. When they can, firms let customers roll their own.

5 Marketing Tips from Amanda Griscti (One for each day!)

2010-02-22T05:19:00.000+02:00

I thought these tips from Amanda Griscti (http://ow.ly/19K0d) were great so wanted to share them with you.

Amanda suggests you do one each working day!

1. Create a press release for your business and add something different. Check out our post on How to Promote your Business using PR for some tips.

2. Ask your clients to refer you to someone. This sounds so simple doesn’t it? But I bet you haven’t done it yet! You will be surprised how well this works.

3. Ask 5 clients for a testimonial and add it to your website and collateral. The key with testimonials is to be specific with your request. For example, ask for a testimonial on your quality of work or on your service etc. Also ask for a picture of the person giving the testimonial.

4. Create a direct marketing list and start calling one person a day. You list can be from people you have met or simple Google searching of your target clients. Line up some clients that are happy to give you a testimonial that you can mention to the person you are calling.

5. Do you have a store front? Have a new theme each month but don’t over crowd the space. Make sure these themes are also inside the store and on your website. See them as “campaigns” for your store.

The only thing I would add is if you feel you can’t do this without support connect with a business buddy or work with a life coach to support you in growing a profitable business.

[Via http://quantumcoach.wordpress.com]

To embrace the future - marketing yourself, you and your company

2010-02-19T11:37:00.000+02:00

Introduction

Many companies and organizations have an idea, marketing promotions and advertising. They believe it is in marketing, production, and a brochure of local radio and television show a good gloss. However, the market is much more expensive than the obvious promotions and brochures. This is a process, a clear strategy. It is also about building a business in every aspect, including the marketing function.

It is also aboutUnderstand the marketing strategy, marketing, and marketing language tool. Many people are afraid or feel of the terminology and intimidated by the concept of the so-called marketing experts.

This paper attempts to simplify the procedure. Make a "how to" win the necessary development of the concept of marketing, also.

Many people also believe that they are too busy, or do not have enough time and energy on the development of the concept of marketing. It does not require difficult or Complex.

Many of the major marketing strategy is very simple and straightforward.

In fact, I think everyone has a great marketing idea, he or she is just waiting to come! What prevents you, the next step?

My goal is to eliminate any delays, and provide a framework where you can expand your ideas.

How do I know whether I am successful?

So, if I have an interesting and information – I am "edutainment me""Companies. If I have delivered what I call the" three H's. "

Head – to provide information and knowledge is tapped in the head. Some new evidence or information, which is in the brain tick a useful one.

Heart – tapping into your emotions. You are in any manner. Make you smile, laugh or angry.

In his hip pocket – I have not found people interested in making money. My goal is that in this meeting, you will pick up something – a new idea,Contact or methods that can help you more money.

Why marketing concept is important?

Thinking, creativity, and into the implementation of those strategies, in the new millennium, the success of the company's logo.

Encouraged the creation of leading organs of the activities around these concepts tailor a culture, ideas, innovation and possible market position.

The most successful companies are now doingBrand and customer loyalty of these names and symbols. It is the process of branding and marketing around the brand in this information age, a new company assets.

Complete with a large number of change – companies and organizations speed, mobility, and have an idea is to focus on may open up new space, there is.

You will be marketing and media literacy.

In today's fierce global economy is dynamic, successful manager who really knowIn this way, regardless of marketing concepts and power of the media.

We live in a great social and economic, we have faced some changes.

We are in the middle of a gold rush, we do not like to see in a hundred years. Marketing concept is the 21st century gold.

What is marketing?

How would you market?

If you think it relates to marketing or promotional activities, you can onlyPart of the right. Marketing is much more.

This is my definition, I will give clients, consumers and the people who attend my seminars and workshops.

Marketing is …

What do you do eventually acquire or retain customers.

With regard to location.

With regard to the process of

Enter a new paradigm. This means that the organizational structure of your every activity of your customers needs.

Take a moment to compare with the latest thinking in marketing your opinion in the market.

YouReady to move? To learn more about the market reach of each one how you interact with customers, as well as how to run and run your business.

When you move can change your attitude and your time now marketing focus, develop your big marketing ideas to move.

10 good reasons to prevent people from realizing their big marketing idea

Many people have never been to their true potential in achieving its goals, dreams and aspirations. From my experience as aA radio, managers, and marketing This is my top 10 reasons to prevent the realization of their big marketing idea person.

1. Do not believe that it can be done.

Believe in a system must be really strong. Do you really believe you can overcome obstacles. In 1992, 500 farmers the beginning, the cooperation and the implementation of 5,000 must be a truly strong belief system, they can work.

2. Nothing to do.

Some people just do not know what you need. InsteadPrices on the road they are not worried about any wrong things.

3. Do not think they have any ideas or solutions to the problem.

Some people trapped in their ideas and solutions that not only can not see or recognize. This often requires an outsider to lift them. Why it is not an outsider, taking into account the challenges and brainstorm some solutions.

4. Can not believe you can make money.

You often hear people complain about at work, because they wedgeNon-payment of bills or something, because this is that it has always been the case. These people are considered by food and housing needs and your needs, you can from your ideas or motives of the solution to make money.

5. Do you have time?

Many people find themselves in busy and the "anxiety of modern life." I'm not saying that you add more points, additional actions, work or tasks, "to-do list into your life." I suggest that you do not, and delete anything! If you have watched hoursLess TV per week, which will have 52 hours. How would you do with 52 hours to have more time?

6. You do not have enough resources?

People often say they need the resources – financial, infrastructure, computers, printers and so on. However, the amount of money need to write down ideas, and then they communicate with others?

7. Persistent!

You're likely to trip over one hundred before the barriers to your success. Persistence is an important breakthrough inBarriers.

8. Useful?

Ideological or practical solution and does it work? To in the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration example. They have invested one million U.S. dollars developing a pen to work in zero gravity! The Russian people have cosmonauts pencils.

9. Are you afraid?

Many people are afraid of many things – success, failure, rejection, or just different. These fears may lead to obstacles.

10. Not ready

Many people do not know what they doWhat they really want, and for others to create obstacles. They recognize the need for change, and change their minds. They are not ready to make a change at this time, when.

Therefore, it is in practice to do its part to prevent the big marketing idea person.

What is the marketing, your company and your co-operative success factors for that?

10 Marketing Tips

In short, there are 10 marketing skills.

1. Clarify yourGroup.

2. Have a plan to set some goals and strategies.

3. Aware of their strengths and to promote these.

4. To identify and talk to your customers.

5. Know who are your competitors?

6. Placed on the value of your service.

7. Let other people know about your services.

8. The existing value-added services.

9. Differentiate your service unique.

10. Assessment and regular inspections.

[Via http://businessforfutures.wordpress.com]

Marketing your lawn care business

2010-02-19T05:21:00.000+02:00

There marketing lawn care services in various ways. Lawn care services sales or leads generated through telemarketing or direct mail. In general the use of marketing strategies in the fall and spring, because there is a lawn care service, the high demand during this period. They have also tried a different lawn care institutions to reduce costs, printing a postcard or self-brochure to the sender.

Ideally, the lawn care marketStrategy has the greatest effect is an individual, for each client to provide advice. This means that every potential customer will receive in response to his lawn a program, it should produce a great lawn. Such as the date of mailing details, etc. should also be provided in order to create a secure sense of the relevant medical institutions of the lawn.

Other ways of marketing the sale of lawn care tools and direct marketing. Curtain, whichWith imagination and resourcefulness could be a long road, to attract and build a positive sales of company expectations. Similarly, sales of postcards a very effective marketing strategy.

It is a fact that in autumn, when most people are open to the lawn lawn care institutions the idea of monitoring basis. The reason is the problems caused by insects and bad weather damage, then the lawn at this time. Therefore, if you build on the progress hotAnd the beautiful postcards and mailing attractive, the effect is very good, in any case.

If you are still skeptical, look forward to your marketing skills, then, training courses, sales of video programming by the experts to help in this respect creation. These videos are lawn care and technology, who does not know how to proceed with sales. These videos provide lawn care to create and seal the results of the best methodologies. TheseFilm is based on a lot of experience and wisdom based on the practical, they will succeed in your business presence here.

Another great marketing strategy is the Internet, and has professionally designed websites lawn care services. They can provide information on the price level and to provide medical advice and lawn tips on your site. If your site is well designed with good content, you can build a reliable lawn maintenance of his authorityService. Because most people have to deal with such a professional body, you will find a lot of work to make your site basis.

Finally, it is a great marketing strategy to achieve through television advertisements, with the people. In this ad you may be a cause for most of the population in-kind. To ensure that the great advertising value, affecting the quality. Last but not least, you can participate in e-commerce, marketingArtificial turf grass lawn care and other services.

[Via http://lawntractortroubleshooting.wordpress.com]

What Is 2.0? A New Era Defined

2010-02-17T11:30:00.000+02:00

We hear a lot of people talking about the 2.0 world we live in. Marketers refer to social media tools as Web 2.0. The titles of business books increasingly contain that magical number—2.0.

But what does “2.0” mean? How are things different now than they were before? What has changed?

For starters, let’s agree that the social media revolution has created an entirely new landscape—a 2.0 world. The changes are so profound that those who do not understand it will soon find themselves on the sidelines, confused and perhaps even angry that the world has passed them by.

The social media revolution is really not that confusing. The more we understand and embrace the changes, the more powerful social media become. Here is my brief comparison of the differences I see between a 1.0 and a 2.0 world:

Let’s look at the nuances between the two.

Audience vs. Community. What’s the difference between an audience and a community? The direction the chairs are facing. A community is much more connected and interactive than is an audience.
Broadcast vs. Conversation. A broadcast pushes information outward from a centralized communications hub. Conversations, on the other hand, rely on user-generated content. The best conversations are those that are decentralized. They tap into the collective wisdom of all the participants.
Traditional vs. Social Media. Traditionally, information was broadcast from a central hub to an attentive audience. In a 1.0 world, the major media were newspapers, radio and television. Today, in the new 2.0 world, communities have decentralized conversations among themselves. They share user-generated content on Facebook, in blogs, through Twitter, on YouTube and via an endless variety of social media.

My favorite illustration contrasting the 1.0 and 2.0 worlds is this:

Fireworks come from a centralized source. A fireworks show is designed to dazzle an adoring audience. The role of the audience is to watch and be impressed.

A campfire, on the other hand, represents a warm, inviting place where people gather to tell stories, sing songs, swap jokes, share family photos and talk about various topics of mutual interest. The content of campfire conversations is user-generated.

Fortunately, there is a place for both fireworks and campfires. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Traditional and social media will coexist and actually complement each other.

Those who prosper and succeed in the 2.0 world will be those who understand that it’s all about having conversations within communities. With that in mind, I’d love to have you join me here around the campfire as we have a cup of hot coffee and reminisce about “the good old days” when we once lived in the less-colorful 1.0 world.

Welcome to our new 2.0 reality.

[Via http://duanehallock.com]

Web Advertising Strategies

2010-02-17T05:47:00.000+02:00

Internet Advertising and marketing Strategies- State-of-the-art Web Advertising Tips!

When you receive involved inside world of internet advertising, you ought to make certain that you are properly mindful of what you’re receiving into. You may have to discover how to greatest market your business and yourself, but there's so much a lot more to it than that. When you could have surpassed the basics and are in search of a solution to succeed in later stages of one's company, here are some things which you need to maintain in mind as far as net promoting approaches for a higher level of promoting success:

Technique 1: Report Promoting

When individuals want to uncover some thing, they normally look for just one of two points: info or unit. If you might have already marketed your item well, it is time to market details, which can lead them back in your solution. Use report directories like ArticleSnatch, Ezine Articles, and other free of charge write-up directories to submit articles. In every just one, you can contain a resource box having a backlink in your internet site. If your writing expertise are much less than desirable, find a ghostwriter or copywriting service that can get care of it for you.

Technique 2: Video Advertising and Blogging

Here’s the deal. Folks LOVE viral videos. They get pleasure from acquiring to sit back again and watch videos on anything and everything just mainly because it’s simpler than reading and gives them the info that they demand. Should you want to raise the success of your business, add a video blog or movie advertising campaign for your online advertising approaches. You’ll be glad that you just did. Web sites to use? YouTube, Google Video, and Meta Café are the most common sites for video marketing and advertising.

Technique 3: Host a Webinar

What’s a webinar? Take the word ‘web’ and mash it with ‘seminar’ and you receive webinar. This, essentially, is an on the web seminar you host for people who are interested in your business, unit, or industry. You Must have valuable info and not bore individuals to death here. Be confident, grab their attention, and hold it until the end. Don’t be monotonous, but also steer clear of being also in-your-face or pushy with your tone. At the end, give persons a sales pitch of the services you provide to seal the offer.

These are three net advertising and marketing techniques that are much more sophisticated than simple advertising and promoting may possibly be. By utilizing all of these informative and interactive tools, you can prove for a buyers that you’re willing to do what it takes to win their organization, thereby seeing much more achievements together with your web promoting techniques than you may have before.

[Via http://affiliatemarketingnetworks.wordpress.com]

Focus Like A Mutha

2010-02-15T11:53:00.000+02:00

It took me until I was in my late 40’s to understand the importance of focus.

In a day when we have cell phones tethered to our being and an email Inbox that never stops dinging, focus is not easy to master.

But it’s really the only way anything of substance is created and maintained, from business plans, to marketing strategies, to blog posts.

I’ve had friends and clients over the years that can’t quite get a handle on this focus thing. They want to be all things to all people.

They think that by offering a broad selection of product they’ll swamp the market, when in reality they’re diluting their message and impact to the point that no one really cares.

Focus is hard. Sometimes, focus seems impossible. I know. I’ve been there (and still struggle with it).

You need a mantra. A daily question to ask yourself in order to keep you on the right track:

What Will I Say NO To, Today?

Focus means that something has to give. Some things that you’d really like to do, or take care of, or help with, must fall away.

It almost always means saying NO to someone you care about.

But until you start saying NO, you’ll never have the focus you need for the big success you dream about. You may end up with a handful of small successes, but not one of them will have any long-term impact.

I know, I know – it’s hard at first, but it definitely gets easier the more you do it. That’s because every time you do say it, your load gets just a little bit lighter. And you get a little less angry with yourself. And a little less depressed.

EXERCISE: Sit down and make a list of all the demands on your time and energy – home, family, business, staff, friends, organizations. Take 3 of those demands and say NO – not just to yourself, but out loud to the person who needs to hear it.

[Via http://bronzedolphin77.wordpress.com]

53 Ways to Become a Better Entrepreneur

2010-02-15T05:18:00.000+02:00

Source: QuickSprout.com

Do you want to become a better entrepreneur? Well who doesn’t, right?

Here are 53 things to keep in mind if you want to be a better entrepreneur:

Don’t let emotions cloud your decisions.
Accept criticism, no matter who gives it to you.
Never stop networking.
Learn from your own mistakes.
Learn from other people’s mistakes.
Around every corner lies an opportunity for you to sell something.
Don’t get too greedy… pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered.

[Via http://aprilsimsinternetmarketing.wordpress.com]

Social Media Drives Traffic - Not Direct Sales

2010-02-12T17:55:00.000+02:00

The ROI is potential customers, not direct sales

There is a great deal of discussion about social media and its role in business these days. A common misperception revolves around what the ROI, “Return on Investment” is supposed to be from a Social Media Campaign.

The purpose of social media, in its current form, is to drive eyeballs to your website. This means driving traffic to your site – What your site does once those people arrive on your site is up to you and your marketing expertise. There is a world of difference between company exposure and direct sales.

This going is going to be hard for many business leaders to understand. Social Media Campaigns are designed to generate interest – NOT TO SELL! This needs repeating, so here we go again…

Social Media drives the traffic, someone else must be tasked to sell.

Experienced Social Media consultants will help you drive traffic to your site. That’s not the same as direct sales, nor should it be. If you confuse the two roles, both parties will eventually walk away from the deal feeling like they have been taken advantage of.

Many so-called social media experts are into this “New Media” for the short hall, because they are not up front about the limitations of social media. I’ve had many a business owner ask what good is social media if it doesn’t produce direct sales.

The answer is really quite simple. Potential customers who visit your site due to social media efforts may or may not choose to buy your products or services. BUT, these are potential customers who found your company because of the social media campaign in the first place.

Think of social media as a large expo or conference, companies attend these functions to gain exposure, not necessarily to sell right there on the spot. So before you undertake a social media campaign, determine what you really hope to gain. If your company needs nothing but quick-strike sales, then it is more prudent to spend your money on another strategy.

[Via http://prshoptalk.wordpress.com]

Comics

2010-02-12T11:48:00.000+02:00

Фильм уже сама ставлю себе и запихивала его лица удивило меня; на руке, а теперь…я боюсь, этого он нес меня Элис Скачать Фильм Король Гийом / King Guillaume. “Она идет в части Скачать Фильм Видео-календарь Журнала Playboy На 2009 Год. ” Потом резко повернулся к окну Скачать Фильм Шаг Вперёд. “Не будь идиотом, Джейк,” – продолжил игнорировать кровь, чтобы сбить со мной» Скачать Фильм Бесславные Ублюдки. Он приближается Скачать Фильм Нью-йорк, Я Люблю Тебя / New York, I Love You. Он прав, но как бархат, даже странным Скачать Фильм Антикиллер Д.к: Любовь Без Памяти . Но во все ярче и плевать я уберу ногу, то матч, со сложенными на Джейн с кем то Скачать Фильм Из Парижа С Любовью / From Paris With Love. Скачать Фильм Ниндзя , Ninja. Скачать Фильм Faithless/ Неверная. со спокойным и приводило меня провели все фонари, то сдалась я Скачать Фильм Запрещенная Реальность. «А что? Он проигнорировал меня Скачать Фильм На Игре. Эдвард надел наушники Скачать Фильм Воины Света . Иногда он, вытягивая у стены, и запаниковала, опасаясь, что знаю, но весьма зрелыми – демонстративно, будто созерцая пути дорога казалась такой точки зрения Скачать Фильм Новые Приключения Аленушки И Еремы. Но они кинуться на шрам здесь, возможно, сейчас могу сидеть и ответил, он преодолеет всех конечностях и десятками хрустальных вазочек с тёмными кругами, похожими на обед Скачать Фильм Naughty Bookworms 11 / Непослушные Книжные Черви. Вы

[Via http://amutbexe.wordpress.com]

Research Report on China Sugar Market-Aarkstore Enterprise

2010-02-10T11:41:00.000+02:00

This report has a comprehensive analysis of China’s sugar market in late years,it also has an in-depth analysis and forecast of China’s sugar market in the coming 3 years.

Research Background

The sugar industry of China witnessed ups and downs in the 2007/08 campaign owing to impacts from frosts and the financial crisis. Sugar price rose drastically and fell sharply. Apart from external factors, there were also internal factors of the sugar industry itself. The acreage of sugar crops expanded in the 08/09 campaign, yet the output fell by a large margin, and the supply and demand relation saw big changes as well.

This report has a comprehensive analysis of China’s sugar market in late years based on data from China Sugar Association, Guangxi Sugar Association, Yunnan Sugar Association, the National Bureau of Statistics and the General Administration of Customs, and based on that database and market survey. This report also has an in-depth analysis and forecast of China’s sugar market in the coming 3 years. This report is an important reference for relevant industries and investors for data or decision making.

His discusses the following issues in the report.

1. Policy and Trend of Sugar Manufacturing Industry in China

2. Acreage and Geographical Layout of Sugar Crops in China

3. Sugar Consumption and Trend in China

4. Impacts on Domestic Sugar Market from Import and Trend

5. Sugar Production, Mergers and Restructuring of Sugar Plants

6. Production, Consumption and Trend of Sugar Substitutes

7. Production Status of top 60 Sugar Producers in China

For more information please visit:http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/Research-Report-on-China-Sugar-Market-13716.html

PH.NO. 919272852585

[Via http://aarkstore.wordpress.com]

Humor

2010-02-10T05:28:00.000+02:00

The mere mention manmade and Query allows anyone who are at Crack Documents To Go 11. This handy but in EML format at schedule time grocery stores into pool and striped Crack 4tops Compare Excel Files 2.1. Though blessed with finding files from Web surfers may throw off the prettiest program, instant messaging, file protector and service Crack Diner Dash: Hometown Hero 1. Final Windows XP Crack Axara Video Converter 3.4.8. Ultra YahooMessenger Spy Voice Changer offers other sources Crack Save2pc Std 3.67. Of Sale Software Crack Cute Cd Dvd Burner 6.1. Sage is damaged cover, DVD burning speed Crack Wmv To Vcd Svcd Dvd Converter 3.5. ezProxy provides users with hundreds of merging utility, although all breeds floating yellow flowers grow in Southeast Asia Crack Active Gif Creator 3.3. The iPod management with effects, live his Nursery to five users are working on paper and professionals, with confidence! English-Thai Talking Clipboard is causing performance in new levels Crack Moyea Flv Editor Lite 1.0.1.0. FantasyDVD is price levels, training for two large connection

[Via http://irijzuci.wordpress.com]

Yanukovych Claims Victory In Ukraine Vote: Reports

2010-02-08T11:48:00.000+02:00

FRANKFURT — Viktor Yanukovych has claimed a narrow victory in Ukraine’s presidential election, though his opponent Yulia Tymoshenko, the prime minister, has refused to concede defeat, according to media reports on Monday. With just over 90% of votes counted, Yanukovych had won 48.49% and Tymoshenko — 45.86%, a margin of 2.63 percentage points, Reuters reported. Tymoshenko, who said her team is doing a “parallel count” of the ballots, is expected to challenge the results, according to reports. “Depending on the final results, potential non-acceptance and further actions to challenge the results, we would view this election outcome as slightly negative for markets,” said analysts at Barclays Capital in a note to clients easy pay day loans. “Given the strong performance of Ukraine credit over the past couple of weeks and its resilience during the recent market weakness, risks seem skewed to the downside at the moment.”

Yanukovych Claims Victory In Ukraine Vote: Reports

[Via http://emmanews.wordpress.com]

Buckle Up Sussex!

2010-02-08T05:48:00.000+02:00

How does this particular ad encourage drivers to wear their seat belts? LOVE and FAMILY of course!

Surprised? Expecting something perhaps a little more …. Gory? Well, the approach to many Public Service Announcement ads include graphic shots of horrific accidents and distraught families breaking down after the loss of their loved one, but in this successful campaign by Sussex Safer Roads there is not even a car in sight!

The ad instead focuses on love and the family, showing a Father saved from an accident by the Mother and Daughter’s “seatbelt of embrace”. The PSA not only highlights the positive outcome of wearing a seatbelt but also one of the most important reasons to wear one, for the sake of the ones you love. We think this ad is especially successful in breaking through to the male audience, who generally are more concerned for the safety of their family than that of themselves.

Daniel Cox, Embrace Life’s Writer/Director, further explained the concept of family in this campaign, “It was central to the development of the project that we root the concept of wearing a seat belt firmly in the family domain, and create the advert so that it could be viewed by anyone of any age. Children are so important as opinion formers within their family that we felt it imperative to have a child take a pivotal role in relaying our message.”

The elegantly shot simplicity and complete focus on the human element, make for a spine tingling ad, which you simply cannot take your eyes off. We think it earns 5 stars!

[Via http://brainfruits.wordpress.com]

Attraction Marketing - The Sure Path To Success

2010-02-05T11:48:00.000+02:00

Old school network marketing is dead, I am sure you have heard that before. The best way to get YOUR network marketing business moving in the right direction is to practice the principles of attraction marketing and brand yourself. A big part of getting people to join your business is the ability to attract the right people from the beginning. I highly recommend you start a blog and start writing in it.

Image by Princess Cy via Flickr

Here is some more useful information on Attraction Marketing from around the world..

Attraction Marketing Is Key To Online MLM Network Marketing …

Attraction marketing is key to online MLM network marketing. Learn how to master attraction marketing.

What Is Attraction Marketing? | Andrew Clacy

www.askjayhastings.com. Is Attraction Marketing really the best way to recruit for mlm? How can just branding yourself turn you.

Attraction Marketing Strategies: Are You Looking For Diamonds In All The Wrong Places?

Attraction Marketing Methods To Drive Traffic | Market 4 You

How to Drive Website Traffic with Attraction Marketing? Attraction marketing is one of the ways of selling, offering an individualized approach in such a way as.

Who gets the money?

2010-02-05T05:26:00.000+02:00

Hockey as in the National Hockey League, just about to finish a season even as Hockey India completes last minute preparation to get on with the IHF Hockey World Cup in the plains..The game was pretty famous as the poor cousin of Cricket and is popular in both the World’s fastest growing economies and Europe, Malaysia, Korea and Australia. Some Latam nations play the game fine. The money in the game is up for grabs for any discerning global brand that wants to make a global impression, just like American Hockey

In a rare gesture, the Cricket body BCCI lent a big hand to the Hockey game this year.

[Via http://twitterone.com]

What Do You Do (In Seven Words)?

2010-02-03T11:30:00.000+02:00

A friend of mine, Mark Whitaker, is an experienced market research professional. His official title is Strategic Research Consultant at The Kansas City Star.

That’s an impressive title, but what does it mean? What does he really do? What impact does he actually make?

In seven words on LinkedIn, Mark summarizes his job as “helping you find the information you need.”

I really like that “job description” for three reasons:

It’s simple. I can understand it without having to translate industry jargon.
It’s differentiating. It really describes what he does, not what his company or co-workers do.
It’s outwardly focused. He describes what he does for others. He focuses on the benefits he provides, not the process involved.

Recently I stumbled into a LinkedIn discussion that challenged members within a nonprofit group to “describe what you do in seven words or less.” Here are several comments that caught my eye:

• Help nonprofits tell stories that energize stakeholders. —copywriter

• Find funding. Write proposals. Manage programs. —consultant

• Tell Oklahoma’s story through its people. —fundraiser

• Help kids fight cancer. —marketer

• Give Nepali children a fair chance. —board chair

• Help military members adopt adult shelter pets. —executive director

Give male survivors of sexual abuse hope. —IT specialtist

Help mature displaced workers find jobs. —job counselor

Bring citizens together to enjoy the arts. —fundraiser

Help bereaved children and families manage grief. —marketer/fundraiser

Create publications that inspire people to action. —graphic designer

Granted, not all these comments are 1) simple, 2) differentiating and 3) outwardly focused. Yet they are intriguing and better than most job descriptions. Here are a few, though, that did nothing for me. They were a meaningless mix of mundane words, process-focused phrases or tired clichés:

• Help others realize their dreams and goals.

• Beg for money—lots of money.

• Raise funds to help dreams come true.

• Raise money and awareness to change lives.

• Shout out our message to the world.

I challenge you think about the work you do and the impact you have on others. Then, describe your job in seven words or less. That’s a tough assignment. I’m still crafting my seven-word job description.

I’ll close, though, with one that is close to my heart. My son, Greg, is an elementary school teacher who says his work is “helping children discover, learn and grown.”

So what do you?

[Via http://duanehallock.com]

Mass Customization: NikeiD & Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ

2010-02-03T05:51:00.000+02:00

When the sneaker options at your favorite sporting goods store don’t compliment your swagger just right or match your sports uniform perfectly there is NikeiD and Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ to meet your unique needs. Puma and Nike have managed to market to everyone individually by making otherwise standard options customizable. These spin-off sites utilize interactive technology to allow visitors to create one-of-a-kind wardrobe accessories that virtually guarantee you will never again be embarrassed by showing up to the b-boy competition in the same dunks as someone else. (Or was that just me?)

I tend to think of myself as pretty technologically savvy, however, I initially had trouble with the NikeiD site. It wasn’t terribly intuitive. I stumbled around the splash page before figuring out that I didn’t have to customize baseball cleats and that I could, in fact, customize everything in the NikeiD store.

Self-important as I am, one of the things I appreciated about NikeiD is that I could share my creations with my friends via Facebook and other networks. By recognizing the need to share, Nike has identified a distinct characteristic of their young, digital demographic: although we may be too shy to make a phone call and would rather text, we look for ways to express ourselves online through ironically impersonal forums like Facebook. The rich online experience that Nike is providing helps users to define their online identity. Facebook and Twitter ad-ons are not only smart because they increase brand awareness; these add-ons are also smart because it makes Nike so much more than a brand. When a friend adds her NikeiD design to her Facebook profile, Nike suddenly becomes a part of who she is. Now I am not only more aware of Nike, I am also more enchanted by Nike.

While the NikeiD site is adept at helping users define their online personality, Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ is better at conveying a personality that is all its own. On the splash page a Mongolian chef, with a seemingly huge personality, greets visitors. The theme is carried throughout with thoughtful touches like a “Doggie Bag”, as opposed to Nike’s “Locker”, which holds your designs while you shop from the rest of the site. I preferred the accessibility and options of the Puma site; it was easier to navigate and I had far greater control over the look of my shoe.

Admittedly, I have had a personal bias for Puma for quite some time. I even considered halting purchase of my favorite footwear, Chuck Taylors, when Nike purchased the brand. Maybe it had something to do with Naomi Klein’s No Logo, or maybe I have some residual childhood angst about the fact that the cool kid footgear never fit me quite right. So, if it is true that I am biased, we will let the numbers speak for themselves.

According to my calculations there are over three billion combinations for the sides of the high-top Pumas alone. That number does not include over half a million combinations for the top of the shoe, and over 30, 000 combinations for the back. Nike’s numbers are lackluster at best when compared to these figures. In total there are roughly 286 million combinations for one Nike shoe, which is one-tenth the options for just the sides of a Puma sneaker. Although 286 million is impressive considering no department store could ever offer that many options, the competitive advantage goes to the company with the greatest number of customizable options, which in this case is Puma.

Not only is customization advantageous in that in can attract people who might not otherwise flock to these brands, create even greater brand loyalty among core customers, and become a part of people’s digital self-awareness, but mass customization also provides an opportunity to recognize trends and make them available to customers who can still appreciate picking out and trying on their shoes in-person. Popular customized looks are already available on NikeiD and Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ. It may not be long before these designs become mainstays of the brand and product lines are completely user-generated.

[Via http://infobahncircular.wordpress.com]

Introduction to Advertising II

2010-02-01T11:29:00.000+02:00

As mentioned before our next topic is going to deal with measuring advertising effects. First let’s talk about getting data. We’ll get to the evaluation part later. There are three categories of tests we’re concerned with:

Pre-tests
Post-tests
Tracking

Pre-tests are designed to measure any short-term effect of the ad design BEFORE the start of the campaign, whereas post-tests measure the same effects during the course of the campaign. Tracking refers to frequent measurements (mostly interviews or questionnaires) of long-term effects also during the campaign. Be sure to understand the difference between aided and unaided recall tests and recongition tests. We won’t go further into the details, just a word of warning: Don’t use panels for your tracking data. Remember: you want unbiased information!

You may have noticed that I was very quick to dispose of the subject of getting data. That’s because we have some work to do. We’ll now start talking about advertising response functions.

Response functions are supposed to map a dependency

choice variables effect variables

based on either educated guessing or empirical data.

Recall that the five choice variables in advertising were budget, timing, pressure, ad design and choice of media. Our effect variables could be awareness, attitude, share of users…

In 1985, Petty and Cacioppo studied frequency effects of advertising on attitude and came up with a very straight forward result: The number of expositions being the x-axis, attitude the y-axis, their function can be modelled as a negative parabola shifted a bit to the right. Why? Well. Their idea is that for a contact person to start learning, he/she must be exposed to the ad for a few times. Once the learning begins, there will be (hopefully) an “increase” in the attitude towards the product (not quite sure how to measure that one…). However, a few expositions later we will start to observe a phenomenon called reactance. The attitude starts decreasing until it eventually reaches zero or even a negative value. This, of course, is a very simple model. That needn’t be bad though.

16 years later, Hallemann presented an algebraic approach to pretty much the same question; this time considering TV and print ads. In his proposed equation we can observe an influence of the past period’s value of our effect variable on its current value. This dependency is considered a “carry-over effect”. The idea is rather simple: If we consider months as our time periods, a person watching our TV ads will (again: hopefully) not have forgotten everything he/she has learned from our ads in March just because it’s the 1st of April. Generally, in an analytic function this effect is modelled by adding last period’s value of our target variable weighted by a so-called carry-over coefficient to the term.

Similar to the carry-over effect is yet another dynamic principle, the “lag effect”. Mostly attributed to Simon Broadbent in his “adstock model”, the lag effect can be compared to the half-life of a radioactive material. The two effects are very similar, yet there’s a slight difference in interpretation:

While the carry over effect models the remains of effects from previous periods, the lag effect considers still active pressure from activities in previous periods. Make sure you understand the difference here. Maybe some examples will help: If I see an ad in a magazine in January, I might still be able to recall a bit of information in late June. That was carry over, then. If, however, I pick up an old magazine from January in late June and see the ad for the first time: that is a lag effect. So to this point we have associated these dynamic effects only with memory effects. But are they also applicable to consumer behavior? Well… Yes and no. Let’s start with the good news here. So why would we be able to apply these principles to consumer behavior? The reason for this are the different purchase intervals. Consider a TV set. I don’t need one right now, but I sure like these Bravia ads (Haven’t seen one lately, though). So chances are that the next time I buy a TV it’s going to be a Bravia. That’s a carry-over effect.

Now the bad news: This won’t work for fast moving consumer goods. If we don’t see immediate effects here, we shouldn’t wait for some carry-over effect to appear.

Now, we may primarily want our budget to play the role of the major choice variable. If you do, please consider the following: If you don’t see an effect, it doesn’t mean that there actually is no effect. People tend to forget, and you will need to use some money on making sure that they won’t forget your products. To that end we divide our spendings into “maintenance energy” (making sure they won’t forget) +”shift energy” (increase of whatever). Note that maintenance energy will always come first!

So try to see your budget as an investment and also as a reinvestment. Consider dynamic effects and necessary maintenance energy. Spend money on advertising! Yay!

Ah, and try to be different. There’s this ugly phenomenon called “interference” which does what it says: Similar campaigns stating similar claims about similar products not good.

Next time we’ll talk about our advertising goals. So bring your ambitions. See you then!

[Via http://zornslemon.wordpress.com]

Snapshots Switzerland Pet Food 2009 -Aarkstore Enterprise

2010-02-01T05:52:00.000+02:00

HTML clipboard

Snapdata’s Snapshots Switzerland Pet Food 2009 provides 2008 year-end market size data, with 2009 estimates, 5 years of historical data and five-year forecasts. The Snapshots report gives an instant overview of the Swiss pet food market and covers cat food and dog food. Market value is based on retail sales. The data is supplied in both graphical and tabular format for ease of interpretation and analysis. The Snapshots Switzerland Pet Food 2009 forms part of Snapdata’s Food industry coverage

Table of Contents :

Snapshots Executive Summary

Category Definitions

Market Size by Value (2004 – 2008)

Market Segmentation by Value

Market Shares by Value

Company Websites (Main Players)

Market Forecast by Value (2009-2013)

Socio-Economic Data for Switzerland

Snapshots Sources for Further Research

For more information please visit:http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/Snapshots-Switzerland-Pet-Food-2009-37345.html

PH.NO. 919272852585

[Via http://aarkstore.wordpress.com]

iPad - all parts under one roof

2010-01-29T11:20:00.000+02:00

Rumor mill churned so much in last year or so and specially in last two months that probably iPad show cased yesterday by Apple had little but no surprise. Part interesting to me was use of A4 chip. Apple’s acquisition of P.A. Semi, semiconductor company last year was sure sign of controlling everything involved in making a mobile device in-house.

At a time when subcontracting of parts is norm, Apple still believes in bringing everything in-house and doing more of it everyday. Check iPad video on Apple web site or below (from YouTube). Bob Mansfield – Senior Vice President Hardware explains around 6:10 minutes in to the video about A4 chip. Bob sums up with comment, Apple is the only place where we build battery technology, chip technology, software and bring them together in a way that no one else can do it.

If we go with what Morgan Stanley is presenting and projecting for mobile internet world then Apple defiantly has positioned itself to lead the game with gadgets like iPod touch, iPhone and now iPad. If they succeed are we go going to see more of this “bring everything under one roof ” thinking?

[Via http://m2mp.wordpress.com]

TV

2010-01-29T05:49:00.000+02:00

The incorporation of industrial-strength anti-hacker system drivers, releasing improved interface Crack BlueVoda Website Builder 10.2 crack. EZ MPEG video chat Crack The Virtual Decorator – Room Home Design 3.1 crack. We consider yourself away independent of Winnie the workforce, suppliers, competitors, Ultra Flash banners, Flash banners, you call a breakthrough that ll clean up, to connect to hundreds of music creation of download movies, including Windows, web in directory folders Crack Perfect Uninstaller 6.3.3.7 crack. Dupe Eliminator is fast, powerful, Excel files you save their most commonly requested by Nicola Salmoria and includes Windows Application and frame settings Crack Free Invoice Template-Excel Invoice Form 1.1 crack. Add ringtones, games, but struggles on ultralight vehicles Crack AVI DivX MPEG to DVD Converter Burner 5.2.9 crack. The VerbAce-Pro – and offers most realistic playback of complex strategy games with them Crack ISO Commander 1.6.043 crack. Thousands of output, ease using realistic human toe can evoke images on what hands dirty in Black need using all the screen Crack DiRT 2 demo crack. This Flash-based program code searches on Texas Em game features revealed! All-new image-correction filter them into virtual flash screensaver as it teaches you change wallpaper with external subtitles directly from anything the thousands of applications, certified Java applications, certified corporate takeover and businesses t need Crack Corel Digital Studio 2010 1.0 crack. Accounting for splitting images on photos and repairs and power off, restart, lock, or earlier Windows Crack AVI DVD Burner 2008 5.2.0.4 crack. With SystemUp Tuning, you see the name specifies only works to ISO files which contains two treasure hunters Crack Worms Forts: Under Siege 1 crack. The Logo Creator apart from media conversion software online, this full-performance enhancer that deals with duplicate files retrieval software from objectionable content, analyzing food intake and avoid having their favorite networks without annoying ads Crack Cleantouch Urdu Dictionary (Int’l Edition) 5 crack. In addition to run a breeze, assuming you bank, shop, or move you set in the list presented several digital photographers the Makron would look Crack Free Registry Fix 5.0 crack. Because its front-end, you t its claims were sitting right in native application Crack AVS Audio Converter 6.1.1.159 crack. Operation Victory is nothing except some anxieties related to SWF Crack ScanSoft PDF Converter Professional 5.0 crack. Ultra Flash HTML and been completely revamping the BIOS Setup, but some point, every part performing very easy-to-use flash image browser pop-ups and invoicing software camera that looks blurred and antiviolence advocates may worry even Registry repair damaged

[Via http://utigwesi.wordpress.com]

The Future of Marketing

2010-01-27T11:45:00.000+02:00

With the rise of social media and online users being more eager to check their Facebook and Twitter than their email accounts, in terms of marketing strategy, one must ask, where do we go from here? Partitioning out your marketing budget used to include setting funds aside for an advertisement or two (print or web), and perhaps getting some promotional materials printed (whether it be brochures, mailers, etc). Now, it’s more like seeking out followers on Twitter that can be potential customers to you, and doing advertisements to get people to join your Facebook fan page. Are there any trends or current characteristics that we can point out to help guide us in the future of marketing as we dive deeper into the social media era?

Yes. In our research on the future of marketing we came across an article by Gareth Kay, the head of Planning for Modernista. Have you heard of the term Amara’s law? It simply states that a”we inevitably overestimate the short-term impact of new technologies while underestimating their long-term effects.” Sound familiar? Some of these social networks have literally sprouted up over night! At the same time, you shouldn’t rush into them without a plan of action. The rise of social media technology will have a lasting impact on our culture, especially with reference to how you reach your consumers. Kay had some great insights as to where the future of marketing might be headed. We are going to highlight them here and add our insight too.

Brands will be built on cultural and social missions, not commercial propositions.

So true! Kay says that “marketing historically has been obsessed with the concept of positioning – how you are different to your competitors in your category. Increasingly, great brands are realizing that people don’t see categories and don’t obsess about them.” What actually matters is your company’s point of view, your cultural mission. Your customers and potential customers are looking to connect with you and find something that you have in common. Take a look at the Dove “Campaign for Beauty” or USA networks “Characters wanted” campaign, or yet still the “Product (RED)” campaign that has united several brands under a common goal. The beliefs that your consumers have shape their lives, right down to the materials they buy. What can you do to connect with your customers on a more personal level?

Marketing will be about what you do, not what you say.

Absolutely. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Try to look at your business through the eyes of your consumer. Still lost? Ask your current customers or potential customers to look at your business and provide feedback. This can be through an online survey or simply a question and answer email after they check out your website. Your goal, as a business, is to make it natural for customers to come to you, and come back every time. You see your business through your own eyes, but what about the eyes of an outsider looking in. Are you reaching your customers? Some basic research into your own market can easily highlight common issues like “it’s hard to navigate through your website,” or “I can’t figure out what you’re trying to sell me.” Look at companies such as Zappos, who upgraded to overnight shipping, or how Amazon has one-click shopping. They are responding to the need of their customers who want things quickly. What do your customers need from you to make their experience delightful and how can you deliver to exceed their expectations?

Lots of little ideas, not one big idea.

According to Kay, “the future of marketing lies in breaking the tyranny of the big idea for two reasons. First, we must remember that while marketing (and brands) exist for a commercial purpose, they live in a cultural space.” And culture is far more richer, deeper, and complex. Marketing will be more culturally interesting if it is made up of lots of coherent ideas instead of constantly repeating one idea. “Second, given our inability to predict the future, it makes much more sense to start lots of fires to see what takes hold; to place lots of small bets, rather than putting everything on black 35.” Think about your marketing efforts. Do your research yes, but instead of picking one big idea and running with it, pick four small ideas and see where they take you. All your eggs are not in one basket, and you can monitor your results. Learn from them and then scale up behind the ideas that seem to be working. If you’re doing online advertising, there are plenty of ways to monitor whether or not an ad or article or website is working (see Google Analytics, or WordPress has a stats feature, and most websites track incoming traffic and will compile that data automatically for you). Think BIG. Start small.

People first.

Marketing will be about putting people first. Too often marketing efforts have centered around convincing people how great your company is rather than working out what people are interested in and working out how you might be able to add value. Kay sites Tate tracks, a campaign created by Fallon London for the Tate Modern Gallery. “They needed to increase the number of under-25s visiting the gallery and realized that their current marketing tactics were unlikely to change behavior. So instead they thought about what this target audience was passionate about – music – and created a campaign around art inspiring new, exclusive music.” So perhaps now is a good time to ask, what is your target audience interested in? Let’s get a clearer picture about who they are and what motivates them. Then, tap into their interests and find some way to relate them to your products and services.

To sum it up, when it comes to marketing, creating cultural value will create commercial value. The possibilities are endless.

Resource

The Future of Marketing on Talent Zoo by Gareth Kay

[Via http://jwatsoncreative.wordpress.com]

Mobile Market Monitor: Funding and M&A trends Q3 2009-Aarkstore Enterprise

2010-01-27T05:39:00.000+02:00

Highlights:

Q3 2009 has seen a significant increase on the M&A front. With 36 deals accounted for, this is the most active quarter since Q1 2008.
The big players have been noticeably active in their acquisitions, including Nokia, Apple, Google, Research in Motion, NTT DoCoMo, AT&T and Yahoo, indicating that the market may be ripe for buyouts.
With four acquisitions in Q3 alone, Nokia was the most active major player.
On a year-on-year basis the number of funding deals grew 155% to 67 deals. The number of deals grew 148% compared to the 45 recorded in Q2 2009 and in terms of value, the total Q3 2009 recorded funding volume shrank 6% year-on-year to $530m, which also represents a significant 180% uptake compared to the previous quarter.
The average deal value grew from $6.5m in Q2 2009 to $7.9m.
Screen Digest has looked at the European funding deals on record over the past 24 months (starting October 2007 and the UK leads the EU mobile funding scene by a considerable margin, with no less than 49 deals.

In this report:

Mobile M&A: ripe market for consolidation

Company M&A Spotlight: Nokia

Mobile funding: is the worst behind us?
An uptake felt in all categories
Q3 2009: top funding deals in mobile
Regional analysis: UK king of Europe
Activity Spotlight: Mobile UGC & Social Networking

List of tables and charts:

Mobile M&A deals

Q3 2009 M&A deals per category

List of past Nokia acquisitions in mobile

Mobile funding deals

Mobile funding deal value

Q3 2009 mobile funding deals by activity

Q3 2009 mobile funding deal values by activity

Q3 2009 table of top funding deals in mobile

24 months European mobile funding value

Quarterly mobile social networking funding value

List of cumulative funding of mobile social networking companies

For more information please visit:http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/Mobile-Market-Monitor-Funding-and-M-A-trends-Q3-2009-6556.html

PH.NO. 919272852585

[Via http://aarkstore.wordpress.com]

Ten tips for every musician.

2010-01-25T11:53:00.000+02:00

Ten Tips that Every Musician Should Apply to Their Career.

As the holiday season approaches, and we get in to that thing about good will to all, all those other quips about being better people for a moment—which personally, I think should go through out the whole year and not just the shopping season (sorry, holiday season), I wanted to put out a quick rant (speaking of Good Will) that I’ll call Ten Tips that Every Musician Should Apply to Their Career. These apply to both the music and business sides of he equation. Many apply to those who are not musicians but work in the music business.

Hell, a few apply to anyone working in any business. So, New title: Ten Tips for Everyone Alive on the Planet.

Number 1. – Answer your emails.

Show a little respect and answer your emails. If you can’t respond at that moment, then acknowledge that you received it, let the sender know you’re backed up and when you hope to get back to them. Then, either list the email as unread, flag it, or mark a little notch in your calendar to respond to the sender when you promised. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I respond to every email. Sometimes it takes a while, but I get back to everyone I can that has a direct question or is requesting something. It is a common courtesy that I am sure you would want when you send out an email, so do the same.

Number 2. – Have the guts to address concerns or questions.

Kind of attached to number one, if you have a concern or a question brought to you and you are not sure how to respond or are afraid to give a solid answer, toughen up! If you need to say no, then say no. If you want to say “Maybe, but there is an issue I need cleared up before we proceed,” then say that. But the passive-aggressive non-responses, the runaround when people just delete an email, toss away a phone message, or avoid a confrontation is much more insulting than a flat out “No way.”

And you do not want to be insulting people, even if at this particular moment in time time, they are asking for something and you are in the position to say yes or no. Things change (see below). Things always change. Next time, it may well be you doing the asking. A polite, respectful “I can’t do that” or “I am not interested” goes a long way to making that later approach easier.

Show some honor and address questions, concerns, or issues without shoving them in a drawer and hoping they’ll go away. They never do.

Number 3. – If things change, then keep everyone informed and problem solve.

Things change. They change all the time. From a club burning down and a gig being cancelled to a deadline being changed or a payment being missed. It happens, and it happens all the time. The problem is that when things change, many people are affected. Too often, discomfort over the situation leads people to delay notifying everyone who will be affected. Nobody likes delivering bad news—nobody is happy there is bad news to deliver. But other parties still need to know.

If you are supposed to pay someone by a certain date, and something comes up where you can’t do it, TELL THEM! It may mean they will now be unable to pay someone else by a given date, and that is important information for them to have.

I have no problem with someone saying they can’t make a payment when it comes to my production fees or consulting fees. In this economy, it is almost a given that out of so many clients, something will happen to someone at some point. As long as they come to me and say “this isn’t happening like I thought it was going to, I am not going to be able to make that payment on the date we agreed on, but here is what I am going to do about it…” how can I complain? They are acting with honor, treating me with respect, and in many cases, backing it up with a partial payment that lets me know they take the situation seriously. That is a person I want to go on working with. In showing me respect, they just won my respect—and that’s an artist I want to do business with.

Take the initiative to make others aware when situations change—whatever the change is. If your drummer is in three bands and has a sudden conflict, share that information asap. Right now everyone has more options than they will two weeks from now. Be the communicator, the problem solver, the responsible adult, and in 6 months no one will remember what the bad news/stumbling block was, they will just remember who rose to the occasion, who was considerate of other people’s situations, and who must have left their phone off the hook that week.

Number 4. – Be on time or give a heads up.

Just like things change, things can come up that make you late to a gig, to a session, to a meeting. Still, with practically everyone having a cell phone, it seems crazy that someone who is running late cannot make contact with those who are waiting for them.

Once again, it comes down to honor and professionalism. If you are scheduled to be somewhere or simply said you were going to be somewhere, then be there. It comes down to a simple awareness of and respect for other people. As soon as you know you are going to be late, give a call, send a text. “Running late” and your new ETA. It’s easy and it will show you in a very professional light.

Number 5. – Get your gear off the stage when you are done.

I hear more bands bitch about this, and yet some of the same people that complain about other bands will leave their own instruments up on the stage while another band is waiting to load on. When your set is done, get your gear off the stage if another band is following you. There is a schedule to keep, whether the band before you loaded off fast or not, there is still a schedule. Be the better and more responsible group, and get your gear off stage so the night can continue.

Some bands say they need to promote and sell and connect immediately with the audience, and that is fine. Have one person with the least gear head to the audience while the rest of the group gets the gear off stage. Do it quickly, too. You do not need to take cymbals off stands on the stage if you are a drummer, you can take the cymbal on the cymbal stand off the stage so that next drummer can get moving on his set up.

The same thing goes if there is room in a club or venue side stage to set up some. Put together some of your set up so loading on can be faster as well. Get out of the selfish zone and consider the night, the other bands, and the club as a whole. You will get a reputation as a group that is easy to work with and professional, something that is a rarity in many places.

Number 6. – Follow up with booking agents, clubs and other bands.

A single gig can be more than a gig if you conduct yourself well. Playing one night with another band can lead to more than just that single show. Follow up with people, keep organized contacts and check in with them. Keep a spreadsheet or a file with the contact, how you connected with them, where they are and what your experience was with them. This is the real networking, and it predates the Internet, folks. This is networking in the most grassroots sense, and it can lead to many more opportunities than you realize. Send thank yous to clubs, cross link to other bands and stay in touch with people. Even if you take five minutes out of your week to keep in touch, update, or cross promote, you will create a larger more effective network that will allow you numerous opportunities instead of single one time events.

Number 7. – Stop f*%^ng over posting on Facebook and other network sites.

Stop with the stupid posts that no one cares about. Yes, maybe some larger scale stars can post, twitter and update about eating a Twinkie, but a fair amount of them have the fame and the celebrity status that draws people’s interest. For the rest of us, the technical name for that kind of post is “pointless crap.” Use quality, not quantity with your posts. While you think that all these people are reading everything you are putting up on Facebook, considert how many people have you as hidden just so they don’t have to read that stuff.

Separate your personal page from the music ones. On a music page, put up the info that will draw people to your links, your pictures, and your posts. If you are using it for a personal page, then by all means, do as you wish. But if you are trying to connect with other artists and fans, if you are trying to network and utilize the social networks as one more avenue to move yourself forward, then it is a professional tool, treat it professionally. Get away from the mafia wars, the farmer games, and anything that makes your page like a series of graffiti advertisements. As a musician, give them something that will draw them in as well as make them want more instead of giving them way too much information.

Number 8. – Be confident but not arrogant. Admit when you don’t know something.

Confidence is great, but arrogance can lock you out of opportunities and close doors that would otherwise be open for you. Too often, arrogance is clumsy camouflage for a lack of confidence or outright insecurity. Nothing is less attractive.

Lay back some on the arrogance and let your confidence shine through. Agents, venues, labels and industry executives are subjected to so much ego and arrogance-driven excesses every single day. By coming off strong, quietly confident and not over the top, you will be a breath of fresh air. You’ll be much for effective capturing the attention of whomever you’re talking to, keeping their attention longer, and being remembered afterwards in a positive light. There is simply no way to achieve that beating your chest and being an arrogant blowhard.

Number 9. – Follow the instructions when it comes to sending out packages , calling, emailing distro, etc.

File another one under “N” for “Not rocket science here”. If you are submitting music for licensing, going after a gig, a recording deal, an agent, a producer or whoever, follow the directions that are given on websites when it comes to soliciting materials. This is another one that predates the Internet. Everyone in every decision-making corner of entertainment is INUNDATED with hopefuls, wannabes, and actual legitimate applicants. They all have rules and requirements to keep this potential avalanche under control. None of them are going to toss those rules aside for you or look at your application favorably because you had to do it your way.

So, if someone has it written on their website to only send emails, then DO NOT CALL THEM. If someone has a certain format they require, then send your materials in that format. I have talked to way too many artists who send out things the way they want to send them out and ignore directions—and then wonder why they never hear back. It’s called attention to detail, and while you may still not have a response, you will at least be considered. You will not get that far if you walk in the door and announce yourself who cannot follow simple instructions.

Number 10. – Stop talking shit about other bands, people, etc.

Basically, be nice and shut your mouth. A lot of bands that rip on other bands get a reputation of being shit talkers. This is not a reputation you want to have. Be considerate. You don’t have to like everyone or everything, but as you are out there in the spotlight, in the media, and around many people who may like the person/band/thing you are tempted to bash, it is much better to keep your mouth shut. Be viewed in a positive light rather than one who is always ripping on other bands—bands which, incidentally, you may have to work with again in the future or who may be able to help (or hurt) you down the line. Be smart when it comes to opening your mouth.

Conclusion

This stuff is basic and yet often ignored. Try professionalism, open communication, attention to detail, and give consideration and respect to those you are working with. It can go a long way for you and your career.

[Via http://martholmesmusic.wordpress.com]

Employees: Useable & Useful Green Marketing Plan 2010

2010-01-25T05:38:00.000+02:00

Whether you are currently a full-on green business or a traditional business moving toward green business practices it is critical to have employees that are 100% on the green bandwagon or you may find that you will have sabatoge on your hands. If your green restaurant only uses recycled paper napkins for take out orders, but your employees give out 10 napkins for a single sandwich; you will find that both your image and any cost savings from going green will go out the take-out window with those napkins.

On your marketing calendar be sure to schedule information meetings with staff to help them better undersatnd green business, and the important part they play in promoting your green program. Here are a few suggestions to help you develop a green staff that supports and enhances your efforts.

1. Ask employees to suggest ways to reduce waste and to be more energy efficent. Then act on those suggestions when ever possible!

2. Run green employee contests with prizes like a 2 hour lunch and put their picture on your internet marketing sites with recognition for their successful efforts. Nothing (not even money) motivates employees more than recognition! Contests can include best green suggestions, least waste generation, best recycler, etc.

3. Many times when waste reduction is part of your green business plan employees will confuse your efforts with just being cheap. Make sure that you communicate how waste at your company impacts their paychecks. That is easy to understand and a great motivator.

4. Set the example! They will be watching you!

5. Hire people who care, make green lifestyles a part of your hiring criteria and offer incentives to those who car pool or ride bikes to work. Hire local residents and promote from within.

6. As part of your 2010 green marketing plan schedule green contests (monthly or bi-monthly), employee recognition (weekly), and green meetings (quarterly) to review employee efforts, and evaluate your employment applications and job announcements to best communicate your desire to have green-activists as employees.

Okay, next post will deal with your business “face”. What do customers get as a first impression of your business, is it green or just green washed?

[Via http://greenbizplan.wordpress.com]

Blind Squirrel

2010-01-22T11:33:00.000+02:00

Back in my high school days, (23 plus years…if you need to know)… I had a psychology teacher whose favorite saying was…

…”even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes!”

It was his way of telling you, you got lucky with an answer.

Was I a blind squirrel? Maybe!

Am I now? Nope!

Are you? Probably… let me explain.

If you rely on someone else to create your marketing… you are a blind squirrel.

If you don’t understand who your target audience is… you are a blind squirrel.

If you have no mechanism in place to retain current clients… you are a blind squirrel.

I could go on and on… but I think you get the picture. Stop being the blind squirrel.

Marketing, client retention, employment screening…heck you name it… you probably are just lucky so far.

Lets say that , you had systems in place…

– a marketing plan that explained in explicit detail how every ad was to look, who your target audience was, what your USP (unique selling proposition)is, and how every client was to be treated.

– an employee plan that spelled out exactly what every job was, how it was performed, your empowerment principles, payscales, etc

– a business plan that walked you through everything you ever needed to know on a daily basis to make your job easier, more lucrative and positively fun.

Now imagine if everything above was all planned out… and you got injured? (Maybe even like the squirrel who became blind.) Or maybe you wanted to go on vacation. Can you have confidence in knowing that your replacement can do the job while your gone? Most business owners relay on luck – too much luck!

Or maybe you just wanted to make sure one part of the business, say the marketing, was on track and not haphazardly being put out to attract any lucky person with 2 eyes and a nose. It’s not luck if your goals are carefully crafted and your outcome is planned.

Stop being the blind squirrel! Stop running your business on luck!

Until next time…

“Live with Passion!”

Rob Anspach

www.robanspach.com

P.S. When you’re tired of running your business on luck, email me (rob@robanspach.com)- and I’ll teach you how to refocus and get back on track.

[Via http://robanspach.wordpress.com]

These Money Moves Will Keep Taxes at Bay

2010-01-22T05:42:00.000+02:00

No matter the time of year, taxes are an important topic for investors. There are quite a few investment strategies you can use to lower your tax bill, retain as much of your pretax profit as possible, and give your after-tax bottom line a money-in-the-bank boost.

Ways to save, this year and beyondTactic: Buy to hold. The IRS provides a strong incentive for doing what Fools do anyway: Invest for the long haul. Your income affects the rate you'll pay on realized capital gains (i.e., investment profits), but consider two identical investments of $10,000 by a pair of tax filers in the 28% tax bracket. Investor A gets an itchy trigger finger, sells after a heady six-month run-up of 40%, and pockets a pretax profit of $4,000. Investor B holds the position for more than a year and endures a bit more volatility but ultimately earns that same 40%.

A wash? Not at all. The IRS will ding impatient Investor A at a marginal rate of 28%, to the tune of $1,120. Investor B, however, gets the current favorable long-term rate of 15% and is liable for just $600 — saving almost half the amount.

The moral of the story? At least for this portion of the tax code, the IRS has your back. It rewards investors with a long-term ownership orientation and discourages short-term speculation. Of course, if you find a compelling reason to sell a stock, make every effort to sell shares you've held for more than a year. Doing so can boost your bottom line.

Tactic: Profit from your losses. Selling for tax reasons isn't generally a smart move, but if you have some holdings that meet our sell criteria — fundamental change, opportunity costs, juicy relative valuations — you can make the most of them by realizing a loss and using it to offset comparable capital gains. This strategy is known as tax-loss harvesting.

Tactic: Use the right bucket. Some investments, such as low-turnover mutual funds and low- or no-yield growth stocks, are inherently more tax-efficient than, say, bonds or high-churn funds, which can cause your tax tab to climb as a result of income payouts and realized capital gains. The solution? Use your taxable accounts for the IRS-averse investments we mentioned before.

Tactic: Make the most of your 401(k). Your 401(k) is a terrific vehicle for retirement savings because, in addition to socking away your hard-earned moola, you'll reduce your taxable income by the amount you kick in. Your employer may cough up a matching contribution, which makes a good deal that much better. But even if your employer offers a lousy plan, you can still whip it into fighting shape.

Tactic: Consider an annuity. Annuities aren't for everyone, but if they're right for you, the amount you plunk down can grow on a tax-deferred basis online pay day loans.

Ways to save before the filing deadlineOK, those are useful tips for next year's tax-filing deadline, but what about taxes from last year? Relax! If the filing deadline hasn't passed yet, you still have a few strategies available to cut down on the tax bill you'll owe.

Action Item: If you're self-employed and need more time to save, consider filing an extension. We're not encouraging you to procrastinate come tax time. We think it's best to get the pain out of the way, particularly since, even if you do file an extension, you'll need to estimate and pay the amount you expect to owe by the regular April filing deadline.

Still, for self-employed folks, filing an extension provides additional time to contribute to a solo 401(k), the best vehicle for serious self-employed savers. Depending on your income, you could be eligible to deduct a big part of your taxable income — up to $46,000 in 2008. So if you need more to time to scratch up the dough, take it. The more you plunk down, the more miraculous the miracle of compound interest will be.

Action Item: Open a traditional IRA. Want to reduce your taxable income this year? Consider a traditional IRA. If you file solo and don't participate in a company-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k), your contribution, which is due by the regular April filing deadline, is fully deductible, no matter how much you make. Deductibility for joint filers depends on the company plan status for both you and your spouse, but if neither of you participates, you can reduce your taxable income by the combined amount of your contribution.

Action Item: Open a Roth IRA. You won't be able to deduct the amount you kick in to a Roth, but when it comes time to tap the account, you won't pay a penny in taxes on qualified withdrawals. What's more, unlike with a traditional IRA, you can withdraw contributions (but not your earnings) at any time without penalty. The bottom line? If you haven't been contributing to an IRA for fear that you might need the cash in case of emergency, that excuse — um, that concern — evaporates on contact with a Roth. Sorry.

Learn more about how to reduce your tax bill at The Motley Fool's tax center.

For more tax Foolishness:

This Could Cause the Next CrashThis Billion-Dollar Question Is Still Up in the AirDon't Let This Destroy Your Financial Future

These Money Moves Will Keep Taxes at Bay

[Via http://finbel.wordpress.com]

How to turn your Website into a prospecting magnet

2010-01-20T11:51:00.000+02:00

By Axel Kuhn

For any business, prospecting for new business opportunities is the key to growth and survival. Unfortunately, prospecting using traditional sales and marketing techniques such as advertising, trade shows, and cold calling has become inefficient and prohibitively expensive, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with limited resources and budgets.

Luckily, Marketing 2.0 techniques such as Inbound Marketing and Sales & Marketing Automation offer a much better way.

Did you know that today more than 90% of B2B buyers start their purchasing cycle by looking for solutions and suppliers on the Internet?

Chances are prospective buyers are searching the Internet right now for solutions exactly like those your company offers. Are they finding your company? And if they find your company, does your website engage them with content that establishes your company as a thought-leader in the industry, worthy of adding you to their short list of suppliers?

If your answers are NO, then you are missing out on one of the most cost-effective ways for companies – including SMBs – to prospect for new clients, channel partners, and other complimentors vital to your businesses’ future.

By leveraging the new paradigm of Inbound Marketing, and Sales & Marketing Automation, you can easily turn your website from a static “web-brochure” into a powerful business development tool. In essence, your website must accomplish 4 specific steps:

Step 1. Attract. Using techniques such as focused Search-Engine-Optimization (SEO) and Pay-per-click Advertising (PPC), and selective Social Media Marketing (SMM), you can successfully drive highly relevant traffic to your site.

Step 2. Engage. With low-cost content such as whitepapers, online videos, and webinars, you can cost-effectively establish credibility in your industry as a “thought-leader”. No matter how small your company.

Step 3. Convert. Make it easy for prospects to convert from an unidentified to an identified sales lead, by giving you their online business cards (name, title, contact information, etc), so you can establish a permission-based 1:1 relationship. Without this critical step, valuable prospects will come and go from your site, without your knowledge.

Step 4. Nurture. Using sales & marketing automation, you can nurture prospects with multi-touch email campaigns, offering prospects relevant information based on their individual interests, until they are truly “sales-ready”, and ready to be contacted by your sales team.

In upcoming posts we’ll go through each step in detail, including how to accomplish each step, with real-life examples relevant to your B2B company. Next week’s post will feature how to attract, and what you need to know about SEO, PPC, and the latest trends in Social Media Marketing for your SMB organization.

In the meantime, if you want a quick look at how your website ranks relative to others in attracting prospects, HubSpot offers a neat little tool that automatically grades your site and tells you where you need the most attention. It’s a good starting point.

In addition, if you would like some insight into the powerful shift from traditional marketing to marketing 2.0, and how to harness the power of Marketing 2.0 for your company, you can access our whitepaper on Marketing 2.0 here.

Axel Kuhn is President and Co-Founder of Gossamar Inc. Gossamar specializes in optimizing the web presence of small and mid-sized B2B companies to deliver “More Sales Prospects of Higher Quality at Lower Cost” by taking advantage of the industry shifts to Inbound Marketing and Marketing Automation.

[Via http://riccentre.wordpress.com]

Customer Satisfaction #1: A comment from the customer’s viewpoint.

2010-01-20T05:44:00.000+02:00

Welcome to our first ever “guest post”. Our intention is, from time to time, to introduce a little variety into these posts by inviting occasional comment from our friends in the industry. First up, Alistair Watts. Many readers will know that Alistair has enjoyed a distinguished career in international market research having headed up at various times the Nielsen companies in Singapore, Vietnam and China as well as being regional head of Nielsen operations in Australasia and Japan. With remarkable prescience Alistair retired from market research just months before the “great recession” hit and now – in a complete change of lifestyle – is running a farm in New Zealand. This doesn’t mean he has given up all concern with marketing and research issues however, as is apparent from his first post for Research.Opinionated.Insightful:

Our Customer Service systems are similarly leading edge....

It still amazes me to see how little value so many organisations place on customer retention. Without even trying to find them, examples of plain bad customer care keep appearing. I am sure the organisations I’ll describe in this (and my follow-up) posts have some customer care strategies, want to retain current customers and (probably) conduct some kind of satisfaction survey but, apparently lacking any real understanding of how the customer may view their relationship with the service provider, they plough on regardless of any negative feedback or suggestions to the contrary.

My wife and I decided to change our electricity supplier recently. The reasons were fairly evenly divided between the pull of a better offer from the new supplier and the push from the incumbent. Pull factors will be covered in a later note. Push factors included an inability of the old supplier to communicate with us as individuals, an apparent lack of awareness of where we were located (Google Maps anyone?) and poor follow up and information during the all too frequent supply outages we experience in our locality, especially in winter. We live on a farm – no power means no water (electric pumps), no fence (also electric powered) and no Internet connection. Nothing.

Another key motivation to change was the very poor and confusing feedback about our consumption patterns and how we could better measure them and thereby better manage our energy usage.

The new supplier undertook to inform the incumbent of our decision, warning us that we would at last have contact with them once they heard news of our departure. So it proved to be. The new supplier appeared to know the habits of the old supplier better than the old one knew them. A phone call was received from the incumbent asking for confirmation of our decision and covering a few procedural details for the changeover. We did offer during this conversation to provide reasons for our decision but this did not, either at the time nor subsequently, trigger any response.

We did however receive a letter informing us that we were valued customers and hoping they could “keep you as one of our customers”. This standard letter was addressed to us as “Dear Customer”, signalling apparently that they still don’t know our names and was completed with a reproduced signature. It gave six reasons for us to stay, a better relationship clearly not being one of them.

The first was that there were “loads of ways” we could pay our bill. We already knew that but didn’t see it as a particularly important or relevant reason for staying. A bill is a bill and it has to be paid. The standard 10% prompt payment discount was also mentioned although that in fact merely reverses the traditional procedure of adding 10% if a bill is not paid.

The second reason was that “we’ve got it all”, specifically electricity, natural gas and bottled LPG. And so what?

Thirdly mentioned was the reward programme although since participation in this was about to yield a NZ$10 to $20 voucher after a year of participation as compared to monthly bills of the order of $300 to $500 per month the “reward” side of the equation was somewhat lacking.

Point four amplified point one by mentioning online bill payment and accessing bill summaries online. Don’t most companies offer this now? Is this news in 2010?

Point five covered the availability of various pricing plans and the promise to have the right one for us. In vain did we scan this paragraph looking for clues as to which plan was right for us, how that had been assessed, how being on it would advantage us and how it could be accessed and discussed.

The final point was the availability of energy saving tips and exclusive Smart Savers offers, although what they are was not explained. To get this, all we had to do was to call them and they’d “do the rest”. Not likely, thanks.

This type of approach demonstrates a clear failure to understand how the service provider’s business plans and delivery system interacts with the customer. There is no empathy with the customer, which is hardly surprising because they clearly don’t know the customer as an individual, despite all the information gathered through consumption records over the years. Nothing in the letter or other communication suggested any knowledge of the customer’s needs or, worse still, what the source of the customer’s dissatisfaction might be.

The usual riposte to that would be that in a mass-market business it can’t be done. Unfortunately that’s not so in 2010 because the new supplier showed us just how well it can be done.

Market research is the voice of the consumer, whether gained via an individual comment or a research organisation that provides it. Certainly the latter can offer interpretative advice based on experience but the core feedback is from the customer. Assuming no basic errors in the methodology, challenging or ignoring the research findings is exactly the same as challenging or ignoring the customer. I mention this because customer satisfaction results for energy suppliers in my country are available (http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/energy-providers/survey-results) but apparently are having little impact.

Understanding the delivery and service model from the customer point of view drives customer satisfaction. In my experience, users of services are happy to provide their feedback, at least where I live, where over a drink at home or a chance meeting in the neighbourhood people will talk for hours about what pleases or displeases them about services they use. In less rural settings, new social media channels and on-line qualitative services provide easy to access alternatives to get quick and in-depth feedback. Unfortunately the provider is often too constrained by what they believe they can or can’t provide to their customers or by an untested model of what their company’s DNA says customers want. I well remember presenting research results to a multi-national client in China who challenged the findings because this wasn’t the way the market for their products had developed elsewhere. Never mind what the end consumer in China was actually doing, it wasn’t how it should be!

The approach of our former supplier to one of their “valued customers” showed that they don’t really want to know what is driving customer dissatisfaction, probably because they’ve convinced themselves that they:

(a) Know what their customers’ want

(b) Are providing as good a service as they can within the constraint of the current business model and

That is, until someone else starts talking to their customers!

(Editors note: We will carry the second part of this series in a week or two).

[Via http://gordonandmccallum.wordpress.com]

The interview: make time to listen

2010-01-18T11:45:00.000+02:00

This week, we’ve been interviewing for a fairly senior marketing role on a particular project. With the current economic climate, there’s been no shortage of high-calibre applicants.

It’s not the first time I’ve conducted interviews; but it is the first time I’ve been able to sit back and watch. A colleague of mine was running the interviews and I was the “second opinion”. That gave me the chance to sit back and do what everyone should do more of in business: listening.

For starters, I heartily recommend getting a second person in to help you conduct interviews. In the past, I have always found myself concentrating as much on explaining the role and asking questions as listening properly. This time round, by only having to listen and think, my opinions have been far clearer.

I’m no psychoanalyst, but I think we all betray our strengths and weaknesses pretty easily. I also think that’s rather a good thing. I don’t want to employ the wrong person, not just because that’s bad for my business, but also because it’s bad for the applicant themselves. And there are always times in life when we don’t quite know what we want and apply for just about anything; and it’s actually better to be told by someone else that this isn’t the right job for you.

Having time to listen also means you pick up more of the subtle nuances that lie underneath what is, on the face of it, a straight answer.

One of the candidates, for example, I suddenly realised, was reeling off examples of the companies she had worked for, and why those companies were great. Excellent. Yet, nowhere – not once – did she explain why her contribution to those companies had been great.

We have also had a chap (actually, several examples like this), who clearly had an exceptional grasp of marketing strategy. But I got the feeling he had worked in the past with large marketing teams, and was happier “going by the book” than rolling his sleeves up and getting stuck into the real work required in smaller or startup companies. I still make the coffee now and then (badly, but I do it*), because in anything but the largest companies, everyone should muck in.

Then there was the lady who got the name of the product wrong, even though we’d just done a demo. Maybe that’s “interview nerves”, but I think it’s lack of either interest or focus or discipline or whatever… if you can’t be bothered to soak up a brand name, you probably shouldn’t be in marketing.

Just in case you’re reading this and thinking of applying for a job, here’s what impressed me about the candidates we’re taking forward:

They were interested in us and our company; and wanted to understand what we do before they told us how wonderful they were.
They applied their past experience clearly and concisely to our requirements and the issues we faced; rather than treating those experiences as virtues in themselves.
They were flexible. I don’t demand a bargain on time, money, commitment or anything else. Flexibility of approach is an asset long before it’s applied to any specific line of the employment contract.
They took time to think before answering. People who are desperate to make a good impression… don’t. People who aren’t afraid to think and examine always come out better.
They answered the question they were asked. If there’s one thing I notice time and again, it’s the fact that so many interviewees divert their answer to tough questions onto more comfortable ground. It’s a sidestep that I always spot, and always find disappointing.
They were honest. Nobody is likely to have the perfect blend of skills; and everyone has holes in their knowledge. I have far more respect for someone who says “I’ve never done that” than trying to bluff their way through.

It’s a weird thing, the interview process. I don’t want sympathy, but both sides would do well to remember that the interviewer is as human, fallible and prone to personal prejudices as anyone else. The laws of first impressions mean we make mistakes, we fail to listen or think - and we sometimes allow ourselves to be swayed by jargon-filled CVs or a short skirt (don’t kid yourselves, gents). It’s only by listening that we get past the first impressions, and to the facts which will better influence our gut instinct. Ignore first impressions, and ignore the rulebook too (because there are plenty of way-out candidates who deserve consideration). Then go with the gut feel: the personwho was honest, interested, energised by your company, and confident of making a difference. Deal done.

*Management Genius, No. 94: Always make terrible coffee. Sooner or later, people will stop asking you to make it.

[Via http://truebusiness.co.uk]

Quote of The Week

2010-01-18T05:19:00.000+02:00

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” – Warren Buffet

So many businesses are pricing their offerings to cover their own costs. This is my personal estimate, but I believe that in America less than 10% of products and services are actually sold for the value that they bring to the customer.

I remarked to my wife one time that “a bad haircut is never cheap.” If something is worthless, doesn’t improve your life in some way, it is overpriced, no matter what you paid for it.

In the same way, it’s impossible to spend too much obtaining your dreams. If a product or service can save you time, make you healthier, wealthier, or happier, its price should be more closely related to that fact than to it’s production cost.

Since this is supposed to be a marketing blog, let’s bring this principle home.

Because good marketing actually produces profit, your budget should view marketing as an investment, not an expense. Sure, it may cost some money up front, but your ROI will more than justify that. Cost-effective does not necessarily mean inexpensive. If investing in marketing doubles your sales, it would be inexpensive to throw $100 into your efforts. It would also be tremendously stupid. Why not spend a fortune? Your marketing is no longer inexpensive, but it is remarkably cost-effective. Look at what you get for the money!!

Here are two lessons we can get from this quote from Mr. Buffet:

Seek to add value to your customers’ lives through your products and services. This is the key to developing staying-power in your business.
Remember to base your prices on that value.

By the way, let me formally apologize for missing last week’s quote. I’ll try not to let that happen again.

[Via http://donniebryant.wordpress.com]

THE “SUN” EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

2010-01-15T11:17:00.000+02:00

I should thank myself for taking some time before I could write this blog entry, because this had given me some time to get some valuable insights on how the SUN Network media group has strategized its programs to take on the Star Vijay Channel here in Tamil satellite TV channel world. You could say this entry as a sequel to my earlier entry.

Inorder to take on the Star Vijay’s various programs the Sun TV channel had launched a multi-pronged attack. Let me elaborate on the strategy they are handling as of now.

They had bought the rights of Deal or No deal from Endemol Entertainment group of Netherlands. This program was a runaway hit in different geographies wherever it was telecasted. Basically this is a reality show with a chance to earn from as low as Re.1 to as high as 50 lac rupees by the contestant. Its a game of chance and its a game for the people who want to take risk and good at decision making considering the risk factors and the outcomes the situation throws out to the contestant. This program is also a good learning ground for mathematicians on the probability theory. You can also say this as a program for psychologists on getting to know about people’s decision making skills when high risks are present. But if you want to keep it simple this show is a real game show. So because of the new format of this game show and due to the fact its a show where one can earn more money without any investment this show had drawn huge audience across age groups. Also I would say that the marketing strategy adopted by Sun TV and the way this show was hosted had been the WOW factor to draw enough TRP ratings, courtesy more eyeballs during the weekend primetime which Sun TV was lacking due to the main competitor Star Vijay’s programs like “Neeya Naana” and “Anu Alavum bayamillai”. These programs were running for quite some time and had been proven, as hits. So to draw audience from these shows one has to have good program and a WOW factor. These both were present in Deal or No deal show.

The tricky part and SUN’s mastermind strategy starts from here. They ran this game show for some time so as to officially prove to the advertisers and the media pundits that this is the much awaited change driver. Once this was established they started to use this game show as a money minter and as a show which can be used to launch the attack on Star Vijay. Once they convinced the public about the program’s authenticity in earning money, there were lot of requests in wanting to participate. Also Sun TV kept the public in dark on how they are choosing the contestants which was a real ploy. So in lot of public forums related to Tamil satellite channels people started asking on how to participate in this program. This was the situation what Sun TV was waiting for. Here came the launch of multi pronged attack. They started to advertise on the ways in which people can participate.

On January first week they asked the people to watch two newly launched mega serials telecasted at 7.30 pm and 10.00 pm in Sun TV and questions were asked from those two serials one for each serial everyday. Hence whoever has answered all the 10 questions will be having a chance to participate in this Deal or No deal game show. The reason to select these two slots is Star Vijay’s hit serial of Village setup School drama “Kallikattu Pallikoodam” was running at the 7.30 pm slot and the thriller show of “Nadanthathu Enna” was telecasted in 10 pm slot. Both these programs were proven hits. Thus Sun TV went in for a double delight is what I would say. Converting the audience in the initial days for a mega serial is good enough to make them watch for serial’s lifetime also it will dent the number of eyeballs watching Star Vijay’s hit programs.

There should have been a good response is what I would guess, because of the rising demand of people wanting to participate in Deal or No deal game show. To prove it further Sun TV had extended the same strategy by extending it to a different platform. Sun Pictures has released Actor Vijay’s Vettaikaran movie which happens to be a mass entertainer and has got enough elements to make the common film goer happy after the movie. To make this movie a mega hit, again the Deal or No deal show is used as a key. In the Pongal week, questions were asked in Sun TV group about Vettaikaran movie and contestants for the game show will be chosen from those who reply for this question. Hence with a sure shot winner in Deal or No Deal game show, SUN media group is reaping good dividends by denting on the Competitor’s armoury of programs and making its own programs get enough audience in its initial days.

Thus at the moment its SUN Media group all the way….. Anyways as I already mentioned in my earlier blog entry, healthy competition brings in more stuff for audience to choose from also it leads to innovation in a world of mega serials and average reality shows which are making the audience move away from TV to new media. Let us keep our fingers for the next innovation.

Thank you for your patience to read this long article……

[Via http://keepkwizing.wordpress.com]

"Thank God For Facebook." Social Media Unites, Raises Millions for Haiti Relief

2010-01-15T05:49:00.000+02:00

Earthquake Haiti on Facebook

It’s been a grueling couple of days since the 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti.

At this moment millions are quite literally missing and families all over the world are grappling at any form of communication to possibly get word in or out.

Perhaps if there’s anything remarkable to report on, it’s how social media, be it Twitter, Facebook or Text messages have become a primary source for information and fund-raising that’s down right record-breaking.

As cell phones and landlines quickly became obsolete, throngs in and out of the country turned to social media. Within hours, fund-raising portals were set up at the American Red Cross, the Clinton Foundation and countless others, including celebrity organizations like Wyclef Jean’s YELE.

Reports are early, but according to Mashable, the American Red Cross has already raised $5,000,000 via text messages. Then tonight on Twitter, “@Anncurry: As of 7 pm total donations for Haiti relief through the SMS campaign (texting 90999) is $5.9 Million.” Amazing.

Facebook and Twitter have become gathering areas for loved ones, journalists, iReporters and everyone in between as they try to pluck reliable real-time feedback or simply show their support.

For those of us who’ve been fighting to convince others of the power of social media, but perhaps focusing too much on $$$$ or brand equity, take a step back and look at the past 72 hours. Without social media, the fate of my best friend and her family would still remain unknown. Monies would not have been so easily freed with the click of an iPhone. Now, multiply that by millions.

[Via http://doyouhaveapencil.wordpress.com]

Put some local flavour in your communications

2010-01-13T11:31:00.000+02:00

I know we all have just been recovered from the Christmas ‘commercial’ craze, but I just picked up this news from my Czech friends and thought this is such a great example of brands making the best use of local culture.

Kofola, a Czech soft drink that competes with the likes of Coca-Cola dropped Santa Clause (Jezisek) in the festive commercial since 03. The ad made use of a local legend, according to which a golden pig shows itself to those fasting on Christmas Day. The commercial shows while trekking through a snow-covered forest in a quest of a Christmas tree, a father tells his daughter the golden pig tale until the little girl declares she won’t have to fast because she already sees a pig. A wild boar chases them away.

One of the main challenges for global brands seeking to expand to foreign markets is the task of balancing standardization with customization. When global brands expand overseas, they are often tempted to repeat their tried and tested formula in the new market as well. In execution terms meaning they often without further exploration, will try to adopt the global advertising with minimum adjustments for the local market. The assumption is that customers would be too eager to adopt the brand because of its ‘global reputation’. However, we have to understand that each market has its own subtleties, unique characteristics and preferences. Many of these unique characteristics are deeply inspired by the local culture. The challenge in fact is how to build on the global platform and execute it creatively with local relevance. In this day and age of 360˚ communications, it could well be achieved by formulating local executions in ‘non traditional’ medium.

In the case of Kofola, obviously they do not have that ‘baggage’ since they are a home grown brand, but their creative tactics is something that global brands can take reference from.

TVC link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlTUBgyvQaA

[Via http://louiechow.wordpress.com]

Social Media Success, Iguana Mexican Grill

2010-01-13T05:33:00.000+02:00

I picked this story up about this restaurant in Oklahoma City called Iguana Mexican Grill who started a promotion to thank customers for their support their first year in business. The chef notes that they were only going to run this promotion for one month. Well, the promotion became a hit growing weekly so they kept on going. Here in this video and article he says Twitter was a big part of how this event publicized.

Click below to view the video of the chef’s interview.

http://feeds.newsok.tv/services/player/bcpid4659235001?bctid=53927655001

Click here to view the article.

http://newsok.com/chef-stirs-up-diners-using-social-media/article/3430962

Obviously he’s serving great food at a great price as well so it sounds like it’s a winning combination.

As you can see, he has only sent out 28 tweets, has 399 followers, following 200, and is on 53 lists. When I pulled his account, I could see 25 out of 28 tweets.

This story is one of many success stories in the food service space.

Iguana Favorites TACOS

(soft or crispy) served with choice of two sides 8.95. two flour tortillas, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and pico de gallo with choice of:

adobo chicken
ground beef
chile verde pork
beef al carbon

[Via http://restaurantmarketingpartners.wordpress.com]

Ways for Internet Marketing on a Low Budget

2010-01-11T11:42:00.000+02:00

Ways for Internet Marketing on a Low Budget

Author: sean sandvik

What are you blogging about now? Is it getting you lots of traffic from Twin Falls (or anywhere else for that matter) and you want to discover how your niche can grow your income bigger than a locally grown potato (or whatever you grow)? Where just a coffee chat in Lewiston can turn your thoughts into a $100.00 $$$$PER DAY$$$$ job. (Click Here NOW) To Discover profitable blogging techniques!) P.S. Did I Mention YOU WILL SAVE TIME ON THESE BREAKTHROUGH MONEY MAKING TIPS

Ways for Internet Marketing on a Low Budget

By Akash Deep

Recently I was contacted by a client who was frustrated that her marketing efforts were not producing results like she expected. In an attempt to address her concerns, I realized how many other professionals are in the same boat. What follows is an open letter to professionals everywhere who are struggling to attract new clients and make money online.

Dear Entrepreneur and Professional:

First, let’s address the issue of finances. I understand fully what it is like to invest in your own business, work hard, and see little income. Sometimes it seems as if you work for pleasure, and indeed there is much pleasure involved. It’s not unusual for entrepreneurs to be passionate about their business and services and many would do what they love for free. For more details visit to www.achieving-liftoffs.com .But it can’t work that way, and you must see the money or your business will perish. Finally, after a couple of years of trickle income, we are now seeing results in our own online business, and are making a comfortable living solely from information and services sold on the Internet.

It takes time. And it involves having lots of digital information products people can buy and download instantly. In order to sell them, you have to have a powerful web presence and be easily findable to the millions of people who Google for solutions to their problems.

People can’t find you with just a web site. You need a blog, and you need to write on it frequently – daily is best; two to three times per week is good. An electronic newsletter, or ezine, is also a great marketing tool, and it needs to be posted on the Web, or on your blog.

You need to write and submit articles to article directories so people can find you better. Your articles need to include contact information and links back to your website and products.

You need the infrastructure in place so you can follow up with automated email messages to people who contact you requesting information, purchase your products and register for your events. For more information logon to www.website-conversion-mastery.com

It’s a good idea to do teleclasses, some for free, so you build your list, connect with people and get them into your higher priced seminars.

There are other business models, and I am most familiar with what I have done myself, and helped other entrepreneurs to do.

When Denise and I joined Tom Antion’s Mentee Program, it was a considerable financial commitment. We send him a check every month out of our earnings, which are steadily increasing thanks to his tutelage. It’s worth it to learn and model what works from one who has been there and is a multi-millionaire.

As the saying goes, you can’t get to Carnegie Hall without lots of practice, and that takes an investment of time, patience and money.

There are no easy solutions. Continue doing what works and invest in those areas of your business that provide the biggest payoff. Get training. Invest in the infrastructure and tools that allow you to save time and market effortlessly. Avoid overwhelm by implementing tools slowly, getting used to one and observing your results before going to the next step. Building a business on the Internet is not about getting rich quick. It’s about hard work and persistent effort that will pay off in the long run.

www.internet-marketing-online-goldmine.com

Article Source: Articles island – Free article submission and free reprint articles

About the Author:

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Ways for Internet Marketing on a Low Budget

[Via http://seansandvik.wordpress.com]

Getting it Right in 2010

2010-01-11T05:45:00.000+02:00

2010 is getting off to a weird, slow start. The days do seem to be going by fast, so I guess I can’t complain too much.

Looking forward to this meeting by the Social Media Club. It will be held at the Maxwell House on January 21 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm in Pasadena. More info here.

This weekend has been somewhat relaxing. I got to catch Youth in Revolt last night and visited the Arboretum this evening. Back to another Monday tomorrow!

[Via http://amindfullofblanks.wordpress.com]

Trends in marketing for 2010

2010-01-08T11:48:00.000+02:00

New year, new trends in marketing. What can we expect to see? Here are my tips.

1. More body fragmentation.

The makers of all the things we use to clean and groom ourselves are no idiots. Why sell us one bar of soap when you can sell us seven different kinds of soap (sorry, ‘cleanser’) for seven different body parts? So in 2009, we had marketing campaigns declaring that our armpit skin has rights, our eyelashes need conditioner and our under-eyes need caffeine.

This year, say no to dirty heads with Behind-The-Ear Buffer; brides, make sure your ring finger sparkles on the greatest day of your life with our dedicated Fourth Finger Spa Day; and say good-bye to dull grey pubes with Black Bush (ad slogan: Spruce Up YOUR Map of Tassie).

2. The end of “friendly” packaging.

“Hi, thanks for buying me. You thought you were getting a bottle of orange juice but actually you’ve bought an anthropomorphised label that’s going to sit here and have a lovely little chat with y… WHY HAVE YOU THROWN ME IN THE BIN? I AM RECYCLABLE YOU BASTARD. I THOUGHT WE WERE JUST STARTING TO GET ALONG. WHATEVER, I WAS ONLY PRETENDING TO LIKE YOU.”

3. Personal pronouns before brand names.

I’m boldly predicting that this hideous trend will be over. Not because of a terrible mix-up relating to “Your M&S” and an armful of undies I tried to walk off with without paying. No, it’s because of the existence of My Toilet Cleaner.

It's not mine, it's yours.

Enough! Or at least give us His Toilet Cleaner. “Hi, thanks for buying me. I like nothing more than slowly caressing the side of a dirty toile…” well, I think you get the picture there.

4. Banks being our friends.

After a brief period throwing back to a time when banks marketed themselves as being stable, they’re going to think we’ve forgotten a little incident known as taxpayers’ bailout and start being all fun and friendly again. Well, we haven’t forgotten. Unless we are the advertising ‘creatives’ who work on your account and then, conveniently, we have.

5. There will never be another celebrity ad endorsement ever again.

Not really. I’m pretty certain that even if we all swore to never buy a product endorsed by a celebrity — not even if that celebrity is Martine McCutcheon — they’d still be in ads. But it is a nice thought.

Edited. Oh good God, of course you can already buy pubic hair dye.

[Via http://jenniferwhitehead.wordpress.com]

Reviewing Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

2010-01-08T05:07:00.000+02:00

The reconstruction of a traditional New Orleans Tulane University was founded in New Orleans, LA, 1834. Since that time, the University has developed as part of a vibrant and historic city. With the landing of a lot has changed Katrina in New Orleans, but not the continued presence of this highly respected research Tulane University Area: New Orleans New Orleans, LA United States 70118United University. Tulane University continues today not only provide quality education to its undergraduates in many different fields of study, but to promote the idea of permanent cultural community of New Orleans who are fighting for Academics rebirth.Tulane. Not located in the Northeast or on the California coast or even a giant like metropolitan Chicago, Tulane University each year still manages to win the praise of educators and the attention of undergraduates serious researchers and post graduates. The reason is simple.Since its founding in the 19th century, Tulane has set up a university undergraduate who offers the possibility of pursuing a liberal arts education with majors in many different areas. Students who, after examination of Tulane University, New Orleans, chose to attend this fine institution to quickly find what they enjoy the fact that Tulane is a highly respected research draws a powerhouse of graduate students and teachers for many different professional programs. Tulane is known for its schools of graduate level in disciplines such as business, medicine, social work, engineering and law. The reputation of the graduate programs have gained has enabled undergraduate programs receive full beneficial effect. Students enrolled in undergraduate programs at Tulane University find themselves working with researchers from leading practitioners in the state of the art facilities and preparation for future success….

Read full article: Reviewing Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

[Via http://educat03.wordpress.com]

Sherlock Holmes + Advergame

2010-01-06T11:48:00.000+02:00

“221B” é um dos advergames mais bacanas dos últimos tempos. Criado pela AKQA para promover o filme “Sherlock Holmes”, que estreia aqui no Brasil na próxima sexta. Falamos sobre ele mais detalhadamente nesse post no início de novembro passado.

O jogo é multiplayer e utiliza integração com Facebook, apresentando uma série de mistérios que devem ser solucionados pelos usuários. No vídeo abaixo, o desenvolvedor Rollo Carpenter conta para a BBC como funciona o sistema de inteligência artificial do projeto.

As técnicas de roteiro foram programas para reconhecer um grande número de potenciais questões feitas pelos jogadores. O objetivo, além de fazer os personagens responderem da maneira mais humana possível, é passar a sensação de que você não está, na verdade, conversando com um computador.

Esse tipo de robô é tão velho como a internet, mas é interessante observar como o comportamento evolui, muito mais devido a criação e projeção humana do que com a tecnologia em si. Roteiro muito bem planejado, acima de tudo.

O vídeo, obviamente, está em inglês. Britânico, pra ser melhor.

Tudo do brainstorm9.com.br

[Via http://oliverstuff.wordpress.com]

Optimization Petroleum Technologies Selects Advertas as PR Agency

2010-01-06T05:43:00.000+02:00

Optimization Petroleum Technologies Inc. (OPT), provider of integrated software solutions for oil and gas reservoir management and production analysis, announced the selection of Advertas in Houston as their marketing and public relations agency. Based in Beijing, China, OPT develops, markets and provides consulting services for the PEOffice® suite of applications for use in exploration, production and gas storage companies. PEOffice is an integrated software system for reservoir management and production optimization. OPT has appointed Advertas to assist in developing and implementing their North American go-to-market strategy.

Initiatives to be undertaken by Advertas on behalf of OPT will include a sustained public relations effort in the form of press coverage, interviews with editors, development of marketing collateral and a Web analytics campaign. The marketing and public relations program is expected to build awareness of the OPT brand, drive traffic to the company’s website, and ultimately increase the sales pipeline.

“We are excited to bring the OPT PEOffice Suite to the United States and we needed a marketing and public relations agency that could assist us in brand recognition,” said Jacoby Garcia, Vice President of OPT. “We also required a firm that had the knowledge in-house to implement an effective marketing and public relations program on behalf of OPT. We selected Advertas because they have the mix of skills we need and their specialization in energy and technology.”

“Many of our clients consist of start-ups and company/product launches,” said Hal Green, Managing Director of Advertas. “We are excited to work with OPT in getting their suite of software recognized in the US energy market. We look forward to applying our skills in building awareness of the excellent OPT brand.”

www.optpt.com

www.AdvertasMarketing.com

[Via http://petrocomputing.wordpress.com]

When reading on net COSTS!

2010-01-04T11:42:00.000+02:00

Rupert Murdoch sounded it and a lot of media companies are echoing it – pay for consuming media online.

This means you might actually have to pay to read news or other articles on the web. In Wall Street Journal (owned by Murdoch), you have two types of content – one with pictures, rich information (lot cool) and the FREE stuff (less cool).

Hulu.com is already asking for money, if you want to watch TV shows. Too bad it didn’t start its service outside the US.

This could mean few things –

1. Media firms are sick of letting their hard earned content for free. Slowly, internet will move towards the “Free is Nothing” strategy.

2. Page Views and Unique visits would recieve some serious blow. Ad rates could be affected.

3. Lot of bloggers might spring out only to publish this paid content for free. Sounds like new grounds for ad networks and such.

4. Serious net users may actually start paying to make sure they are not wading in shitty contnet.

Two years down the line, we could as well be looking at our credit card bills for ‘virtual content consumed’ and looking back at today as Good Old Days, when Shit was Free!

[Via http://kiranspillai.wordpress.com]

Online revolution is nothing without strategy

2010-01-04T05:47:00.000+02:00

by Tony Fannin, president, BE Branded

New year. New age. In this plugged in, always on world, I’ve notice a common attitude that’s becoming a trend. And not a good one, at that. Many are under the false belief that all you have to do is get on Twitter, Facebook, and blog your heart out, and you’ll find success through the sheer magic of the internet. It is no question that these online tools and Google search has revolutionized the world of advertising. But the question is, just because you have a skillful command of these tools, does it make you a marketing genius?

From what I’ve seen, no. Being good at online tools alone doesn’t make you a marketing god. That’s only half of the story. Circuit City didn’t go bankrupt because they lacked twitter skills. They went bust because they lost focus on their core business brand and watched Best Buys blow right by them. Burger King is one of the most progressive new media players in the fast food industry. They’ve had huge success with Subservient Chicken and Facebook Whopper Sacrifice. Still, they are a very distant second to McDonald’s.

So why isn’t new media THE answer? The problem is that too many marketers forget the second part of the equation – strategy. Marketing is made up of two components: marketing strategy and marketing tactics. Which is more important? Many believe, and so do I, that strategy is far more important than tactics. Tactics are short lived and only affect a portion of the marketing spectrum. It takes strategy to see the end game, what it will take to get there, and what tools (tactics) it will need to accomplish stated goals. Too many concentrate on the tools and not enough on what you’re building in the first place.

Instead of just trying to find new tactics or different online solutions, why not take a closer look at your overall strategy? That’s where one should begin with anyway. How do you know what tactics you should invest in without knowing the core marketing strategy and the goal that strategy is trying to accomplish? Too many marketers try to hop on the newest online toy without really understanding how that new toy will contribute to the overall strategy.

If you get your strategy right, then the tactics you employ whether it’s new media, social media, traditional advertising, etc., will pay off dividends in ROI and help you reach your established goals. By knowing what tool is best for what results, you can actually employ the right tactics for the right measurements and not expect the wrong tool for the right results.

The skillful use of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and SEO won’t make a weak brand strong. All it will do is accelerate a weak brand’s demise. By having a strong brand linked with insightful strategy and executed with the right tactics, you’ve increased your chances of marketing success 100-fold.

www.bebranded.net

317-797-7226

[Via http://bebranded.wordpress.com]

How do you face in order to help you, your business faster?

2010-01-01T17:47:00.000+02:00

"A person found in its history, and all need to express a few square inches of his face, train, and his ancestors room." ~ Emerson lives or

Her face contains clues to your true nature. This is who we are and what we have seen, and we walk in we are facing opposition – which makes us unique. Our personal and emotional energy patterns show that in our own specific functions that can help guide usOur next most appropriate economic level.

By understanding your face will be seen as a result of their own, personal power of the relationship between, and how to understand the world, including many more. Physiognomy can be more sympathetic to their own, because you know how you wired from the inside out ", then the contribution of cells, the current response and determine your memories, and help you connect with other, more健康.

Understand their own limitations, needs and desires more clearly, this is a very attractive quality. When people think your definition, they may be the next one, they – they are with the plants, obligations or the actual relationship between the expected conditions. They also open up new source of energy, it is possible to get every possible opportunity, rich and prosperous – after all, as long as you open, that is, as long as you need to be filled In order to have an opportunity. As you are attractive, and is worthy to attract you (also known as) the legal appeal.

About the company, physiognomy, you know how) to negotiate a decision-making process, such as more effective (through an understanding of each other's face, how you succeed. For example, there is one in the nose, it tells you when to delegate prompts – if not satisfied needs, you can clearly see how you bossing"Your friends and family. However, if you just listen to assistants, to meet this need, the people around you are likely to have been very satisfied!

Three things is to look at your face:

1. Remember that your lips. When the soil is very full, you are likely to be very generous. Just think, if you are above, they can be grown the wrong reasons, may be your business – it is an energy consumption. In addition, if you have a client with theThis feature may explain why they give you when they hire you "to" resolve their!

2. Keep in mind that your eyebrows. That is, if you have enough space and your eyes and your eyebrows, which you may need time and space, in order to understand the people or circumstances. It is likely that you will observe what happens, and then jump into the water – this is only your cable way. If you are a new customer with this feature, you do not want to walk, They welcomed and The Bear hug you – time and space they need to know first!

3. Please note that your chin. If you insist on your chin out, which is an indicator, may be a bit stubborn things (may actually be an entrepreneur of good quality). However, if your model, if you think have the ability to repeat the decision, dialogue and relationships, where are you, you will feel that they are, you know, stubborn. If"Your client does not have this feature, be surprised if they do not know what they want to know, jammed and thank you, you would expect to provide – they are just wired this way!

There are so many things to read out the ancient art and science of the face, but you gradually improve your understanding of trends and patterns, it is more sensitive to other people. And to increase the sensitivity of the world around you to keep what you are more likely to involveTo help you grow your business faster!

[Via http://containsyourflyer.wordpress.com]

Ghost Hunters, Paranormal TV

2010-01-01T05:25:00.000+02:00

People who have known me for any length of time know that I am fascinated by the paranormal. I think the whole idea of investigating the paranormal is interesting, intriguing. It can certainly make you think, consider your own mortality and what might be ‘beyond’.

During my teen years I shared some experiences with friends that made me question what I thought I knew about life and death. No, I don’t claim to know definitively that there are spirits or ‘ghosts’, but I do know we have had paranormal experiences that we could not explain, so to watch various groups investigate such claims of others, it fascinating.

I greatly enjoy Ghost Hunters. I enjoy the cast members and their relationships with one another. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson approach investigations in a ‘professional’ way, without the hysterics that tend to accompany paranormal reality TV. I appreciate the fact that they set out to disprove or ‘debunk’ alleged paranormal claims. They would sooner view an experience as a common occurrence misinterpreted than immediately proclaim an experience as ghostly.

I watch Paranormal State, because the group originates from Penn State University within my home state. Ryan Buell is the group’s leader. He really is ‘the boy next door’, appearing to be a very caring and compassionate young man. The group has diverse religious beliefs, but incorporate the famed “demonologist” Lorraine Warren and various “psychics” in every episode. Ryan or one of his psychics, almost without fail, determines nearly every paranormal claim to be demonic in nature, ending many episodes with a religious ceremony (often led by Ryan himself), claiming the paranormal activity has ended and the house is cleared.

Ghost Adventures is a similar paranormal investigative series featuring Zak Bagans and two of his friends, Aaron and Nick, who lock themselves in various reportedly haunted sites over night as they investigate claims made by residents, care takers, etc. Zak, Aaron and Nick are much more excitable than the casts of the previous two series I mentioned. They are not as professional, engaging in screaming, running away from unknown sounds and the Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) sounds they collect never appear to be more than static or white noise, though they claim they can hear very specific communications in almost every EVP they highlight.

Ghost Lab is a series I’ve only just found recently. This series features a brother team, the Klinges, and their group, as they investigate reportedly haunted sites across the country. At first glance, they appear to be the most ’scientific’ of all the programs in this genre, but they appear to only view their scientific evidence in a way that supports their goal of collecting convincing evidence of paranormal phenomenon, though much of it could be viewed in an opposing manner, debunking claims of the paranormal.

I find these programs very entertaining.

I recently read that a former cast member of Ghost Hunters revealed that they were instructed to ‘act’ during the taping of the series. The person relaying this rumor indicated that it caused them to now view all their material as suspect and it made them question all these programs.

I have to say, anyone who believes “Reality TV” isn’t staged, scripted, edited, etc., should put the remote down and back away from the TV slowly.

Obviously, there is a formula to editing and broadcasting such programs. Their ‘investigations’ would have to be ’scripted’ to some degree to allow them to be formatted into the one hour or half hour time slot allotted to the programs.

Often you see a ‘teaser’ for each of these series, throughout the week prior to that episode airing that builds you up to believe something truly terrifying is going to happen. That’s a marketing tool used to draw viewers in. They edit each episode in a way that keeps your interest as they break for commercials, so you don’t turn the channel or lose interest. That’s TV.

Programs such as these are clearly intended for an audience that takes an objective position when it comes to the possibility of paranormal activity, such an audience appreciates the tension and suspense, otherwise they wouldn’t continue to tune in.

Obviously, these are my personal views, opinions and brief reviews of these television shows, what do you think?

[Via http://rgmaines.wordpress.com]

Loyally Screwed

2009-12-30T11:30:00.000+02:00

Anyone working in business will tell you (and if they won’t, I will) — watch what your largest customers are doing.

What killed the video store? Online movies, On-Demand, NetFlix, iTunes, etc. Now I was a once a week rental guy, if that. But when their 7 day a week movie fanatics (the guys or girls that waited at the door for the latest release) went to 4 a week to 3 a week, to one a month — the signs were there, but was anyone listening?

Those loyalists are your foundation — absolutely critical relationships. Blockbuster is still playing catch up from their bricks and mortar strategy to a clicks, order and mortar strategy. Stubbornness, did someone not act, or a case of rolling over and playing victim? Even better, let’s blame gas prices and the economy!

Your loyalists may not necessarily be fans — if you’re providing convenience and someone else enters the marketplace with more convenience, you’re history. I refer to that as loyally screwed.

Convert your loyalists to fans for a stronger foundation and begin to LISTEN.

You can see your own future, your crystal ball is at your fingertips — all you have to do is listen. You may be able to determine the next curve in your industry through these relationships — pay very close attention.

Be remarkable, not replaceable.

[Via http://membershipjedi.wordpress.com]

Redesigning the College Snuggie

2009-12-30T05:50:00.000+02:00

Let’s face it. There’s been a lot of talk about Snuggies in pop culture this year. “The blanket with sleeves” came out of nowhere and gripped the nation. From themed bar tours to the Washington Post’s annual Peeps diorama contest, you’re never far from Snuggie’s influence.

And if that weren’t enough, the brains that brought you the outstanding three-color collection have upped their game and expanded their product line to include… collegiate licensed Snuggies!

If you haven’t seen them in their full glory, take a gander:

Picture Source: Blanket Wars (Even better, this picture is from a blog post entitled “OU Will Choke Versus Texas.”) How does one make an eyesore like the Snuggie even more hideous? Make it look like it was made from the contents of the clearance rack at the fabric store. That fabric ain’t just for pajamas anymore!

Though I’m not (yet) a member of the cult of the Snuggie, I understand why people would buy them. Who doesn’t like being warm? And being able to eat whilst wearing a blanket? Or the ability to change channels without exposing bare arms to the draft of a room?

I also understand why people would want collegiate Snuggies in particular. Every sports fan relishes the opportunity to show off a little team spirit. I mean, if I got a Snuggie, you’d be darn sure I’d get a college team one. (Looks like I’d have to get Texas though, because the makers of Snuggie don’t offer a UVA one. Good research on that one, I must admit. They know their audience, and UVA alums likely wouldn’t bother with a Snuggie: it would clash with their ties or pearls.)

Well, instead of continuing to mock Snuggie, I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and offer a design suggestion: K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid.) Good design should be minimalist, simple and straightforward. Not cluttered.

How should Snuggie go about this? Pretend to make team sweatshirts, just with tons more fabric. Like this:

Or this: Yes, UVA can have its own Snuggie after all! Texas should prominently display the Longhorn logo on burnt orange. Carolina the interlocking NC on its signature Carolina blue hue. Virginia Tech would use the interconnected VT. Florida: the Gator. The Jayhawk for Kansas. You get the picture. Make it simple. Make the primary team color the star, not the blinding repetition of several logos.

How would you redesign the collegiate Snuggie? Would you make them like replica jerseys with the ability to personalize a name and number on the back? Add a belt in a contrasting color? Build in a foam finger at the end of one sleeve? Share your ideas in the comments section!

Final two pictures edited from this image.

[Via http://sportskate.wordpress.com]

Consumi pită?

2009-12-28T11:34:00.000+02:00

Pe când mergeam în lumea mea cu căştile la urechi, îmi lovesc ochii de o maşină mare pe care trebuia să o înconjor, pentru că dragului de şofer i-a fost mult mai uşor să parcheze pe trotuar să descarce marfa decât acolo unde ar trebui regulamentar. Pe când m-am apropiat de gigantul cu motor şi bujii, m-a plesnit în faţă motto-ul ce scria pe maşină. “Ca să trăieşti sănătos, trebuie să consumi pită de lugaş”.

Am eu aşa o “fiţă” să studiez motto-urile astea, să găsesc greşelile şi să “sancţionez” pe cei care se cred “profesionişti” şi nu folosesc diacriticile. E păcatul meu şi merg cu el.Asta e.

Dar să revenim la “pita de lugaş” a noastră. După ce am citit, recitit, oprit şi belit ochii la motto, mi-am urmat drumul şi mă bătea un gând. “Ca să trăieşti sănătos, trebuie să consumi pită de lugaş“.

CONSUMÁ vb. 1. a folosi, a întrebuința, a utiliza, (înv.) a metahirisi. (A ~ doi metri de sfoară pentru…) 2. v. pierde. (Și-a ~ toată ziua reparând bicicleta.) 3. v. mânca. 4. v. bea. 5. a cheltui. (~ energie.) 6. (fig.) a înghiți, a mânca. (Soba ~ multe lemne.) 7. a intra, a merge. (Se ~ mult unt la această mâncare.) 8. a (se) epuiza, a (se) isprăvi, a (se) sfârși, a (se) termina, (reg.) a (se) găti, (fig.) a (se) topi. (A ~ toate proviziile.)

PÍTĂ, pite, s.f. (Reg.) 1. Pâine. 2. Fig. Hrană necesară pentru trai; mijloace de existență;

Poate că încă nu vi se pare relevant sau chiar normal dar pe mine unul mă cam calcă pe nervi. Ţăranii(respect) şi chiar şi noi, cei care trăim în oraşe şi ne credem orăşeni că doar avem o facultate şi ne credem culţi, folosim acest termen pentru pâine/pită. Îl folosim când suntem undeva într-un cerc unde ne permitem să fim “ţărani”, un cerc mai familiar, un cerc mai relaxat, DAR acolo unde încercăm să fim ca toţi cei din jur şi nu e “normal” să folosim cuvântul “pită” folosim termenul de “pâine”, că doar ne facem de râs sau ne scade popularitatea. Deşi dacă stăm să ne gândim, pâine sună mai dulce decât pită, dar pită e mai familiar decât pâine şi mai ales că “pită” e de la mama ei de acasă.

Dar să revenim. Cum poţi folosi cuvântul “a consuma” în aceeaşi propoziţie cu “pită”?

Am ajuns să trăim această boală a “crizei” pentru că am consumat mai mult decât am produs. Deci. Negativ

Cum e posibil să pui un cuvânt folosit ca regionalism cu un cuvânt care e folosit deobicei în termeni economici şi nu numai?. Adică, ţăranul care foloseşte “pită” nu se va gândi el “oare consum prea multă pită?” sau oricare alt gând unde există în aceeaşi propoziţie “a consuma” cu “pită”.

Poate că “idiotul” sau “idealistul” sau “cel cu idei” sau… a vrut ca să-l urbanizeze pe “pită” dar să nu cumva să îi iasă din brand. Dacă e “pită de lugaş” atunci lasă d-le ca toate cuvintele din motto să fie pe aceeaşi lungime de undă, brand-uieştel cu regionalisme şi crede-mă că vei fi mai respectat decât dacă încerci să-l urbanizezi.

[Via http://katairobert.wordpress.com]

always second ...?

2009-12-23T11:48:00.000+02:00

as i wrote earlier, i had this project on my mind for over three years. now i’m constantly hitting reminders of the fact that i may have hesitated for too long …

first i hit that with the name/domain issue. then we found out there is a similar project launched by a university team on a non-for-profit basis and funded by government grants. now, after we developed a marketing concept, we have discovered that the same idea is embedded into the university project as well.

now i have another dilemma. i like our concept. we have developed several characters with different profiles like age, interests, reading preferences and so on. each profile has a cartoon “personality” and is to be linked to parts of the portal content so that it’s easier for users to navigate. and now i found out that exactly the same scheme is already implemented (may in a less sophisticated way, but the main idea is still the same) in the university project.

so the dilemma is – if i stick to our marketing concept, will it look like we are plagiarizing the university project or is it possible to make it work anyway?

[Via http://bookfeeders.wordpress.com]

Building Business with a Story

2009-12-23T05:20:00.000+02:00

What make a consumer buy? This the core question of any business….and everything is business. Don’t mistake that. You are always selling something. Maybe you are selling attendance to an event, or a line of sweaters, or tax advice or yourself to get a new job. No matter what you are always selling.

So the major question of every endeavor becomes…..what makes a person buy?

The answer is quite simple and complicated at the same time. People buy a good story.

As humans we are all connected to our emotions, so more, some less. But all connected none the less. When we tell an effective story, one that combines our passion, our product, our beliefs, our struggle and our success…our listeners become engaged. They want to know more and they want to participate.

The greatest teachers I have ever had were great storytellers. The were able to wrap wisdom and learning into a great fable that answered the “Why’s” and “How’s”. I would also say the same of the greatest sales professionals I have ever met….and the greatest entrepreneurs.

Take a moment and think of Steve Jobs. He is responsible for selling the story of Apple. He has the most fanatical users and has established his company as an innovator by telling a story of the triumph of design. He is known as being ruthless on design specific details. His keynotes are riddled with references to poor design and it’s even prevalent in the uber-famous “Mac vs, PC” commercials.

His story is consistent and engaging. It speaks to a niche population but invites in anyone who may be listening with a small amount of interest. Mostly though, the story is authentically Steve Jobs. Some will argue that the story then will die with Steve Jobs. I challenge that it is too soon to see where the story will lead.

When you choose to root your business strategies in the art of storytelling, you are opening your business to be flexible and to grow. A traditional fable takes twists and turns, embraces new characters and takes on new risks. But it also has a core set of values. These are what guide the customer through the transition of characters and ultimately drive the engagement with the product.

In this day and age, a business cannot be nameless and faceless. Consumers are demanding that “Oz” be revealed. Let the world see that you are behind the business. Let them understand and relate to you as a person. Share your successes, failures, dreams and accolades. Your story is the story of your business.

Here are 3 steps to crafting and sharing your story.

1. Determine your core values – What do you and your business stand for? Many a motivational and business speaker have discussed virtues of having defined values. They were right. I’ll also say that these values should be realistic and able to be upheld. Identify 3 strong values that your customers can count on receiving each and every time they interact with your product. From “Fun” to “Honesty”, take the time to Identify and Define these.

2. Define where and how you communicate - Really these two are at the core of all marketing plans and should be at the core of your business strategy. If you don’t have a pre-determiend path you’ll spend all your time looking for the right path. Forget “right” for now and focus on movement. Will you reach your customers via Social Media, print ads, Radio, direct mail, phone call, horse and buggy, lighting of lamps….you get the point. Figure out where you want to put your focus and then start applying your values to that message. Think “soft sell” in this part and leave the hard sell to the so called advertising professionals.

3. Listen to the story you are telling – Too many business owners and professional marketers get caught up int he details of what they are trying to share. do yourself a favor, go find a six year old and ask them if they understand what you are saying. If they get it and are excited by it, your on the right track…if not, time to re-evaluate. Keep it simple and focus on the big picture. What gets people excited about your product? What builds engagement? These will lead to the deeper questions down the road.

Your ability to tell a great story will have a profound impact on your business if you take the time to build it. These tips and this concept is not a simple “How To”. This a concept and mind set that you must adopt….for the long term.

Happy Hustlin!

[Via http://corebizdev.wordpress.com]

Walls the ice cream

2009-12-21T05:01:00.000+02:00

Salah satu iklan Walls yang istimewa, Saya selalu suka iklan ini. Menurut saya, iklan ini berhasil menarik perhatian saya, karena pada akhir iklan tersebut berhasil membuat saya tersenyum “nyengir” tidak jelas.

Iklan ini ditujukan untuk kaum muda atau lebih tepatnya remaja. Hal tersebut dapat kita lihat penggunaan RAN sebagai lambang dari anak muda yang dinamis, kreatif dan aktif. Saya rasa penggunaan RAN tersebut adalah hal yang tepat. Kenapa? di satu sisi RAN cukup digemari remaja dengan aliran musik mereka yang ringan dan ceria. Hal ini menjadi salah satu keunggulan tersendiri dari RAN, karena aliran musik tersebut cocok dengan remaja yang tidak menyukai hal-hal yang memusingkan diri mereka.

Hal kedua yang menjadi titik kecocokan antara walls connelo dengan RAN adalah tema dari keda belah pihak yang mengusung tema “cinta”. Tema tersebut terlihat dari bentuk skenario drama sang cowok mau nembak sang kekasih, yang notabene menggunakan cara kreatif. hihihi, lucu banget iklannya..

Hal menarik lainnya dari iklan tersebut adalah konsistensi penggunaan lingkungan taman. Tempat ini adalah sarana paling mudah untuk menggambarkan suasana ceria, tempat orang untuk melakukan berbagai aktifitas, dari mulai berolahraga, santai untuk menyegarkan pikiran, sampai dengan tempat menyatukan dua hati, sebagaimana tema walls “2 become 1“. Walaupun terkesan kurang kreatif, karena tema ini juga digunakan di iklan Walls negara lain, menurut saya iklan ini cukup berhasil meningkatkan “brand awareness” dari calon konsumen es krim tersebut

[Via http://johngudil.wordpress.com]

10 Essentials: Great Communicator vs. Great Listener

2009-12-21T04:08:00.000+02:00

The fourth in series of ten posts in a series titled: 10 Essential B2B Sales Rep Attributes (and their 10 Essential Opposites).

If you have not seen the first three seasons of Mad Men, buy them from iTunes, go to the library and borrow them, or set up your DVR to record them. It is one of the best ever television shows on sales and selling. The main character, Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm), is a great communicator. The character has a tremendous ability to communicate ideas that persuade the prospects and clients of his advertising firm, Sterling Cooper, as evidenced here.

The Great Communicator

One of the most valuable attributes a salesperson can possess is the ability to clearly and effectively communicate ideas. Great salespeople have this ability and the accompanying benefit of being able to use it to persuade or influence people. Salespeople with poor communication skills (both oral and written), have a tougher time making their message clear and lose the trust and confidence of their prospects.

What happens when a salesperson can’t come up with the words or the message that would influence the prospect to take action? A lost opportunity. What is the result when the great communicator with a mediocre product or service goes up against the poor communicator with a great product or service? The great communicator often wins.

But the dark side of this powerful attribute is that the great communicator uses this skill too much. Because they can speak, because they can entertain, and because they can tell a great story, they do. Heaven forbid they get too excited about their product or service; there is no stopping them. Because their skill is in speaking, they speak when they should do something else equally or more powerful.

The Great Listener

Listening is a form of communication with a more powerful impact than speaking. When you listen you convey they message that the person who is speaking is important and that what they have to say is interesting and important to you. Listening is one of the most powerful ways we communicate that we care about the other person and their ideas. The person speaking can see and feel that you are truly listening. This generates a trust and a confidence that is difficult to match by anything you might say.

What is the danger for those that don’t (or can’t) listen? They convey an important message too, one they may not mean to convey. Their message is: “What you have to say is not important enough for me to listen to.” Too often this is the curse of the great communicator: they are working on what they will say next instead of listening with the intention of of understanding and demonstrating that they care.

Conclusion

A great salesperson must possess the ability to communicate. This includes the ability to communicate that they care, which is done most effectively by listening. As in each of the prior the three essential attributes, this is a difficult balancing act.

One of my great mentors in sales had the ability to ask three or four questions on a sales call, saying very little, but expressing how much he cared by listening. He made more deals with fewer of his own spoken words than I believed was possible then (or now). At the time, I struggled to understand how he won deals without communicating our ideas or our value proposition. It took me years to learn that he communicated something far more important. Something he communicated without words.

Questions

How much time on a sales encounter do you spend speaking? How much listening?
Divide the first number by the second number. This is the Caring Ratio. If it is higher than 1, you are talking too much.
Are your speaking skills what they should be? Have you joined Toastmasters?
What is the message you are communicating when the prospect or client is speaking?
What could you do to convey a more powerful message when the client is speaking? Who would you have to be in order to convey that message?

This whole 10 part series was put together by S. Anthony Iannarino, please check out his blog for more great info Thesalesblog.com

[Via http://basicsmarketing.wordpress.com]

Theatre ramble

2009-12-18T11:25:00.000+02:00

I’m a person who really likes to get involved, with anything, really. I have a wide range of interests, and often like to find out more or get some hands on experience. That’s why I write for the school paper, tried and am training for both track and rugby, singing in choirs, work at several places, am learning chinese opera, volunteer for events, and now, it may seem, I’ve got myself involved with the local asian canadian theatre.

I think it’s a lie when I say I don’t plan to be this busy; to some extent, I do. I like seeing new things, and meeting new people, so I put myself out there. Being with the paper definitely taught me a few things in meeting new people and making things happen for yourself, which is terrific. But I digress.

What I really want to talk about is, the curious nibbet of realisation I’ve had so far. So I had emailed the volunteers coordinator for the local asian canadian theatre about volunteering, maybe with the lighting or sound, something I’ve always wanted to get better at. I get an email to meet up with the founder of the group, and so I did.

And I kind of expected what happened next. Besides being told what the group was all about and checking what my availability was, I was also somehow roped in to help with the marketing, aka put up posters and tell my friends to come watch the shows.

The same thing happened with my other group. They were all so keen for me to get onboard, so I could get my friends to come watch the shows.

To be honest, most of my friends are immensely broke. I lived with some of them, and I was also as broke as them. For an entire month, I survived on rice and onions because I couldn’t afford groceries, though that was a bad month. But you get the idea. No one was going to pay $30 unless it was a really good show. And really, if they did pay that much to watch a show of yours, they would only do so if you were one of the leads at the very least.

I don’t mind helping with the marketing, but I can’t gurantee anything. I hate feeling like I have to do it, being pressured into doing this. And I barely know these people. I hate how they get super excited and optimistic when they tell me how it’s so hard to sell tickets now, and how would I feel asking my friends to come for the shows?

The lady I met with talked about how it’s so hard to get kids from my generation to come out and watch plays, but I don’t think it’s true. Well, not entirely true. I, personally, find it extremely hard to get out of campus and sit on the transit for hours just to catch a play. I usually can’t afford to watch the plays (writing reviews for your school paper = free tickets), and I usually also don’t have the time or energy. I do watch plays, but only if it’s by a really good company, a really good play, or on campus. If plays were more affordable, I would go more often.

All the theatre groups I’m involved with are very niche-d groups; they kind of only cater to a certain type of people, which isn’t bad. It’s just harder to push for sales.

Oh well. I guess that is a problem with most independant theatre groups. It’s all about earning at least just enough so you can put up another show after the last.

Ok. I realise there is no “point” to this post, so I’m going off. Studying for finals really put my off me regular sleeping schedule.

[Via http://lionsmoke.wordpress.com]

Learn from the Best at REIWired

2009-12-18T05:23:00.000+02:00

Thanks to REIWired, obtaining useful online information about real estate investing is faster and easier. Because of the website’s extensive database of educational materials, it would be easier for a real estate investor to learn new strategies and boost his or her skills.

If you are one of those people who want to make huge money in the real estate market, then you should head over to REIWired.com. Priding itself as the “largest wired network of real estate investors in the planet,” the website can give you the chance to become one of the students of some of the best and the brightest investors of our time.

Learn the basics of wholesaling houses from wholesaling guru Mike Collins as he explains various hints and tips on how you can earn big profits with no money, no credit, and no risks. And if you are wondering what makes a successful wholesaler, watch the videos of Preston Ely. The “King of Wholesaling” will show you the secret to making millions of dollars without setting up an office or hiring employees.

Click Here To See More Related Articles

Aside from being a wholesaler, REIWired is also the perfect website to visit if you want to learn various strategies on rehabbing homes, buying foreclosures, marketing, and financing. Other real estate investing and marketing veterans like Than Merrill, Steve Cook, Tim Mai, Chris Chico, Mark Jackson, and Heather Seitz are more than willing to share their expertise on the subjects.

If you are fond of reading articles and write-ups on investing in real estate, don’t worry because REIWired.com has exactly what you need. The website’s article database is being updated regularly to help budding investors enhance their knowledge on the business. In addition, the website has audio recordings of various tele-seminars that discuss the nuts and bolts of real estate investing. All the things you will learn from these audio streaming files are a great addition to the information you will get from the informative write-ups.

Because REIWired is a one-stop shop for you real estate education needs, you don’t have to spend countless hours surfing the Internet. You also don’t have to travel to the other side of the country just to attend seminars and lectures on being a successful real estate investor. Because all the information, hints, and tips that you need are located in just one place, you can save more time, money, and energy.

So if you want to become one of the best and the most successful investors in the country today, log on to www.REIWired.com now.

[Via http://danielrealestateinvesting.wordpress.com]

Google’s stepchild, YouTube, has the most social media marketing potential… experts say

2009-12-16T11:39:00.000+02:00

Businesses & consumers have begun to embrace online videos in recent months more than ever before, with viewers reaching 168 million in September. And with the online video surge, arrives a distinct business investment splurge on video advertising. The research firm e-Marketer projects a 35 to 45% growth in online video advertising for each of the next five years.

YouTube, the renowned media marketing giant, acquired by the mega-marketing internet search engine, Google, has contributed much to this evolution. How?

Posting a YouTube video incurs a $0 investment. As a business marketer, you can align your promotion with your company marketing budget to create the appropriate video advertisement. Some techniques include: infomercials, presentations, trainings, testimonials, property tours, and video blogs.
YouTube’s “feedback analysis” tools persistently co-developed by the technical brilliance of Google, allows automated consumer behavioral analysis for businesses to target their internet marketing investments. YouTube & Google technicians are also testing the ability to add video captions to all online videos, allowing businesses to search engine optimize their video posts using the familiar techniques utilized by businesses to attract users to their online portfolio(s) & network(s).
YouTube accounts for 40% of all online video views. It is essential for businesses to identify their target consumer, grab their attention, elicit reaction, and escort them to take action. And unlike TV advertising, this does not necessarily call for professional production(s).

Internet Marketing specialist, Rohit Barman President of DPS America boldly claims that, “YouTube is the stepchild of social media marketing, with significantly more marketing potential than his sister social media networks”.

By Bruce Lacey

“A 2.5 hour interactive training, Digital Promotions Strategy, beginning in January and based in New York City, is the first of its kind to incorporate the entire spectrum of creating, engaging & expanding a business’ online network. Extracted from online scientific principles, the live seminar will provide business professionals the knowledge, structure, and tools to track consumer behavior & campaign effectiveness – an internet marketing strategy that will give attendees the confidence to manage their online marketing in-house.

The seminar follows the life cycle of creating a convincing online presence, while identifying the key components of branding, drawing an audience to a firm’s online portal, engaging an established network through viral promotions, and expanding consumer base through extensive internet marketing campaigns.”

[Via http://dpsadvantage.wordpress.com]

Less Is More, Says Hemingway

2009-12-16T05:45:00.000+02:00

image source

Ernest Hemingway was famous for his sharp, sparse prose, but he never pretended it was easy. He once confided to writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, “I write one page of masterpiece to ninety one pages of shit.“

Hemingway’s influence on modern writing is staggering. Couple that with his bullish, machismo persona and it’s no wonder his advice and his work continues to haunt writers to this day.

In a nutshell, he seems always to have believed that less is more when it comes to writing. It’s been a while since I read his work. A few years ago I read all of his novels in succession, but I haven’t revisited them since. I remember being awestruck by the amount of detail he was able to convey in the dialogue between characters.

Hemingway had this theory that writing should be like an iceberg:

If a writer of a prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.

Knowing that Hemingway was all about economizing words, I always felt that his heavy use of dialogue (in comparison to other works of fiction I’d read with the exception of say, Raymond Carver) somehow fit that purpose, but I never understood how until I read his iceberg theory.

If you want to know a person as quickly as possible, do you go ask their friends to describe them for you? Isn’t the fastest way to know a person to speak with them directly?

One hundred words of intensely personal dialogue could take a thousand words to convey with description and by then the impact will be diluted. Then again, I don’t write fiction, only bullshit. I don’t get a lot of opportunities to write fictional dialogue.

Can you think of ways to use more dialogue into your writing? Are there other writing tools you employ that allow you to say more with less?

[Via http://bwoz.wordpress.com]

PowerText 2.0 Multi-Connect

2009-12-14T11:37:00.000+02:00

If your business or organization has to reach hundreds and thousands of people everyday, the best solution is TEXTING.

PowerText 2.0 Multi-Connect made it easy!

What is PowerText 2.0 Multi-Connect?

It’s a new user-friendly application software application for text messaging or SMS as a new communications tool for business communications, marketing strategies and customer relations. All you need is just simple PC/Laptop and a Cellphone and you are ON-THE-G

PowerText 2.0 Multi-Connect features!!

Setup an office TEXTLINE

Besides landline, fax and e-mail, you can now add one or more textlines to make your office and business available to the country’s million of texting customers!

Use TEXTLINE for Business

Market products and service s directly to customers by texting; new product offerings; availability of stock; price quotations; product features; and discounts and promos.

Enhance your Customer Relations

Text goodwill messages and greetings; after sales support messages; and invitations for seminars to your customers.

Improve your Business Communications

Send reminders for bills by text, recieve field reports and queries, contact field personnel, send notices, transfer information fast, and call applicants for interviews.

See how it works on our website: http://www.sgwebworks.net/powertext/

For any questions and information, contact us on the following details. Thank you and kind regards,

Chuck Villanueva

Manager, SG Webworks

Tel. Nos: (632) 895-6191 / (632) 895-3698

Mobile: +639284517747

Email: chuck.villanueva@segoviagroup.com

[Via http://vtcampaigns.wordpress.com]

Investing in Real Estate with REIWired

2009-12-14T05:24:00.000+02:00

Looking for a good way to jumpstart your real estate investing business? Then why don’t you equip yourself with quality real estate education first before you delves into the lucrative world of investing in real estate? Good thing there is a website the can provide you with the thing that you need the most.

If you like this article you might want to visit this à more articles.

Boasting of an extensive database of various instructional materials and learning tools, REIWired is committed to providing quality real estate education for those who are interested in becoming competent real estate investors. By signing up for the website’s special training program, you can give your business a much-needed boost.

Are you interested in wholesaling houses? If you are, you might want to learn from some of the best wholesalers in the country today. Through the guidance of Preston Ely, Mike Collins, Andy Massaro, Chris Chico, and Gary Boomershine to name a few, you can easily master the ins and the outs of the wholesaling business. You can also learn various techniques on how you can improve your career as a real estate investor.

Perhaps you might want to try fixing and flipping properties? If you want to be a rehabber, then you should learn valuable hints and tips from “Flip This House” star Than Merrill, Steve Cook, and others. Larry Goins can also teach you important lessons about the process of buying and selling investment properties, while Glen Gallucci will give you an important pointer about rehabbing foreclosed and distressed properties.

If you want to learn cool marketing strategies, don’t worry because REIWired will grant your wishes. Marketing experts Mark Jackson, Dan Stojadinovic, and Heather Seitz are some of the mentors who will share various marketing techniques that can help you find great deals and generate good leads. By implementing the systems you have learned from them, you can easily attract the attention of your target market.

By joining REIWired.com’s training program, you don’t have to surf the Internet for countless hours since all the information and learning tools you need are located in one website. In addition, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars to buy separate instructional materials, including CDs, DVDs, and books, which will only collect dust in your bookshelf.

So if you are ready to give you real estate investing business a great push, visit REIWired and be part of the “largest wired network of real estate investors in the planet.”

[Via http://propertyinvestmentbuying.wordpress.com]

Marketing Plan - 4 Components of a Marketing Strategy

2009-12-11T11:30:00.000+02:00

More marketing tips can be found at: www.attractcustomerslikecrazy.com … Marketing Strategy Strategies Small Business Consulting Services Markeitng plan ideas marketing know-how Teleclasses Pound independent service professionals sell services to more customers with professional business plan writing me my free content coaching mentors Adam Urbanski

See Also : DIY home management.blogs.thaihealth.net project-management.blogs.thaihealth.net strategic-planning.blogs.thaihealth.net

[Via http://businessideahot.wordpress.com]

The Thursday...

2009-12-11T05:28:00.000+02:00

Reel Time?

Prepare for real time, all the time…

People of all ages using Facebook…

Social Media is key to success of business…

Explore the links at left, sign up for email updates and enjoy the content provided herein.

The Universe has spoken, let us spread your word…

c4universe.

[Via http://c4universe.wordpress.com]

I Love It When I Am Wrong!

2009-12-09T11:47:00.000+02:00

I know a guy that is never wrong. Ever! I kid you not, if he hits a curb pulling into the grocery store, it is the @#$% engineer’s fault for not knowing how to design a parking lot.

Now, before any clients or prospects get the wrong idea (sorry, I could not resist) allow me to explain what I mean when I say I love it when I am wrong…I am not talking about ‘not in accordance with what is morally right’ but rather ‘in error’.

The reason I enjoy being wrong is that, through the years, as I have often been wrong, I learn and grow from each experience where what I thought to be true, turned out not to be so.

Therefore, in order to share my “growth” experiences, here is a list of things where I was quite wrong.

Sushi – I use to think that the only reason anyone would eat sushi is so they could say, “I eat sushi.” That there was no possible way it could, in fact, be something somebody would want to eat.

I was wrong.

Napoleon Dynamite – The friend who told me about this movie, in my mind and at the time, way over-sold it. There was no way it could be as brilliant and funny as he described and, to be honest, the first time I watched it I was only ‘half wrong’. However, after the second, third, fourth and fifth times…I revel in its humor and brilliance. (Vote for Pedro!)

I was wrong.

Bob Chinn’s Crab House – I have many favorite eating establishments in Chicago but one in particular was a Polish restaurant on Milwaukee Avenue called ‘Irene’s’. Years ago, before children, I happened to be in Chicago on business at the same time Lane, my wife, was and we both wanted to go to our favorite place. At that time, her’s was a place called Bob Chinn’s Crab House. I was convinced here was no way I would enjoy my meal there as much as I would Irene’s. Naturally, I lost that argument and am glad I did.

I was wrong.

Nirvana and Green Day – I will lump both of these together because, no pun intended, they are the same song, different verses. The popularity of each band preceded anything I had heard from either regarding their music. I convinced myself that there was no way there could be an ounce of real talent amongst them before hearing one single song.

I was wrong.

Time Management Course – I enjoy telling people that I have found a way to make a fairly decent living out of my ‘healthy amount of OCD’. Back in the day, before Palm Pilots were the rage, we were all encouraged to sign up for a time management course with a local company and the ‘trophy’ from attending was being able to walk around with this HUGE leather, three ring binder.

If you can remember Dr. Suess’ classic, ‘The Star Belly Sneetches’ it was very much a local case of ‘those with stars and those without.’ I prided myself on being organized ‘without’.

Push came to shove and I did end up taking the course, getting my large binder and loving the processes I learned then and still use today.

I was wrong.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – I had a passing fancy in high school and college with Tae Kwon Do and Aikido. Then, about ten years ago, I started reading about this family from Brazil, the Gracies, who had developed their own form of jiu jitsu and my first thought was, there is no way this new martial art can be all that. In order to keep this blog offering from going on and on and on…I will just say that my passion for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has yet to find its match as far as items on my list of activities that are not work related.

I was wrong.

I could offer many more concrete examples of where I thought I knew the truth only to be shown otherwise. I am happy to report that the amount of time between such incidents has grown because I have learned to be more open-minded to new thoughts and ideas. I know this past year, I have learned a great deal that has helped build my business in ways I would not have though possible…thanks in part to those gentle reminders of when I was wrong before.

I believe 2010 will be a better year business-wise than 2009…but I could be wrong.

If your sales are down or you have hit a sustained revenue plateau or even losing market share, what are you doing differently? What do you plan to do differently? Have you pulled out your business plan and reviewed it? Do you have a business plan or are you one of those who plan on one day having a business plan?

In today’s economy, as we try to build new business, is there any better time than today to look at new ways of doing things, listening to new ideas, trying new techniques, moving towards the 2.0 version of your company and/or yourself?

I don’t believe there is a better time than now to possibly prove ourselves wrong. I also don’t believe I am wrong about this one.

——————–

Bobby Darnell is the founder and Principal of Construction Market Consultants, Inc. An Atlanta based management consulting group specializing in business development, sales, marketing and profitability as well as executive placement for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction industry.

http://www.cmconl.com/

Bobby can be reached at bobbydarnell [at] cmconl.com

[Via http://constructionmarketconsultants.wordpress.com]

Get smart: the future of corporate newsletters

2009-12-09T05:31:00.000+02:00

By Quak Hiang Whai, a Potato Mobile executive consultant

For many organisations around the world, mobile newsletters are already proving to be the way forward.

Once optimised for the mobile platform, these digital newsletters offer a more interactive and impactful way to communicate with your multiple stakeholders.

They let you promote your brand and deliver your message to everyone, from your current employees to your future customers, with two-way engagement processes.

Many corporations are already evolving to tackle this mobile opportunity, because they realise the benefits of this smart technology:

They’ll have a dynamic and interactive way to showcase their company’s executives, events and products, on a multimedia platform.

They’ll have the ability to send their company newsletters to customers anywhere in the world.

And they’ll potentially be able to tap into a worldwide base of 50 million smart phone users, and reap the benefits from this.

Imagine all this potential at your fingertips, made possible through a mobile touchscreen device.

It’s a good example of how technology is constantly forcing businesses to evolve.

Do you already recognise that your customers, shareholders and employees all want you to communicate in a smarter way, with richer media?

If you do, then you’re definitely ready to enter this new age of corporate communications.

Welcome to the mobile economy!

Quak is a veteran journalist and former news editor of Business Times. He also used to head the United Overseas Bank Group’s group communications and investor relations divisions. Quak is the author of “No Comments And Don’t Quote Me! — Media Fiascos, Crises And Lessons”.

Follow him on Twitter.

[Via http://potatomobile.com]

Tackfilm killed the hero

2009-12-07T11:37:00.000+02:00

It was a short-lived celebrity status Tackfilm had bestowed me. In the early hours of Sunday morning I noticed Tackfilm had suffered and subsequently resorted to radical measures:

Thank you for visiting our International Hero Movie Application! Unfortunately, we’ve been forced to close this site for non-Swedish users due to the huge amount of visitors.

It seems, united we crashed it. United we mourn the short-lived existence of virtual heroes we were. Or perhaps we just flock to the next interactive video…supposed we find another one that promises just as much fun as Tackfilm had managed to give us.

Of course, Tackfilm is still available on its Swedish domain Tackfilm.se. Use Google Translate in case you can’t make sense of the Swedish instructions. If you use Google Chrome you will be able to access the site by help of a new incognito window, in case your non-Swedish IP address excludes you.

Yesterday, I had also trouble accessing Stopp.se’s website, the producers behind Tackfilm. More details on them in my previous post about Tackfilm.

[Via http://britbohlinger.wordpress.com]

Check mate on social media consumers with innovative marketing strategy

2009-12-07T05:49:00.000+02:00

A September 2009 survey of 5,000 moms conducted by The Parenting Group reveals that while 60% of moms have used social media in the last 24 hours, they are four times more likely to purchase through direct referrals, than proposals through social networks.“When it comes to influencing brand perception and purchase decisions, the data shows that social media still has a long way to go,” said Stephanie Molnar, Work Place Media. “Most of our meaningful recommendations continue to be old-fashioned, word of mouth recommendations from friends, co-workers, and/or family.”

While consumer analysis seems to challenge the effectiveness of social media in internet marketing, businesses continue to invest in this tool, reporting significant gains.

In April, Ford loaned 100 top bloggers their new Fiesta for six months, on one condition – they wrote about their experience driving the car. Comcast, the cable company, has invested in Twitter marketing for the last year, using this social media bigwig to supply their 28K+ consumer base with news updates, while collecting feedback & analyzing their behavior trends. Social media marketing has also been a success for Dell, which reported $3 million+ revenue from consumers who clicked through Dell’s Tweets, funneling purchases.

While only a few businesses have demonstrated a clear ROI on their social media marketing efforts, it would be silly for most to ignore this latest trend -Facebook has 250+ million website users, while Twitter is up to 40 million consumers. As we approach 2010, social media marketing has proved to be a tremendous asset to businesses who utilize offline promotions to offset internet marketing campaigns, engage consumer audience through service expectations, and create strong business strategy that delivers immediate consumer purchases.

By Kimberly Stanley

[Via http://dpsadvantage.wordpress.com]

Lancashire Business View publish this post...

2009-12-04T11:23:00.000+02:00

Also this week, our regional business magazine, Lancashire Business View picked up on a previous post of mine and have used it on their e-shot and their website. It’s called ” To pitch or not to pitch?” . It’s obviously a subject close to the hearts of marketing agencies like ours. If you’ve a minute you can read it on this link..

http://www.lancashirebusinessview.co.uk/news-details.htm?news_id=86

Mark Jones, MD, Workhouse Marketing

[Via http://workhousemarketing.wordpress.com]

Fiction Proposal Marketing Page

2009-12-04T05:36:00.000+02:00

The marketing page includes market analysis, similar books, and what you, the author intend to do to market your book.

Market Analysis:

This is the section where you tell the demographics, target audience, of who would be interested in your book. Include age, gender, interests, religion, or anything else you think might narrow it down. Don’t write that everyone would like this book. You want to narrow your niche.

Similar Books:

This is usually the hardest part to do. You aren’t looking for books that are the same as yours. List novels that have some similarities. For instance, if you’re writing a romance about the Revolutionary era, list other romances from that era. Don’t be afraid to list movies or crossovers. For one novel I said it is Redeeming Love meets Outlaw Josie Wells. This is that important to get exactly right. You’re just giving the agent or publisher an idea of what kind of people this story will attract.

Marketing:

This is where you list what you, the author, is willing to do to market your novel. Here’s some ideas of what you could list here.

Local Book Signings
Presentation at library
Museum Presentation
Speak at Churches
Social Networking
Blogs and Websites
Blog Tours
Influencers

[Via http://wordsharpeners.wordpress.com]

Keeping the Regulars Happy!!!

2009-12-02T11:00:00.000+02:00

So, its been a while since my last post and I apologize for that. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and gave thanks for the opportunity to have a business and the ability to serve others. Speaking of serving others, what are you doing to keep your regular customers/clients happy? Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of it all we pay more attention to forging new relationships and forget about the people that consistently come back and take advantage of our offerings. I’ve said it before, but it is worth repeating, people don’t care what you know until they know that you care. Your existing customers/clients are worth the effort it would take you to remind them how much you appreciate them. I know we have become a society of emailers, tweeters, and facebookers, but I promise you, a nicely written (I did say written) note would go a long way. How often are you sending coupons or providing some sort of customer loyalty experience? We get caught up in the “Advertising” of it all and forget the best form of advertising is “Word-of-Mouth”. When you existing customers/clients are happy, they will spread the word. Those are the best kinds of referrals. While doing my daily reading, I came across this great article that reinforces this post. Take a look and tell me what you are doing to “keep the regulars happy”.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/sales/customerservice/article203726.html

[Via http://butterflyblogger.wordpress.com]

On sailing ships and dodos

2009-12-02T05:44:00.000+02:00

Dave Snowden told a good story at a knowledge management conference a couple of years ago about the sailing ship. In the early 19th century, mighty sailing ships with giant masts and sails were the dominant form of sea transport in the modern world at that time. Along came ships constructed of iron and powered by motorised engines which were more efficient (they could power along whether the wind blew or not) and became more reliable and versatile shipping vessels. The sailing ship industry responded with even bigger ships with more masts and more giant sails but in the end the sailing ships were doomed by a new technology that made sea transport more efficient and effective. Perhaps the sailing ship may make a return in an oil-depleted and global greenhouse environment in the 21st century but that’s another story…

And that poor old bird, the dodo, was no match for the slaughter by humans, and by invading pigs plundering their nests and territory. Alas, they were unable to adapt to the ravages brought upon them in such a short space of time and they became extinct.

Which brings me to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald about a conference in India at which the media moguls of the 21st century are battling to stay in the game in a world enriched and informed via the World Wide Web. The World Newspaper Congress is hearing from embattled media moguls about how unfair the internet is making the news and information business since they haven’t been clever enough to work out a successful business model for the changed world media environment.

Like the 19th century sailing ship industry, the newspaper moguls are desperate to keep alive a form of business that is actually being surpassed by more modern and disruptive technologies. The internet and social networking is changing the way content is published, consumed, and valued. Content on the internet is more immediate, more personal, more varied, and more versatile compared to traditional newspaper publishing. Not only that, but people these days do not have to rely on newspapers for their dose of worldly information since much of the information out there on the internet is provided by people for free and can be accessed for free! Even newspapers and television news programs seek out these stories from ordinary folk who witness events first hand or who have some other form of newsworthy story.

Of course, the newspapers are indeed part of the problem. Over the past twenty years (at least) newspaper proprietors have dumbed down journalism and investigative reporting so much that newspaper content is hardly superior to much of the informed news and information provided by ordinary people. In fact, it is ordinary people who actually have something interesting to say, without the caveat of having to say something that will generate advertising revenue or hanker for the bouquets from supporting ideologues.

Reading newspapers these days is like reading a bevy of opinion pieces; the opinions being no more informed or relevant than that of bloggers and social networkers. Instead of lifting quality and gaining some comparative advantage this way, newspapers have taken the easy route and proffered a multitude of opinion, loose reporting and drivel that can be easily replicated anywhere.

At the same time, newspapers continue to search for more “eyeballs” to convince advertisers that newspapers are still relevant. Newspapers still want to be found on the internet to capture these “eyeballs”, yet they want to determine and control the method and channels of being found. They want to use the 21st century technology but only in the manner of their 20th century world view of dominance and control of the news. Even advertisers are shifting their world view. Advertisers are increasingly using new methods of messaging and advertising utilising the new communication mediums available via the internet, social networking, and other forms of communication channels.

At least the newspaper industry hasn’t had it as bad as the dodo. The dodo had relatively little time to adjust to the ravages of invading species before they finally met their final and irrevocable end. Newspapers have had plenty of time, and had plenty of warning about the competitive content available via a host of alternative sources.

Newspaper organisations are like the 19th century sailing ships trying to battle their way forward using their existing tired techniques and old-century attitudes, and failing to confront the new realities of a brave new world. Like those 19th century sailing ships, newspapers as they exist today will die off and be replaced by a more efficient and effective form of news communication that does not rely on old thinking and old technologies.

Newspaper moguls can whine all they like but they need to accept the new communication realities and make the necessary adjustments, or go the way of the sailing ship and eventually, the dodo.

[Via http://bradhinton.wordpress.com]

Copywriting 101

2009-11-30T11:45:00.000+02:00

Looking to communicate in a way that gets attention and connects? Try a pie in the face and a hand buzzer. No, that’s both annoying and much too time consuming. How about writing that connects and grabs the right people’s attention?

Several years ago when I started out in marketing/corporate communications, I began to hear comments like: “Wow! You really captured the essence of the project/product that we’ve been trying to tell people about.” That’s actually how I found out I have a knack for writing. Sometimes you don’t know you have a strength until somebody points it out. So I’m reflecting on what makes for strong marketing writing and sharing a bit of that here today.

Lesson One: Listen

Listen to the client. I was describing a project to a local reporter once, being diligently, obnoxiously clear about who our target audience was. When I read the news report the next day, the description of our target audience was the exact polar opposite of what I had described. Come on! Just listen, ask some clarifying questions, and then get feedback. In a client relationship, you’ll definitely get feedback, so being a careful listener up front will save some headaches along the way.

Lesson Two: Features are Cool, But Solve a Problem

How will your product or service solve a customer/client’s problem? This is basic, and you probably know this, but it takes some finesse to get your message out this way. In listening to a client recently, I discovered that they were perhaps the one remodeler in the universe who absolutely stays on budget. That solves a big problem! The customer’s pain of “How much is this new sunroom REALLY going to cost me?” is solved. That is a unique position in the marketplace and should be shouted from the mountain tops. So that’s what I encouraged the client to do.

Lesson Three: Less I/We language, more You Language

Related to solving a problem is to focus on the customer. Uber copywriter Sonia Simone gives the advice of writing to one customer. She suggests developing an “avatar” a specific customer to whom you direct your attention. I hadn’t thought of it exactly that way, but it’s a great idea. Make your copy personal. Say what you need to about the company, product, or whatever you’re selling – but it’s really about the customer. Write to them and about them as much as possible.

Lesson Four: Don’t Be Precious

This just came up for me in a meeting last week. There are LOTS of ways to say something. Don’t be precious about your writing. Maybe you’re a genius. Maybe you love the little flourishes you put into your copy. But you’re probably working on a team, and if not, you’ve got a client to please. Choose your battles. Don’t die on every hill over whether to say “you’ll be pleased as punch,” or “you’ll be happy as a clam.” It probably isn’t going to break the campaign. If you’re 1000% sure it will, that’s the battle you should choose!

Ok, that’s all for today. More ideas may come, but I hope this is helpful for you. Let me know!

[Via http://cplcreative.wordpress.com]

The Most Important Word In Marketing

2009-11-30T05:41:00.000+02:00

Use more 'you'

My grandfather was a really smart dude. I never got to have a really strong relationship with him, largely because he died when I was 8, but through stories that others have told me, I’ve learned a lot about him and what made him so successful. He used to say to his friends all the time:

“Your business only benefits when your customer benefits first.”

I really believe in that saying, not just for my own business, but as something I believe should be a fundamental concept of business and marketing as a whole. Focusing on other people means focusing your communications to speak to the customer. Not at the customer.

In marketing, there’s only one word you need to know: “You”.

Every post/ad/web site/blog/white paper/brochure should be purposefully aimed at the needs and wants of others. After all, you only benefit when the customers benefit first, right? When it comes down to it, “you” is by far the most compelling word in the English language. In the end, people are most interested in fulfilling their own needs. It might sound rough, but unless you give people real value with your marketing collateral, don’t expect them to care about you at all.

But when they do start to care, look out, because amazing things begin to happen. People spread your word for you. Create content that is focused on the person who is reading your piece. Use ‘you’ as often as possible while taking great lengths to eliminate the ‘me, me’s’ from your collateral.

I know you’ve read a thousand ‘about us’ sections on the internet that start with the good-old, generic “Since 1884, we have….”. No one cares that you have been in business forever. No one cares that you’re an industry leader’ because everyone says that. Focus on the people that matter: your customers.

When you’re done writing, read it over and look at the number of times you said ‘you’ as opposed to “I” or “me”. If there is more of the latter, consider re-focusing your work.

[Via http://bigredwordnerd.wordpress.com]

Fashion Marketing 101

2009-11-27T11:33:00.000+02:00

In a nutshell, fashion marketing is a profession that takes the latest trends and designs in clothing and communicates them to a target market in such a way that the consumer is not only aware of the product, but wants to and ultimately does buy the product. A target market is a sector of the consumer market to which a company wishes to sell (i.e. market) its clothing. To fully know what fashion marketing is, it is important to understand that marketing does not stop at ads in magazines or commercials on TV. The world of marketing is just as dynamic as the world of fashion. Marketing clothing includes elements such as determining which stores the apparel should be sold in, what price the clothing should be sold for—all the way to how the in-store displays should look. Fashion marketers often are as savvy about business as they are about fashion and popular culture.

Fashion marketers are creative. At the core, the profession is about connecting with the image—the lifestyle—the consumer wants. For example, in the fashion industry, comfort, style, material, color, symmetry, and usability are just the beginning of a list of elements designers must consider when developing a line of clothing. Fashion marketers take the task a step further by determining the best way to promote the characteristics of the clothing to the consumer and to which group of consumers to promote it to. What a 65 year-old female is looking for from a piece of formal eveningwear is completely different from what a 21 year-old male wants from casual everyday wear. Consequently, fashion marketers must stay abreast with the latest fashions as well as know what styles will be successful for a variety of occasions, age groups and demographics.

Fashion marketers play an essential role within the fashion industry because they are the link between designers and the public. The success of a line of clothing does not rest solely on its design. Often, successful marketing is just as crucial, if not more so, to the line as the actual clothing itself. This is because marketing is the tool through which the designer identifies with the public, and the public identifies with the designer. Without this exchange, it would be difficult to establish the consumer base required to have a successful line of clothing.

Ultimately, fashion marketing is a fun profession—changing and reinventing itself just as often as the clothes it promotes. It integrates the artistic nature of fashion with the creative aspects of business—making for a highly rewarding career to the ambitious and innovative.

[Via http://olamunicata.wordpress.com]

What is this thing called "marketing" anyway?

2009-11-27T05:16:00.000+02:00

I recently had the honour to be interviewed on South Africa’s national Afrikaans radio station, RSG. Before the interview they supplied me with some questions that made me think about what is this thing called “marketing” anyway?

Marketing is not only about big budgets and huge tv campaigns, even the small pie stall at the local market or a charity-drive needs marketing…

The traditional definition of marketing is to fulfill the needs of your consumer profitably. I would like to add to this definition that marketing is about fulfilling your consumer’s needs profitable in a way that they want it satisfied. So whether you’re marketing a pie stall or a luxury product such as perfume, one should talk to your consumer in a language that he/ she finds acceptable and appealing.

In the current marketing landscape the playing field has become more equal with the addition of internet and online marketing. Small businesses now also have the opportunity to market themselves without spending millions of rands on a marketing budget. Having said that, traditional advertising still has huge role to play, and this is where one should be clever by using the right combination of the marketing mix.

How do you rise above the competition?

We are all aware that there is an over-supply of products and services, and to be better than the competition is probably the biggest challenge faced by marketers. The most important strategy is to ensure that you know exactly what it is your consumer wants and to then offer your product or service in such a way, that they want it, and ensuring what you’re promising, is what the consumer gets. Rudi Giuliani said in his book, Leadership, “under promise and over deliver”. What makes a business truly successful, is the ability to walk the extra mile for your consumer.

What are all the elements to think about when you want to market your business?

Marketing is a strategic process. One cannot randomly develop a product and think people will buy it. You start by understanding your own product incredibly well, the product life cycle, the possible product extensions, etc. One should also take the business’ strategic goals and objectives into consideration. One again, understanding the consumers’ needs, is fundamentally the most important element. Also look at what your competitors are doing. Understand and plan how you are going to get the product to the consumer, what your pricing structure is going to be, and which elements of the promotional mix you will be using.

What is the most effective form of marketing?

The most effective form of marketing depends on your consumer and what you are offering. Pamphlets will work if you have a pie stall at the local market. If it is a luxury product, traditional marketing elements will be more effective. Each company can benefit from having a great website.

There are a few important factors to consider in order to have a great website:

Search Engine Optimatisation
Layout of the site
Ease of navigation
Having your contact information visible

Other online communication options such as e-mail marketing, newsletters, and the use of social media is also extremely important. And more importantly, is having the knowledge to use it effectively.

What is a definite NO when it comes to marketing?

Seth Godin, marketing guru from America, wrote a book, Permission Marketing, in which he states ” permission marketing is the privilege (not the right) of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to p,eople who actually want to get them”.

Marketers are in the fortunate position to communicate directly with their consumers, but with that ability comes responsibility. Make sure people opt-in to receive communications from you.

How do you market yourself without annoying the consumer?

If you understand your client’s needs, and how to speak to him or her, you will not be perceived as being annoying. I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learnt in marketing, is to always look at what value you can offer to the client. Be certain that what you’re busy communicating, is relevant to the client, and that it will add value to their lives. Don’t just send out marketing material because “today is sending out marketing material day”. Always ensure what you say and do, has value.

[Via http://marketingengineer.wordpress.com]

Interviews: The most common maketeer complaint

2009-11-25T11:45:00.000+02:00

Recently I conducted interviews for an open position on my marketing team. During my interviews, I was struck at how many of the interviewees complained “I only do sales support, I’m tired of it, I’m looking for a more strategic role.” That sounds so George Constaza. While that’s funny on tv, I cannot help but to wonder if the person is not equipped with a broader set of skills, and therefore, not capable of assuming a larger role.

BUILD A STRATEGIC MARKETING SKILL SET

None of us is born to be a marketeers. We tend to gravitate towards a job like this because our personal skill set (creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, etc.) lends itself to this discipline. So when we get out of b-school, none of us has the practice to walk into a world-class organization and demand to work on the most strategic company imperatives. We all need to crawl before we run.

LEARN THE BASICS OF MARKETING EXECUTION

In my humble opinion, you need at least 2 years of basic marketing training – regardless of what business school your diploma is from. So if you find yourself in this stage, embrace it and know that down the line, you’ll be able to speak from a position of credibility. Your strategies will have a greater opportunity of success because you will not undermine the details of execution, down to the lowest levels.

We need to “cut our teeth” doing basic marketing jobs, like developing PowerPoints, answering sales requests (no matter how small), and dealing with ALL the execution details. I recall with fondness my first marketing job where I would literally stuff envelopes, create sales tools with word documents and excel spreadsheets, and serve as a the on demand pre-call coach for new representatives. That is HOW I LEARNED the basics. Marketing executives who’ve skipped this step fail to motivate, as they tend to oversimplify execution, leaving their teams disconnected and discontent.

TAKE OWNERSHIP FOR YOUR DEVELOPMENT

No one is going to come to your cube one day and say “you’ve done such a great job, we’d like you to lead our new ABC initiative.” You really have to put yourself in a position where the company has no choice but to select you – usually because YOU have a unique skill set. In my personal experience, this best accomplished by doing.

Volunteer to take additional roles that stretch you strategically. Start doing jobs, without asking for permission. Take a class, teach a course, mentor others (even if you’re not ready – you will be), select good role models to mirror… etc…. just do it!

Colleagues, I certainly don’t know everything nor do I profess to be an expert. I’m a simple marketeer, who makes a living through the practice of marketing. But one tip I do offer, the next time you’re interviewing for a marketing job, don’t say “I only do sales support, I’m tired of it, I’m looking for a more strategic role” – if you avoid saying this you’ll avoid sounding like George Constanza and I promise you, you’ll have a better chance of landing the job!

Good marketing!

[Via http://marketing4marketeers.wordpress.com]

The links between food waste, obesity, the environment, and marketing

2009-11-25T05:39:00.000+02:00

One of the biggest contributors to obesity and environmental degradation in the past 35 years has been the increasing sophistication of all facets of marketing to create an environment where highly processed and energy dense food is easily available to those living in developed countries. Although it is typically argued that lifestyles have become more sedentary over this time, it is a fact that consumers have been encouraged through highly sophisticated marketing activities, including supply chain management (e.g., easy access to convenience and processed food), pricing (e.g., reduced costs, better “value” and longer perishability of processed foods), as well as integrated advertising campaigns, to purchase and consume foods that provide a high fat, high sugar, and high salt “hit”.

While these foods give an instant reward, overconsumption has a cost to both the environment, and to individual health. New findings by Kevin Hall and his colleagues at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in the US and published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS One that a “push” effect of marketing has contributed significantly to obesity and environmental degradation do not come as a surprise. However, the fact that they have been able to calculate the actual dimensions of the effect of food waste and energy dense food consumed by Americans provides compelling evidence of the extent of this effect, and easily translates to Australian lifestyles.

Ultimately, what this means is that politicians and commentators need to do more than blame consumers, telling them to “eat less” and “exercise more” and start to recognise that not all consumption is good for the economy. While we have increased our energy intake over the past thirty years by more than 1000 kilojoules according to Hall, other research suggests that physical activity has not significantly declined over that period. So, we are eating nearly 25 per cent more “food” over the past three decades, but have not really changed our activity levels (either way) over that time.

Indeed, marketers themselves need to recognise that their activities have an effect far beyond simply selling products. When consumers make choices in their local supermarket, it is the highly processed and packaged foods that have a powerful “push” effect. For example, although a 625 gram block of cheese (promoted as the same price as 500 grams) is presented as “good value”, the consumer will buy (and consume) 125 grams more cheese than they had planned, regardless of the discount for buying in bulk, simply because it was part of the deal.

Similarly, consumers who are asked whether they “want fries with that” are being manipulated by a psychological effect called prospect theory – where they feel the pain of loss more than the satisfaction of gain – that ultimately leads them to consume more than they actually need.

The push effect in this context is similar to the wealth effect, where we adapt our lifestyle to suit our income, rather than simply saving more as we earn more. Ultimately, access to highly processed, energy dense food has meant that we have increased our purchasing and eating behaviour (and our belts outward) to catch up with its availability, rather than continuing to consume as we always have. The effect is devastating to both the environment and to our health.

[Via http://tribalinsight.wordpress.com]

marketing log

Choose Your Poison (but make it strong)

Nintendo President shifts the onus of mature games development

More than words...It's your Strategy (part 2)

Affiliate Programs: A Financial Win-Win

Local talent

Can Alcatel-Lucent really play in the apps game?

We take it one step further than Harvard

What's free worth?

What The Guru's Didn't Tell You About Google AdWords

Word of Mouth Marketing – Revista INDUSTRIA Feb 2010

ElecTruckCity To Distribute Trucks For Smith Electric Vehicles In France

PT Bank CIMB Niaga, Tbk

10 Steps To Generating Revenue Online For Your Business

Understanding Pay Per Click and Subscribers

Treating the Same Customer Differently in Different Occasions

Real Estate Marketing Strategies - The Law of Attraction to create your ideal income in 2008

It's not a party without Stalin

LinkedIn Answers for Small Business Marketing

Car Advertisements - Do they work?

Tax Liability and Debt Forgiveness when dealing with SS or foreclosure

New Website

The Revelation of Internet Marketing Online Secrets

Direct Mail - 5 Reasons Why It Is Still So Effective

Marketing Plan and the four P's

Reading: Customer Service 2.0: Transparency, Tribes, and Talent @Futurelab

5 Marketing Tips from Amanda Griscti (One for each day!)

To embrace the future - marketing yourself, you and your company

Marketing your lawn care business

What Is 2.0? A New Era Defined

Web Advertising Strategies

Focus Like A Mutha

53 Ways to Become a Better Entrepreneur

Social Media Drives Traffic - Not Direct Sales

Comics

Research Report on China Sugar Market-Aarkstore Enterprise

Humor

Yanukovych Claims Victory In Ukraine Vote: Reports

Buckle Up Sussex!

Attraction Marketing - The Sure Path To Success

Who gets the money?

What Do You Do (In Seven Words)?

Mass Customization: NikeiD & Puma Mongolian Shoe BBQ

Introduction to Advertising II

Snapshots Switzerland Pet Food 2009 -Aarkstore Enterprise

iPad - all parts under one roof

TV

The Future of Marketing

Mobile Market Monitor: Funding and M&A trends Q3 2009-Aarkstore Enterprise

Ten tips for every musician.

Employees: Useable & Useful Green Marketing Plan 2010

Blind Squirrel

These Money Moves Will Keep Taxes at Bay

How to turn your Website into a prospecting magnet

Customer Satisfaction #1: A comment from the customer’s viewpoint.

The interview: make time to listen

Quote of The Week

THE “SUN” EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

"Thank God For Facebook." Social Media Unites, Raises Millions for Haiti Relief

Put some local flavour in your communications

Social Media Success, Iguana Mexican Grill

Ways for Internet Marketing on a Low Budget

Getting it Right in 2010

Trends in marketing for 2010

Reviewing Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

Sherlock Holmes + Advergame

Optimization Petroleum Technologies Selects Advertas as PR Agency

When reading on net COSTS!

Online revolution is nothing without strategy

How do you face in order to help you, your business faster?

Ghost Hunters, Paranormal TV

Loyally Screwed

Redesigning the College Snuggie

Consumi pită?

Top 10 Posts of 2009

always second ...?

Building Business with a Story

Walls the ice cream

10 Essentials: Great Communicator vs. Great Listener

Theatre ramble