|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |  |
|
consumers Tagged Articles
|
Internet Marketing-The wave of Video
| |
| Internet Marketing and personal brand builders are looking for consumers who are taking a break, who are watching video, who are relaxed, of mobile video applications. |
|
|
Mortgage Canada Rates – What’s Out There that the Banks are not Telling You?
| |
| For those consumers who are out there shopping for a mortgage loan, they may think that they are limited to going through an official Canadian bank. However, there are only five major banks in Canada, but over 70 lenders, giving people much more of an option than they may have initially realized. This is a secret that the banks prefer to keep. The truth is that these lenders offer mortgages at a far more competitive rate than do the major banks, including Scotia, RBC, TD, CIBC, or BMO. These rates are not available to consumers, unfortunately, but certified mortgage brokers have access to them. |
|
|
Franchise Sales Success Improves by Using a Franchise Proposal
| |
| Franchise prospects don’t buy a franchise they buy the benefits of the franchise. The key questions all franchise prospects want answers to are “Who you are, what you do, what makes you different and why consumers do business with you.” A well-crafted franchise sales proposal will clearly articulate these answers. |
|
|
Are You Playing To Win or Not To Lose?
| |
| Emotions were running high in the last quarter of 2008, with the banking debacle, stock market meltdown, the soaring foreclosure rate, jobs losses, poor earnings reports. and dismal projections. Finally, the admission by the government, which had long denied the obvious, that we were in an economic recession. Nobody wants to use the word “depression,” but that’s the word that best describes the mood of the country. The result was that businesses and consumers put on the brakes. Most everyone started operating in a “playing not to lose” mindset. This mindset can be costly for your career and/or your business. |
|
|
Communicating your Brand Online
| |
| The internet has so many possibilities for businesses to open their doors to a world of consumers normally not able to be reached offline. Online businesses can take a grasp on the tools and ideas to promote their brand to the community of millions. Aiming for a recognizable online brand is your goal and there are simple steps to help you steer in the right direction. |
|
|
How To Finding Hot Selling Products to Sell
| |
| There are all kinds of twists along the road that may lead you to think you have a high-demand idea. We must be able to understand and satisfy the need, wants and expectations of our customers on a certain product that they're trying to buy. These three are called the basic needs or minimum requirements in a purchase. Needs are the basic reasons or the minimum requirements consumers are looking for in a product or service. They are called the qualifying or "gatekeeper" dimensions in a purchase. Wants are the determining dimensions among many choices. |
|
|
Social Action Driving Businesses to Adopt Sustainable Practices
| |
| Social Action Driving Businesses to Adopt Sustainable Practices
Some businesses have seen the wisdom of going green ahead of public pressure, others are being cajoled out of their complacency by an increasingly concerned public. The following account is a cautionary tale for businesses that ignore responsible practices.
|
|
|
How to Use Twitter to Build Customer Loyalty
| |
| If you are anything like me you are probably of the mindset that the Internet has significantly lessened the level of customer loyalty that most companies are accustomed to.
The reason for this is consumers now have so many choices, they no longer have to rely on digging through the phone book or count on the right “interruption based” advertising message to create a “top of mind awareness” for when they are ready to make a buying decision. |
|
|
Climate Counts: Businesses Combating Climate Change
| |
| Climate Counts brings consumers and companies together in the fight against global climate change. Since 2007, Climate Counts has rated 150 companies (representing approximately 3,000 brands) in 16 industry sectors. The charter members of the i2 project are boldly showing leadership with sustainable positioning that enhances efficiency, reduces climate impact and betters their bottom line. |
|
|
Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Plan
| |
| The court’s decision to overturn the Federal Communications Commission’s sanctioning of Comcast’s management of its Internet traffic for lack of mandate is a major blow to the agency’s net neutrality efforts, but the FCC is plodding ahead with the plan. |
|
|
The Best Bank Mortgage Rate In Canada
| |
| If you are looking for the best bank mortgage rate in Canada, there are several things that you need to take into your careful consideration. Considering the overwhelming range of options out there, you may find it a difficult task to make an informed decision on which option is going to be the best possible choice for you. So, a thorough comparison-shopping is must. You need to take a systematic approach while you are researching the different options available out there. Following is a brief rundown on some of the important steps that you should follow in this regard. Check Your |
|
|
Lesson #1: Become a Remorseless Marketing Machine
| |
| “Our job is to wake up the consumers” says Knight. “If we become predictable, that’s not waking them up.” |
|
|
Steve Case Quotes
| |
| Steve Case Quotes |
|
|
Lesson #1: Creative Brilliance is the Bridge to Success
| |
| “It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product,” wrote Ogilvy. “Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night. I doubt if more than one campaign in a hundred contains a big idea.” Ogilvy was an advertising executive who praised the virtues of creativity; if an ad didn’t sell, it was because it wasn’t creative. His years of experience taught him that people were not going to buy a product if the ad was boring; only interest and curiosity would entice people to buy. |
|
|
Lesson #3: Promote the Principle of Professional Discipline
| |
| “While you are responsible to your clients for sales results, you are responsible to consumers for the kind of advertising you bring into their homes,” said Ogilvy. “I abhor advertising that is blatant, dull, or dishonest. Agencies which transgress this principle are not widely respected.” When it came to running his advertising agency, Ogilvy was a professional to the core. He insisted on maintaining the highest of standards in both the ads the company created and the way he treated the people with whom he worked. |
|
|
Lesson #4: Never Underestimate the Power of Research
| |
| Ogilvy came from a background in research; in his early years he had worked for the world-renowned George Gallup Audience Research Institute, which he later called “the luckiest break of my life.” It was at Gallup that Ogilvy learned about research and its importance in advertising. In fact, research became so central to Ogilvy’s philosophy of creating advertising that when he opened his own agency in 1952, Ogilvy billed himself as Research Director. |
|
|
Pressing All the Right Buttons: The Kodak Comeback
| |
| During the day, Eastman was a bank worker like any other. But at night, he would rush home to tinker with his new camera. Photography became his obsession as he spent hours pouring over photography manuals and journals, trying to learn everything he could about the art. It was in reading one of those journals that Eastman would stumble across an article that would change his life forever. |
|
|
Lesson #4: Tune In and Pay Attention
| |
| “It’s about broadening your scope through history and living your life,” says Lauren. “Tune in and pay attention.” |
|
|
Lesson #4: Use Quality to Build Confidence in Your Product
| |
| Heinz once said that “to do a common thing uncommonly well brings success.” |
|
|
Lesson #2: Use Your Consumers As Your Secret Ingredient
| |
| “The reality is that consumers don’t need our s---,” says van Stolk. “People get fired up about Jones because it’s theirs.” |
|
|
Lesson #1: “Everybody likes something extra, for nothing.”
| |
| When Wrigley Jr. first arrived in Chicago in 1891, he knew that the $32 in change that was jingling in his pockets was not going to take him very far. But Wrigley Jr. had something else going for him that could rival even the deepest pockets: he had enthusiasm, energy, and talent as a salesman. It was those qualities that were going to help him come up with the idea that would get his company off the ground to a running start. |
|
|
Lesson #4: “Every market has unique characteristics”
| |
| Hawkins works in one of the most fiercely competitive global industries. But what he has learned over the years is that what works well in one country, could blow up in his face in another. Knowing the unique characteristics of his markets is thus one of his most important tasks as an executive. |
|
|
The death of the sales call?
| |
| I wonder if the sales call has a lot of life left in it. |
|
|
Reaching the unreachable
| |
| Marketing, I think, can be divided into two eras. |
|
|
The New York Times Bestseller List
| |
| Cumulative advantage is a powerful side effect of story telling. Get out front, even a little, and you sell more because many people like to invest in a winner. We like to read what other people are reading. |
|
|
When I Say Theme, What Do I Meme?
| |
| The newest blog post up on the Foundry Group web site is titled What Is "Thematic Investing?" In this post, we try to describe more deeply what we mean when we say "we are thematic investors" or "we like horizontal stuff." |
|
|
Hungry
| |
| I had lunch (a big lunch) with a college student last week. An hour later, she got up and announced she was going to get a snack. Apparently, she was hungry. |
|
|
Community Involvement the Wrong Way
| |
| There are wrong ways to demonstrate community involvement as well. If you volunteer to work on a committee but are never available for meetings, or if you sponsor a little league team and don't show up for games, you're proving yourself to be crass and superficial, probably sucking up the community to get business instead of working for it for altruistic reasons. Consumers are more sophisticated than ever these days. People know the difference between serving the community and serving yourself. If you're not willing to devote honest time and energy to your community, you're better off skipping this weapon and leaving it to the real guerrillas in your community. I just hope for your sake that none are your direct competitors. |
|
|
The Numbers on Cause Related Marketing
| |
| Roper Starch Worldwide found that 71% of U.S. consumers feel it should be standard practice and 83% have a more positive image of a company that supports a cause. |
|
|
Business is an Art Form
| |
| In my last blog, I spoke about delivering the goods and how consumers, whether past, present or future, want the best for their money. That will never change. Another thing that will never change is that art forms will always draw from the past, reflect on the present, and look to the future. That applies to everything from art and architecture to business.
|
|
|
Are you ready for the phenomenon of Social Sales?
| |
| Arguably, social media is contributing to the democratisation of information and, armed with this information, customers will demand different things from sales people and companies. Customers are tuning into online communities, blogs, forums, and social networks to gather information and make buying decisions.
For instance, the retail car market is undergoing significant changes with customers firmly in the driver’s seat. With the emergence of the information age consumers have far more knowledge about what to buy and where to buy it. On the whole, customers are doing their research, checking with their networks and peers groups, reading or viewing the latest comments online, and have potentially even made a buying decision before they step into a store. This is fast becoming the norm in car sales. |
|
|
Selling your product or service
| |
| With new businesses opening all the time and consumers getting more and more demanding, it's inevitable that you will have to compete with similar ventures for business. So how do you get and maintain that competitive edge? |
|
|
What is Brand Equity?
| |
| Brand equity is a marketing term used to refer to the marketing impact of a given product in association with a brand name. It tries to examine how a given product will perform in the market if it did not have the privilege of that brand name.
|
|
|
Do Companies Hate Their Customers? Or Do They Just Not Care?
| |
| Customer service seems to no longer exist. Why? Are consumers not liked? Or do businesses just not care anymore as long as they get your money! |
|
|
Customer Service Jobs: Improve Your Skills
| |
| Statistics say that 68% of customers stop patronizing a company because of perceived poor service. That number is incredibly high, especially considering consumers are being far more selective with their spending habits these days. |
|
|
Logo Use in an Ad Campaign
| |
| Logos tend to be the face of a company, or at least the face a company or entity wishes to put forward. This face can be put toward all types of potential customers from investors to consumers. Incorporating that logo is an important way of putting your company’s personal stamp of approval or seal on anything a company approves of. |
|
|
What’s the difference between a member, a client and a customer?
| |
| What’s in a name? Well, there seems to be some confusion in the market place around the terminology used to describe those people who pay us money for goods, services, experiences, donations, etc.
Different industries can have different terms for the consumers of their products and/or services. We see terms such as customer, client, patient, guest, patron, member, subscriber, donor, etc. used to describe a person who buys our products or services and intends to use them directly. In short, these terms are referring to the same person – the ‘end user’. However, not everyone ‘consumes’ our products or services or is the intended ‘end user’. Some people or businesses buy our products or services to ‘on sell’ them to another party, often the final end user, but not always. |
|
|
Are You Really Adding Customer Value?
| |
| Today it takes focus, stamina and serious understanding of customer value if you want to succeed, get ahead and genuinely enjoy running your business and taking care of your clients. Value means so much more than it used to. Consumers are better educated, more demanding and in complete control of the buying cycle. But with a little attention to detail and simply staying focused on the customer, you can do the things you need to do to make your clients say wow and stay far ahead of your competition. |
|
|
Are Cell Phone Insurance Plans Worth It?
| |
| With the growth and popularity of cellular phones, there is a consumer urge to know that we are protected if issues arise. Consumers carry their mobile devices everywhere they go, whether it be at the office desk or on the hiking trails. It can be very easy to lose, drop, break, or get your cell phone stolen in the blink of an eye. With the dependency on technology and what the cell phone provides, what protections do consumers have? We all think that the cell phone providers give us a cheap and easy way to replace or repair our cellular phones should we have a problem, but how many have actually used the cell phone insurance provided by mobile providers? |
|
|
What Is Marketing And How Did It Change?
| |
| Many people have wondered what exactly is marketing. Marketing started out as a certain location where people would go to make transactions or trades. Consumers and potential customers would go to the market. Times have change the location of the market. It still carries out transactions of the needs and demands of customers; just now it's on the Internet. |
|
|
How to maximize store sales during the holiday season
| |
| The big question everyone is asking these days is if retailers are ready for the upcoming holiday season.
There have been numerous predictions and discussions on how malls and retailers are going to fare. An article in the Wall Street Journal last Tuesday mentioned that forecasters expect a better season for U.S retailers this year, but prices will be more discounted to get consumers into the stores. Another article mentioned that the National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to rise 2.3% from last year. And The International Council of Shopping Centers predicts holiday sales to increase anywhere from 3% to 3.5%. The Corporate News Headline in the WSJ on Thursday was, “Malls begin the healing process, vacancy rate improved for the first times since 2006.”
So, things seem to be looking up – BUT, are they?
|
|
|
How to Generate More Sales with Headlines
| |
| Here are 4 easy ways to craft compelling headlines for more customers and more sales. |
|
|
Are You Connecting With Your Customers With Consistent Communication They Can Relate To?
| |
| Because copy is one of the key elements of your marketing materials, it’s important to keep up with what’s working and what’s not. |
|
|
9 Elements to Help Your Copy Connect with Your Ideal Customers
| |
| Knowing the formula for creating a sales letter will help you connect with your ideal client. Regardless of the length of your copy you can incorporate the basic formula to ensure you’re providing all the information your customers need to make a sound decision about investing in your products and services. |
|
|
Does Social Media Effect your Brand Value?
| |
| Social media inundates people with so many brands, the playing field is diluted and consumers are much harder to impress. Thus, creating a huge difference between the way consumers and financial markets value brands. Plus, the landscape and the rules of PR and marketing have changed to the point that, it’s been said, ‘you no longer own your brand’.
So many people are participating in public dialogues about brands creating this split in valuing. Advertisers used to tell us what to buy. Now we use the internet to research before we buy and find thousands of real people’s opinions and feedback. Regarding the discrepancy – perhaps the people behind ‘financial market valuing’ aren’t paying enough attention to the public or simply using outmoded metrics. |
|
|
The Importance of Google Local
| |
| One of the most important, cost-effective, and easy ways to get exposure on Google is by taking advantage of Google Local (also known as Google Maps). This article will highlight some of the strategies to improve your Google Local results. |
|
|
How the Banking Credit Card Fiasco Affects YOUR Business
| |
| Find out how a little bit of entrepreneurial creativity and innovation can help your clients and your business in the midst of a credit crunch. Implementing the following five strategies will make your business the clear option for clients and customers in this credit-strapped economy. |
|
|
Social Networking Strategies Or Just Good Manners in the Social Web?
| |
| Social Networking Strategies is the new buzz term for marketing to individuals through social networking sites online, and numerous industries are certainly abuzz about it right now. The concept of networking incorporates the social interaction taking place online as well as various forms of networking between consumers and organizations with strategies to connect people, ideas and products. |
|
|
Top Tips to Make Your Social Networking Marketing Video Tutorials Red Hot
| |
| Isn't it great that social networking marketing video tutorials can generally convey information to viewers that just words could not do alone? Social networking websites promote and are so involved in marketing so many types and topics of information that one can basically learn how to do anything with video tutorials. |
|
|
What affects your credit score?
| |
| The FICO scoring model takes into account the information in a consumer’s credit report, with different kinds of information carrying differing weights. The FICO scoring model takes into account five categories of data: |
|
|
Successful Business during Great Depression
| |
| While many people loosing their jobs in the corporate world, there are other opportunities that are knocking on your door. Owning your own business is the best way of gaining financial freedom and experiencing your dream lifestyle. |
|
|
4 Network Marketing Strategies
| |
| If you are into network marketing, you need to have your own personal marketing strategies to achieve your goals. While there are trainings and seminars from which the potential clients and down line prospects can learn from, you still need to find ways to make their appearance on the said events. |
|
|
The 7 Advantages of Network Marketing
| |
| Network marketing is a good way to distribute and sell your products. Virtually everyone is rewarded. The distributor earns a profit by selling the products in consumer’s prices. |
|
|
What is Network Marketing?
| |
| The other term that is commonly used for Network Marketing is Multi-level marketing. It is a business model in which independent distributors sell products. The marketing is done through the client’s house, by telephone, or by internet. |
|
|
Improving Customer Experiences - Is It Still Important Or Is Price The Only Thing That Matters?
| |
| Many have questioned the importance of the overarching customer experience... Has the economic downturn minimized its importance? |
|
|
How To Become An Internet Marketer?
| |
| Internet Marketing is more than a trend today. As our technology evolves, more opportunities become available for everyone who is engaged in online business. No matter how variable the market demands are, internet marketing is never phased out. |
|
|
••••••>Getting Top SEO Ranking for Local Listings on Google Local, Yahoo Local, City Search etc.
| |
| As a free service by most of the local search sites, local listings is a powerful yet free SEO tool. Local listings Google and Yahoo appear above all other listings, getting #1 position in Local search may actually be easier than #1 in Organic/Natural rankings |
|
|
How Twitter Can Further Your Public Relations Efforts
| |
| For the the business owner, Twitter can be a powerful tool for public relations. Here's 4 key ways you can further your public relations efforts with Twitter. |
|
|
The Role of Celebrities in Advertising Techniques
| |
| Without endorsers, the product is lifeless and faceless. However, when endorsers become the advertising techniques used in introducing the product, then said product has brought to life. Moreover, if businesses use the face of famous celebrities, then the product has an instant fame and profits are expected to skyrocket. |
|
|
Celebrities And Their Three Basic Elements In Advertising Techniques
| |
| In all advertising techniques, the use of celebrities ranks as number one. Three basic qualifiers help the businesses to successfully carry out their purpose. These are Reliability, Appeal, and Competence.
The Reliability is one that makes the consumers believe in the product promoted. The endorser therefore, must be reliable. His reliability as a person should be well established, otherwise, his reliability as a product endorser is dubious. |
|
|
The Role of Creative Advertising Techniques
| |
| Even the advertising industry is very competitive. To entice more clients, advertising companies are using many advertising techniques. Each advertising company seeks to outperform and outthink the others. The more competitive innovative the advertising is, the more clients it can draw. |
|
|
8 Ways to Expanding your Coaching Business during a Recession
| |
| To help your Coaching Business survive this recession without lifelong consequences, you can only do this if you are willing to change and adapt. It's all about becoming more macro and reaching out to your clients that have previously been closed to you but which are now open due to you “thinking out of the box!” and offering the services they need. The work is still there, the clients are still there, the need is still there and probably greater than ever. The difference is, are you going to capitalise of this unique position?
By Sarah Rendle |
|
|
The 7 Advertising Techniques
| |
| Advertisement is a promotional campaign implemented to increase the sales of a certain product or service. The advertisement is channeled through different media outlets including newspapers, television, radio, billboards and the internet. At times, it is referred to as mass promotion because it can reach a large number of people in a single message. |
|
|
Marketing Opportunities in Difficult Economic Times
| |
| "Business as usual" is NOT the most effective strategy for surviving/thriving during economic downturns. Consumers don't stop buying during tough times but they do buy more cleverly. And they spend A LOT more time researching their purchases, seeking advice from friends and associates and otherwise doing their homework. Recession Marketers need to refine their tactics as well.
In this article we share 7 essential tips to help you sharpen up your offerings (and actually most of these tips contain useful advice for marketing more effectively in ANY economy, good or bad).
You won't blossom in 2010 simply by acting as if it's business as usual. Nor is it a time to hide your budget under a bushel. As one major advertiser summed it up: "When times are good, you SHOULD advertise. When times are bad, you MUST advertise." |
|
|
Open Enrollment Health Plans
| |
| There comes a time during the year where health insurance companies open their doors for open enrollment where consumers have the ability to make changes to their current plans. Open enrollment refers to a time period where all members within an insurance group can enroll in particular benefit packages. When a health insurance company has these periods of open enrollment, they are obligated take on applicants without assurance of insurability. There are certain exceptions, so applying early on and being diligent in understanding your specific health insurance policies and procedures will help you get the best deal.
|
|
|
Retailers Get Smart, Get Close To Customers
| |
| Resourceful retailers are finding creative ways to reinvent themselves and transform their business into something that entices and keeps customers. The more creative a retailer is, the more that business is going to last. Even in an economic down-turn, 50% of consumers will often pay more for a better customer experience. |
|
|
Looking For Home Business Opportunities - Where To Find Them
| |
| Many people have always dreamed of being able to escape from the 9 to 5 world and get started on founding their own business. For these people who are looking for home business opportunities, they need look no further than the exciting world of internet marketing, which can lead to a host of wider opportunities. This also leads to lifestyle changes that come along with a greater income and more financial freedom, including more time with friends and family, and more money and time to invest in personal hobbies and activities. |
|
|
Internet Marketing - Make A Living From Home
| |
| If you have been getting up early in the morning to go to a job that bores you, just to make enough money to support the family, you have probably always wondered whether there is a better way to do things. Well, there is. With internet marketing as a powerful tool that is driving the work place these days, the money-making potential is virtually unlimited, and millions of people have quit their office jobs to work from home, for only a few hours per day, and making much more money than they ever dreamed possible. |
|
|
Home Based Business - Separating the Successes from the Failures
| |
| It's probably everyone's dream to have a home based business. Aside from the social outlet, who really enjoys going into an office each day, suffering through a hectic commute and making awkward water-cooler conversation under the sharp eye of one or more managers? Most people would prefer to manage themselves and set their own hours, without the dreaded rush hour. Instead, with a business based out of one's home, you can drink coffee and entertain guests while still maintaining the income that makes this lifestyle possible. |
|
|
Direct Sales - A Proven Sales Method
| |
| These days many people, when trying to go about completing sales transaction, go through the services of an agent or other marketing firm. The counterpoint to this would be direct sales, in which the selling agent deals directly with the client, cutting out the middleman. This is a nice way to establish a good working relationship, fostering positive working relations and making further business down the road a high likelihood. The approach towards clients will take on a slightly different feeling with this type of sales, with more personal touches in approach that the wider net of marketing wouldn't take into account.
|
|
|
Attraction Marketing - How To Make Buyers Come To You
| |
| In the traditional sales world, the process that a salesperson would use to sell their product or service would be to make cold calls or go door-to-door, informing people about what they are selling and hoping to generate leads that would end in a sale. The difference with attraction marketing, which more and more is used in the place of this traditional sales process, is that a marketer finds out what attracts clients and uses this information to make them come to you. This is far more beneficial and a more pleasant shopping experience for everyone involved. There is no pressure for the buyer. Instead they are buying things that they want to. The key to making this all work is to figure out in the first place what it is that the client will be attracted to. |
|
|
How to Win in the Recession
| |
| Tips for winning in retail during the downturn |
|
|
What is the difference between a Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
| |
| Sometimes you get into severe financial straits and have to rely on bankruptcy. When this unfortunate happenstance occurs, which form of bankruptcy do you choose? The two major forms of bankruptcy for consumers are Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. Each of these bankruptcy forms are designed to ease and remove debts from you, while at the same time paying off the bills as much as possible. |
|
|
The Focus on Fitness Franchises
| |
| With all of the over-indulging that occurs during the holiday season, it is little wonder that people flood gyms and fitness centers to undo the damage that weeks of revelry does to their waistlines. In fact, as the number of health-conscious consumers grows, fitness franchises, personal training studios, gyms and other health-focused businesses are flourishing. |
|
|
Cold Calling Tip: Turn a Cold Call Into a Warm Call
| |
| If you use the telephone to generate new business, and you should be, then you need to know how to turn a cold cll into a warm call. This fantastic article will show you how. |
|
|
Gartner: New technology jobs will be filled by social scientists
| |
| One of the fastest-rising technology trends seen over the past few years is the use of social networking by consumers and businesses alike. |
|
|
How Your Story and the Stories Your Clients Tell Will Help Your Business
| |
| It's not enough to have a strong brand anymore. Your brand is still vital and important element of relationship building but it must be supported with your voice to the right people in the right way. You must be more transparent than ever, and let people know who you really are before they choose to do business with you. This concept is hard for some to grasp especially for those transitioning from corporate or "day job" scenarios to the entrepreneurial lifestyle. There's a misnomer that you cannot mix your business and your personal life and nothing could be farther from the truth when you're an entrepreneur. Because when you're an entrepreneur it's all personal.
Simply put, you must tell your story, so people relate to you before they buy. |
|
|
Are You Choosing The Right Leaders?
| |
| I love a competitive economy. When the competition is stiff, and consumers are demanding, we have to perform at our best in order to be successful. What we offer is not nearly as important as how we offer it, and how we offer "it" is directly connected to the quality and attitudes of our people. I believe, choosing quality leaders right now is the most important strategic decision we can make. The leaders you have in your organization determine how your employees are treated, developed and encouraged and held accountable. The stronger your leaders, the stronger your bottom line. |
|
|
Advertising Copywriting 101
| |
| Copywriting is the single most important aspect of advertising. We must know what our market wants before we give it to them. |
|
|
Internet Based Home Business - Getting Started
| |
| If you are a little short of income, and you can’t seem to find enough energy to work another job, an internet based home business could solve your financial problems. |
|
|
Online Home Business - Ideas For Getting Started
| |
| Your online home business ideas won’t make money on their own accord. You need to be committed and put hard work and time into running the business if you want it to be successful. Here we discuss how to turn these ideas into a profitable online home business. |
|
|
Would a wiki work?
| |
| A recent study conducted by CSO Insights indicated that poor sales knowledge management is hitting the top and bottom lines of companies in extremely negative ways. These included high sales rep turn over, longer sell cycles and lower win rates. |
|
|
When The Customer Won't Pay
| |
| As the recession grinds on, more and more businesses and consumers are feeling the pinch. Some businesses and consumers are trying to solve their cash problems by paying their bills more slowly. And, unfortunately, bills from small businesses are often the ones that businesses and consumers think they can delay paying. That doesn't mean your business should accept this as a fact of business life. There are a number of steps you can take to collect outstanding receivables and to get customers to pay on time. |
|
|
Sales Simplified - "The Solution Step"
| |
| The reason we have the opportunity to serve our customers is because we have something they want, have an interest in or need. Aside from the typical training we receive regarding our companies "Product Knowledge", here are some other guidelines to keep in mind when creating solutions for our customers. |
|
|
Local E-commerce marketing
| |
| Websites and e-commerce take up much of the mindshare around retail these days, but e-commerce still only accounts for about 10% of total retail sales. That means that 90% of purchases are still made IN stores, so if you don't have a great website and shopping cart, you can still compete. Local search tools make it easier than ever to be found by customers who can actually visit your store. |
|
|
Free is Not Good Enough
| |
| Free is not always good enough when it comes to offering free offers online. The following persuasive tactics will show you how to grab people’s attention and MAKE people WANT your valuable freebies!
|
|
|
Marketing in a recession can really help your small business
| |
| The most important thing a business can do in these challenging times is marketing. It is ironic than that this is often the first budget that companies cut when times get tough.
Small businesses can really take advantage of this and learn to survive and thrive in these challenging times. |
|
|
Keep up with online shopping trends or risk becoming irrelevant on the web
| |
| The steady rise of online shopping is creating new oceans of opportunity for ecommerce websites and e-retailers. The dual factors of consumers’ online savvy and their fear of online fraud and identity theft create unique demands of the web retailer. And even if your business is not set up for online shopping, there are valuable lessons to be learned from online consumer experiences and feedback. |
|
|
10 Steps to Record Breaking Revenue
| |
| When things loosen up (and things will loosen up) and companies and consumers both begin spending money again, you could be in for a significant windfall. You may even have some record breaking revenue months if, and it's a big if, you have your sales force doing all of the right things, even while companies and consumers aren't spending money.
Here are ten requirements for having and continuing to have record-breaking months in the not-too-distant future: |
|
|
Smart Retailing: Get Close to Customers
| |
| Resourceful retailers are finding creative ways to reinvent themselves and transform their business into something that entices and keeps customers. The more creative a retailer is, the more that business is going to last. |
|
|
Win with In-Store Service
| |
| The "In Store Experience" is well known as a crucial part of a retailer's interaction with his customers, but what can be done to differentiate your store? |
|
|
What to do when the recession finally ends!
| |
| Since the whole world is talking about what to do to make it through the recession, truly forward thinkers will be preparing for the end by now. Now is the time to be positioning your business to take advantage of the economy's gradual return to prosperity |
|
|
Help Your Business Thrive In A Bad Economy
| |
| Don't be defeated by the current economic crisis. Help your business not only survive but thrive during tough economic times. Use some of these strategies to show customers that they receive far more in value than the price they pay for your goods or service. |
|
|
What's That Prospect Thinking?
| |
| Even the young gun sales star is in danger of becoming a dinosaur if they fail to reexamine their sales approach. The presentation that earned you a trip to Madrid two years ago may land you on Monster.com next year. Can you morph your presentation and sales strategy? |
|
|
What If You Hate Long Sales Copy?
| |
| You've heard using a long copy sales page will increase your small business' sales and help you land more clients--but what if you groan every time you come across one on the internet?
I'll confess, I used to hate long copy too until two factors that changed my mind. Read on to find out what they were--as well as three ways to create a sales page you'll like..that creates results you'll love. |
|
|
Digital Branding is Great ... But Don't Forget The Strategy!
| |
| It has come to my attention recently that many clients are getting frustrated with all the "Social Media experts" because they forget about the strategy. You cannot be enamored with "doing something just to do it." Please remember that e-mail campaigns, Twitter updates, Facebook pages, blogs, and any other digital marketing tool is just that ... a tool ... a vehicle to further your engagement with your consumer. One thing everyone needs to remember: you can't forget the strategy. |
|
|
Apple should NOT cut Mac prices
| |
| There’s a constant cry from some quarters for Apple to slice prices on the Macs to: a) compete with the bargain bin PeeCees, b) accommodate consumers in these tough economic times, and/or c) prove those Microsoft ads wrong. To which I say: don’t do it |
|
|
Best Ways To Earn Internet Income Quickly
| |
| As we live in a fast-paced world, it is also important to earn money the quickest way possible. If you are looking into getting fast cash, the internet undoubtedly provides numerous ways on how to earn internet income. |
|
|
The Only Ways to Build a Strong Brand
| |
| Business competition has grown to be incredibly fierce. With a cluttered marketplace, branding is essential. |
|
|
Do you Know What The “e” Stands For In e-Commerce?
| |
| What does the “e” stand for in e-Commerce?
Do you know?
|
|
|
Debits, the good kind!
| |
| Debit card transactions can be a bit of a mystery to retailers, since they are priced differently from credit card transactions. The industry lingo can be confusing and retailers end up paying too much to accept these payments. |
|
|
Summer Sales
| |
| Are you ready for summer? As consumer confidence appears to be rebounding, retailers need to be ready for summer opportunities. |
|
|
Web Analytics: Making Sure Your Online Offerings Are Working for You
| |
| With online analytics, you can track virtually everything—where your traffic is coming from, who your customers are, where your customers are, what sort of systems your customers use, how your customers behave while on your site—the possibilities are endless. And these are just the analytics you can collect for free. For a fee, companies like Gomez can give you even more data, including highly technical data both inside and outside your company’s firewall. |
|
|
Learn How Walmart Made Joey a Millionaire!
| |
| Discover how selling your product to Walmart can make you a lot of money as it did for Joey.. |
|
|
User Acceptance Testing Can Improve Your Website's Chances
| |
| Before you launch a new or modified Website you should have a representative sample of of the end users try the Website before it goes live, even if you have already subjected the Website to testing by qualified quality assurance testing professionals. Here's how easy it is. |
|
|
Give Internet Customers What They Truly Want
| |
| What individuals want on-line is some thing guerrillas consider a great deal. Whether or not it is for enjoyable or function or some thing else, comprehending consumers' motives as soon as they log on is really a necessity. However the specialists do not appear to concur on what individuals want. Some people see the internet as being a huge, new area for marketing, assuming they are able to entice individuals with trick and flash them into having to pay focus to their goods and solutions.
|
|
|
Earn From Home With A Legitimate Online Business
| |
| There are great expectations from legitimate online businesses because they are the ones that customers trust and transact with more than once. Building a legitimate online business will ensure profits as well as guaranteed entrepreneurial growth. |
|
|
Don't Expect Gratitude from All Customers
| |
| For customers who pay you and even love who you do for them, you want to stay with them for as long as you run your business. But, for other customers who treat you as their interim "Fire Department," just do your work and let go. You'd be a happier person, not merely a successful one. |
|
|
Evaluating the ‘Steve Jobs effect’
| |
| In a recent ChangeWave research firm survey, they inquired about the Steve Jobs “effect”? With his recent health disclosure and taking a leave of absence—amid speculation on whether Apple will stumble without him—ChangeWave asked consumers what effect it would have on their likelihood of buying Apple products if Jobs were to permanently step down as CEO |
|
|
Are there too many retail stores?
| |
| In the past several years, due to the abundance of cheap credit and excess spending, we've seen a massive growth in the size and number of retail outlets. Some say that we are now "over-stored." What does this mean, and how will it affect small retailers? |
|
|
How to make your business thrive in a floundering economy
| |
| It's no secret that today's economy is struggling. People are losing money, and businesses are scrambling to keep costs low and sales high, while the consumer is spending less than normal. Your business could possibly have taken a hit as well these days, and you are scaling back operations in order to keep afloat. But if you implement "smart marketing", you CAN make your business thrive in a floundering economy. Here's how... |
|
|
How To Make Your Business Message Go Viral
| |
| I am often asked what tricks people can use to get their video or product announcement to go “viral” (spread online quickly). In almost all cases, people are trying to make an entertaining message get passed around like a funny joke... |
|
|
WRITING YOUR WAY TO MAKING MONEY ONLINE.
| |
| Growing you online business is not easy as many of us have realized. The key to internet successes is traffic, nothing else, no any other magic formula. Bringing traffic to your site and making them take an action is time consuming and at times very discouraging. It is totally a different type of ball game. I know most of us have tried many tricks in the books to achieve desirable results. If there was a book that would sell is a book titled “Getting traffic now”, and I doubt if it would provide any magic. Traffic is important because it is the fuel that drives any business. Well I am not about to write such a book, but I will tell you simple proven ways to drive traffic to your site. |
|
|
••••••> Free SEO Tip of the Day: Keyword Research Guide
| |
| Five tips for Keyword research, one of he most important element of integrated SEO campaigns to get on top of Google and the other search engines |
|
|
Packaging… Real Brand Value!
| |
| Help for small businesses explaining the importance of a cohesive marketing strategy |
|
|
Why All Companies Need a Story
| |
| Stories capture our attention quickly. They are more entertaining than straight facts and allow us to take a complicated topic and explain it in such a way that it is appealing to a listener.
So why does a company need to tell a story? Simply put, it gives you control over what and how people talk about you, your products and services.
|
|
|
Every day I am learning something new about human nature.
| |
| Advantages, to small business owners, of todays economy |
|
|
With U.S. Unemployment at 8.1%, Here’s Where to Invest Today.
| |
| Economies turn around like ships, not speedboats. Instead of trying to "pick the bottom," why not turn to what's working now. There are many Japanese Yen pairs in the forex market that appear to have bottomed in October. |
|
|
Is Your Business Tough Enough to Survive Recession?
| |
| The economy is playing havoc with a lot of businesses, but many small businesses are thriving despite the recession. Ask yourself these ten questions and make your business tough enough to survive recession. |
|
|
Employees make the Difference
| |
| If your store sells commoditieis or other items that can easily be found on the internet or at big box discounters, then you have to compete on service, not price. Leverage your employees to succeed. |
|
|
Best Home Business Online And Offline Advertising Ideas
| |
| You have already gotten your home business ideas lined up and your product or service ready for take-off. Now you need to get your business noticed. There are several different methods for this, depending on how and who you intend to supply this service or product to. Starting with the offline community you have several methods in which you can reach the public. |
|
|
A Dead Simple Way to Get More Free Advertising for Your Business and Website
| |
| Would you like a simple way to promote your business—and drive traffic to your Website—for free? One of the best things you can do is something far too many small business owners aren’t doing...Learn what it is and how you can take advantage of it in this sassy article from Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas.
|
|
|
I BELIEVE IN WHAT JOHN CAGE ONCE SAID. “I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.”
| |
| The most powerful single word in direct marketing is no longer "FREE".
It’s "SO?"
|
|
|
The Startup investment paradox - why less is more!
| |
| Given that many business investors are on their way to the poor house, most start-ups are not going to secure investment until they become real companies. Here are five reasons why they may be better off. |
|
|
Emerging Technologies
| |
| Major retailers like Wal-Mart typically represent the leading edge in retail technology, but that doesn't mean small retailers should ignore these trends because "only the big guys are doing it" |
|
|
Tough economic times will ding Apple, but not as bad as some companies
| |
| New research from the ChangeWave Research group shows that Apple won’t be immune from taking hits due to the tough economy. But my favorite tech company seems to be in as good of shape as any to make it through some tight months. |
|
|
Mine for Gold in the Right Places
| |
| “Where are my customers?”…“Why isn’t my usual advertising working?”… “What can I do to turn this around?” These are among the questions being asked as many businesses face a falloff in the number of customers. It is no secret that many companies struggling these days. There may be reasons related to the economy, but I am convinced it’s also because many businesses are looking for customers in the wrong places.
|
|
|
The Trusted Authority - Out Care the Competition
| |
| And become customer obsessed. Consumers would pay 5 to 25% more to ensure a superior customer experience |
|
|
It's Your Home Business - You Make The Rules
| |
| When you work for someone else they make the rules. They decide when you work, who you work with, and what you do at your job. When you run your own business, you make these decisions. This article will show you what rules you can set with your business to be successful with both your family and your business. |
|
|
Is Radio Advertising Right For You?
| |
| Is the radio the right medium for you to market your business? It all depends. Many businesses have blossomed from it and others have been burnt badly. While there are always exceptions to the rules (and I LOVE exceptions), here are some good guidelines when it comes to choosing RADIO as a place to promote your business. |
|
|
Are You Guilty of One-Dimensional Marketing?
| |
| So if all marketing tools can work, how can this be? Far too often people treat their marketing like a one hit wonder. Someone tells them a certain marketing initiative was highly effective for them and off they go to try the marketing idea of the week. But alas, they don’t get the same result. This is because they are practicing one-dimensional marketing. |
|
|
Inventory Targeting/Modifications
| |
| You can modify your inventory offerings without altering the flavor of your store to better serve your customers in a recession. |
|
|
Building Consumer Confidence Online
| |
| The greatest challenge to businesses aiming to build a presence on the web is establishing brand credibility and consumer confidence online. The Internet provides a plethora of marketing opportunities to businesses of all types and sizes, but some of the considerations involved in successful online marketing are unique. For instance, the process often lacks human interaction, and as such creating consumer confidence online is difficult because potential customers are forced to determine whether or not to proceed with a transaction or interaction based on how credible they perceive the business to be.
|
|
|
The Wave Of The Future May Be Logo Imprinted Products
| |
| Does the effectiveness of an advertisement depend on where you see it: in the newspaper, online, or in your own hand? The wave of the future may be logo-imprinted products, which have proven to be a better value than either newsprint or online advertising.
|
|
|
Thousands are getting fired What are people doing in tough times
| |
| Thousands are getting fired; What are people doing in tough times?
The nation is being hit with unemployment. We all know someone who has been affected. What are those people doing about it? What is everyone really searching for right now?
|
|
|
How to Be Different in a Homogeneous Business World
| |
| It's hard, isn't it? Making your service business stand out from the rest is a challenging task. When it comes down to it, every realtor helps people buy or sell property. That's it. Every consultant offers advice that will either help people avoid pain or increase pleasure. Every doctor diagnoses illness and prescribes a remedy. Every salesperson offers a product that is strikingly similar to the competition's offering. What do you need to do to stand out? |
|
|
Internet video a winner in tough economic climate
| |
| A new survey suggests that the current economic crisis will make Internet video a champion in 2009.
|
|
|
Before You Jump Ship: Four Responsibilities to Consider Before Starting Your Own Business
| |
| You've heard it before: starting a business can be one of the most difficult yet rewarding things you will ever do. Considering these four responsibilities before you start a company will help minimize the difficulty and enhance the rewards. |
|
|
How to Position Your Company in the Minds of Consumers
| |
| In most industries there are no heroes, just choices. So rather than try to be all things to all people, business owners need to proactively position their company and define their points of differentiation to the consumer. Positioning draws the attention of your target market and reduces the chance that your competitors will define who you are, a situation no business owner wants to experience. |
|
|
Strategies to Win in a Demanding Business Environment: 5 Ways to Grow Your Business
| |
| In the midst of such a demanding business environment, many companies are struggling to increase sales. In light of that, how can a company grow? What are possible sources of increased revenue? |
|
|
Make Exponential Profits With Backend Sales - Part 4
| |
| You've spent advertising dollars to get a paying customer...now earn sizzling profits with a backend offer! |
|
|
How to recession-proof your business with smart marketing
| |
| Follow these powerful marketing tips to recession-proof your business. |
|
|
Customer Service Made Easy
| |
| There is a mystery around customer service. Most consumers think that customer service has gone downhill. Most businesspeople think that their customer service is good. How can this be possible?
If you can solve this puzzle then you are well on your way to delivering great customer service. |
|
|
The Trusted Sales Authority
| |
| Become the trusted authority by out caring the competition and become customer obsessed. Individuals and organizations with low levels of emotional intelligence can not do this. Consumers would pay 5 to 25% more to ensure a superior customer experience (Customer Service Impact 2010 Report, published by RightNow).
|
|
|
How to Greatly Increase Your Odds of Business Success By Niche Marketing
| |
| To be successful in today’s hyper-competitive, over-advertised marketplace, you absolutely must focus your business and marketing on serving a specialized niche market. |
|
|
Consumer confidence increases
| |
| Consumer Confidence Increases (12/5/2008) |
|
|
The Definitive Guide to GROWING Your Business During the Economic Crisis
| |
| You might be wondering why I wrote the word “GROWING” in all caps. Because that is exactly what you need to be doing right now. Many business owners freak out and they hide in their caves waiting for the bad times to pass by. That doesn’t make any sense. If you are just waiting until you see the light at the end of the tunnel, your ship will most likely sink.
I would like to share with you some ideas to grow your business during the economic crisis.
Profit from your current customers
As obvious as this idea may be, you will be surprised with the number of business owners that sell a customer just once. Call your previous customers and find out how you can help them. According to statistics, someone who bought from you in the past is five times more likely to buy from you again than a new prospect. |
|
|
Are Paid Surveys A Legitimate Way To Make Money?
| |
| Many people wonder if paid online surveys are really legitimate ways of making money from home. Yes, they are, but you have to know what you are doing and have realistic expectations. |
|
|
Advice for retailers during tough times: stay positive
| |
| How negative opinions from retail employees can lead to a drop in sales |
|
|
Build Your Home Business With The Right Paperwork
| |
| It is important to build your home business with the right paperwork. This includes both a business license and insurance paperwork. In order for a business to operate, a business license should be incorporated into the organization. |
|
|
Companies should establish clear policies for social networking sites
| |
| Companies should establish clear guidelines governing social networking sites |
|
|
Home Based Business Spotlight: DVDNow
| |
| The way we rent movies is changing. A simpler, more convenient, and more lucrative way of renting DVDs is here, and now is the time to invest in the new wave or rental businesses. |
|
|
Get Leads Coming to You and Get Them to Act Now
| |
| Rather than dialing for dollars and getting your name out there what you need is a steady stream of highly qualified prospects reaching out to you. This is especially true now when business owners and consumers are guarding their wallets like Fort Knox. You aren’t going to get those wallets open doing what you’re doing now. |
|
|
Tips For Recession-Proofing Your Small Business Franchise
| |
| If the recession is weighing you down and figuring out what to do to keep your franchise afloat is bearing no recognizable success, here are some fresh ideas to act on, both to give yourself a concrete course of action to take and to see a quicker recovery for your business. |
|
|
Connect With Customers & Prospects on THEIR Terms to Increase Sales
| |
| Are you really speaking to your customers in ways that connect them to your products and servcies?
Undoubtedly you offer a product or service to your customers or potential customers. Have you seriously taken time to consider how you or your business benefits your clients?
If you haven’t done this lately, take a moment to consider your customers. It’s super important.
Your marketing content should be all about what your product or service will do for the consumer. One of the most common mistakes made in marketing, advertising and promotional materials is not focusing on the features and benefits of a product or service and HOW they directly benefit your core audience or target market. |
|
|
Blogging as a Sales Tool
| |
| A blog is a highly advanced and yet very simple way of marketing your business by profiling a member’s, client’s or employee’s experience. Although client testimonials and reviews are the strongest sales tools for a business, online blogging can also work as a major marketing tool to increase online exposure and spread the word about your company much farther than you thought possible. |
|
|
Three Steps To Change Anything
| |
| To succeed in today’s ever-changing world, there is no such thing as status quo. We live in a consumer savvy, knowledge-based, microwave society.If we want an edge in today’s marketplace, we must embrace change. |
|
|
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
| |
| There are ways to turn even your most difficult customers into raving fans. |
|
|
RETAIL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION MODEL RCSM
| |
| How to maximize the retail sales? How to add new customers? What’s the reason for successful retailers? Read further to know a simple tool that helps you
|
|
|
Managing Luxury Brands in Recession
| |
| The article focuses on how luxury brands can manage the effects of recession and rather gain from it. |
|
|
Restaurant Franchising
| |
| Franchising in restaurants is one of the biggest opportunities for someone looking to start their own business as a franchise. |
|
|
Marketing Plans Help You Make Your Mark and Increase Success from the Start
| |
| Techniques to Help you Plan |
|
|
Why A Good Credit Score Is Important To Your Business
| |
| Whether you're in business or an individual, you should have an idea of what your credit score is, even if you're not currently applying for credit. Knowing your credit score and occasionally checking your credit reports also helps you protect yourself from identity theft and credit fraud. |
|
|
Perceived Value Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
| |
| Pricing is an important aspect of every business because price is used to create financial projections, establish a break even point, and calculate profit and loss. It's also important to establish a good price point from the beginning because it is much easier to lower prices than to raise them. |
|
|
Being remarkable - how to have an extraordinary business
| |
| I see a lot of businesses. Some of them are remarkable and extraordinary when I first see them, but they don’t realise it, and don’t know how to tell people about the special . Some of them are rather dull, staid businesses, but by the time I’ve finished with them, they’ve got that extra something that gets people talking about them.
Setting out to make your business remarkable can have amazing benefits. If you’re struggling to attract customers, or to make enough money, you need to think again about how people see your business, or if they notice it at all.
What’s a remarkable business?
|
|
|
Middle-aged consumers & luxury consumption
| |
| For every youthful consumer there is a middle-aged one with more money (and more credit) to spend who would rather like to be noticed too. How does this consumer segment consume luxury goods? What do they associate with? Using the examples of present communication strategies adopted by luxury product marketers and an empirical study, this article argues how they are missing an opportunity and provides managers with a novel way to market their luxury brands, focusing on how middle-aged consumers associate themselves with these brands. |
|
|
Telling an Authentic Story About Your Brand
| |
| Story telling can be a powerful marketing tool for your small business. Communicating stories about your company history, people, culture, services, etc helps customers identify with your brand.
Seth Godin, a popular marketing author and blogger, made a great comment about story telling during a recent teleseminar - part of the virtual book tour for "Meatball Sundae - Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?". He said "telling an authentic story starts by living an authentic story." It seems like a simple concept... |
|
|
Can Pricing Strategy Affect Your Brand
| |
| Can your pricing strategy affect how your clients perceive your small business brand? I read an article yesterday about soaring fuel costs in the travel sector and how Canada's much maligned national airline (Air Canada) will be implementing a series of fees to recoup costs. The problem with this type of pricing strategy is the effect it has on your ability to build brand equity. |
|
|
5 Easy Tips to Running Your Online Business
| |
| Running an online business is a great way to go into business for yourself. One of the most attractive features when it comes to having an online business is that you can almost completely automate it. |
|
|
What is the Process of Making Income with Paid Surveys?
| |
| How would you like it if you could just make money to give your opinion? With the prevalence of marketing groups that have a strong interest in what their consumers have to say, you'll find that getting into taking paid surveys can bring you a tidy amount of cash as well as plenty of interesting products to try. |
|
|
Blogging as a Sales Tool
| |
| How Online Blogs Can Help You Generate More Business
|
|
|
Necessary Skills for Paid Survey Workers
| |
| Each and every single day, companies are paying individuals all over the world to provide their opinion on various topics through the means of paid surveys. Being a member of the paid survey movement is actually a very easy, yet exciting accomplishment. |
|
|
Should You Switch to Selling Green?
| |
| Should you switch to selling green products? It depends. |
|
|
Content Protection, Fair Use Have to be Fair for Everyone
| |
| Contrary to what they tell governments, the world doesn't revolve around their
stuff. In fact once we buy it isn't it our stuff? Some day they'll get a clue
like the music industry and audio books industry that once content goes digital
there's no turning back. We didn't copy audio tapes and pass them around...we
didn't copy VHS movies and pass them around...we didn't copy DVD movies and pass
them around...
|
|
|
Earn Money Working Online: Marketing with Podcasts
| |
| Originally derived from a combination of "broadcasting" and "iPod" podcasting, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary, is "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player." The general accepted definition however, has expanded to include video as well as audio. |
|
|
Drive Targeted Traffic: 3 Surefire Ways For Your Affiliate Business
| |
| Given that the large percentage of people on the internet do not care about your product, it becomes crucial to locate and drive the small handful that does care to your website. An affiliate marketer must be able to weed through the browsers and find the seeds that will grow his business-the buyers. Driving targeted traffic to your website is done in three steps. |
|
|
7 Internet Marketing Secrets That Will Curl Your Toes
| |
| Unlike other forms of marketing, online marketing allows you to determine your results almost immediately. Because of this, many marketers have shifted their marketing efforts to the web. However, just because you now have a means to determine which campaigns are producing results and which one are not does not mean that you will become a guru at internet marketing, not unless you learn these internet marketing secrets. |
|
|
Press Releases Aren't Dead
| |
| Although some of the hype about online press releases has died down, press releases are still a viable marketing tool. |
|
|
Background on Franchises and How to Choose The Right One For You
| |
| This brief article explains the history of franchising, explains why to choose a franchise over other business opportunities, and lists some of the key points to evaluate when you're considering the purchase of a franchise. |
|
|
Who Will Buy?
| |
| Learning to identify your customers so you can market to them effectively. |
|
|
"Free Report How To Gain More Clients and Increase Sales"
| |
| No matter what business you are in, there is always going to be a slow period. That is simply a part of business. For the construction companies of the world there is the winter months when there is little that can be done outside without a lot of problems. For cable television companies it is the summer, when people are spending more time outside then watching television inside.
|
|
|
Discover The Secret To Boosting Sales During Those Slow Months
| |
| No matter what business you are in, there is always going to be a slow period. That is simply a part of business. For the construction companies of the world there is the winter months when there is little that can be done outside without a lot of problems. For cable television companies it is the summer, when people are spending more time outside then watching television inside.
|
|
|
What are Key Questions to Ask Yourself About Incentives and Rebates
| |
| To know which of incentive and rebates would work better with your customers, you need to ask yourself five key questions: |
|
|
Making Your Website Stick
| |
| Succeeding on the web takes more than just plan luck. Today's consumers are overwhelmed with choices, and distractions. The cost of attracting users to your website continues to increase and keeping them engaged is now more important than ever. |
|
|
6 Ways NOT To Green Your Business
| |
| The amazing growth of the green economy is generating immense opportunities for entrepreneurs, but the experience of others still helps to avoid pitfalls and stay on track for success. |
|
|
7 Steps to Prosperity and Wealth
| |
| Would you like to have your efforts become more profitable? Follow these 7 steps and you will be able to attract greater wealth and prosperity. If you have not been able to create the success that you deserve, then read this article to help you reach the goals that you have set. Reaching out for assistance can be the smartest way to achieve these your dreams. |
|
|
The Power of Social Bookmarking Improve Your Rankings
| |
| Social Bookmarking has become a phenomenon in the last couple of years. As more individuals join these social networks, the news, and what is deemed important is now driven by consumers - a fundamental shift on how information was prioritized in the past. |
|
|
Search Engine Optimization Landing Pages
| |
| Many people still think that sending people to their home page will give them a better understanding of their business and because of that, people will somehow value their website. The problem is that visitors don't always have the time to spend searching a website, or it isn't clear by the website's home page if it actually has what they're looking for.
We found that when we developed specific landing pages that were relevant to a user search terms, the user seemed satisfied with the results. Consumers were more inclined to browse through and stay on a website longer. As a result, websites saw an increase in conversion rates. |
|
|
A Look at Incentive and Rebates Programs
| |
| Businesses have a greater chance of succeeding if they are able to not only offer a quality and successful product, but also if they are able to offer the consumer something that their competitors have been unable to successfully offer yet. As a result, there are a number of incentive and rebates programs that can be offered by a business that would more realistically attract the consumer to the product or good that is offered by a manufacturer. Still, some consumers and businesses may wonder what the costs are of having such programs and what the return is on these investments. |
|
|
Recession-proof PR
| |
| Hard economic times are, ironically, the best times to aggressively launch a PR campaign. |
|
|
Beware greenwashing your business
| |
| Greenwashing, the practice of using the term 'green' just to score points, will fail you and your business. |
|
|
Selecting the Right Mailing List
| |
| A part of planning your postcard campaign included determining your target audience. You took the time to profile your current and potential customers to ensure your message is received by those who will benefit the most from your offer. The more specific you are about your target audience the more accurate your mailing list will be. |
|
|
Effective Use of Corporate Events and Public Relations
| |
| Whatever you are promoting, you need to explain to your audiences on an emotional level. This article explains the how-to. |
|
|
Storytelling as a Key Leadership Tool
| |
| Whether you are leading an organization of five people or 50,000, enveloping important business lessons within the framework of a story helps effective leaders do more than just pass on knowledge and know-how. |
|
|
Is is SPAM or Your Direct Marketing Approach?
| |
| This article gets to the heart of how to not be seen as a "Spammer." If you conduct e-marketing campaigns, sometimes it's tough to get your message read. Here are some interesting statistics why this is the case -- and some helpful pointers to utilize e-marketing EFFECTIVELY in your direct marketing plan. |
|
|
The Shift from Push to Pull Marketing
| |
| There is a definite shift going on today in direct marketing. Today, more than ever, it is very important to create a compelling reason for people to seek YOU out . . . as opposed to the other way around. |
|
|
How To Improve Site Credibility
| |
| Site credibility helps determine how successful a website will be. A site considered to have a lot of credence within a particular area will be able to sell more products or services, promote more affiliate links, and even sell their own services at increased rates. |
|
|
Cross Selling Through Product Promotions
| |
| Cross selling is a method of improving sales figures at very little extra cost. |
|
|
Black Investors PLC of Britain Lends $13m to Microfinance Institution (MFI) Kagisano of South Africa
| |
| Black Investors PLC, a British investment company, has granted a ZAR 100 million (USD 13 million) long-term loan facility to Kagisano Financial Enterprises, a South African mass market credit provider.
The loan will be earmarked for Kagisano’s advances book, bringing its value to over ZAR 300 million (USD 39.1 million). It comes during a period of brisk growth for the company, which has been opening about three new outlets a month as it offers new products and its customer base becomes more affluent. According to CEO Eugene van Niekerk, demand for Kagisano’s products has remained strong in spite of a high interest-rate environment.
Black Investors PLC does not appear to have an Internet presence, and further information about the firm could not be ascertained. |
|
|
The Credit King: The Early Years of VISA Founder Dee Hock
| |
| You may not have ever heard of Dee Hock, but that is exactly how he wanted it. This founder of VISA, and the man who first helped conceive of a worldwide system for the electronic exchange of value, believed that if he was running the company properly, consumers would only benefit from the front-end services and not even hear about the back-end operations. In 2010, VISA earned over $8.065 billion in revenues. |
|
|
I WANT IT NOW!
| |
| Are you still wow'ed by some of the technology that is available to us today? Things continue to change and change fast. So estimates say that this is creating the most technology "aware" consumer than at any other time in history. But if you're a business owner, you must be aware of what these changes mean to you and the future of your business. And if you don't adjust you may not be around very long! |
|
|
Driving footfalls - Retail stores
| |
| Driving footfalls and managing them once inside the store is a big challenge for Retailers. This article looks into the latest trends in the market. |
|
|
Boosting Retail Sales with Digital Signage, Emerging Technologies
| |
| Retailers of all sizes look for the better edge to lower costs, reach customers and establish relationships with consumers. Digital signage not only enables all of this but it enhances the strength of the messages with eye-catching video content. Here's a guide for content developers, system integrators and retail merchandising/marketing management.
|
|
|
New Viral Marketing Tool!
| |
| A new consumer phenomenon is called "tagging" or "folksonomies" (short for folks and taxonomy). Tagging is powerful because consumers are creating an organizational structure for online content. Folksonomies not only enable people to file away content under tags, but, even better, share it with others by filing it under a global taxonomy that they created. |
|
|
Motivate your customers to buy
| |
| Too much “Hard Sell” can mean “No Sale”. With the proliferation of advertising both online and off-line, customers have grown wary of products or services marketed through traditional sales methods. |
|
|
Free Stuff Marketing Revolution On Social Media Sites
| |
| Using social media as a business tool has helped many brands reach a much wider consumer base. Offering those consumers a free way to try something new is an effective and popular method to increase awareness. The old fashioned word of mouth advertising has undergone a digital update with the power of social media. Friends and associates can share their opinions of companies and products more quickly than ever before. By offering some incentive for their participation in an advertising campaign, it's easy to convert a curious potential customer into a spokesperson to their friends and family.
|
|
|
Using Freebies To Leverage Retail Brands
| |
| In an era when consumers have an ever shrinking spending dollar, retail brands are facing fierce competition to capture new sales. In addition to advertising and marketing, brand managers are turning to one tried and true promotion. Marketers are offering free samples to break into markets and segments and even take some market share away from their competitors.
|
|
|
Using Retail Freebies For Digital Marketing Success
| |
| Using freebies is a great way to accomplish a few important goals. Both online and offline companies have implemented freebies in their marketing strategy for years. For the most part, freebies are used to influence consumers to spend more money on items that are associated with the free item. However, there are other reasons why companies use this method of marketing to push sales.
|
|
|
Getting Consumer Information With Free Samples
| |
| Companies are often surprised to learn how cheaply, and how easily, consumer information can be obtained directly from consumers.
|
|
|
Using Freebies To Get Consumers Feedback
| |
| Feedback is very valuable from your customers. Customer feedback on surveys or other forms of feedback can give you valuable information about how well your company has met the expectations of your customers. If your company has not done so well to meet those expectations, you can make changes; if your company has done very well, you can make plans to continue to meet those expectations.
|
|
|
Retail Incentives: Free Samples For Foot Traffic
| |
| Free samples work to bring customers in the door. The challenge for any company is to get the word out that you are offering those free samples. Large promotional signs and messages in store windows, on billboards and added on the bottom of receipts can be used to get the message across to bring people into the store to get their free sample. Depending on the location of the store, sometimes it pays to have a greeter standing at the front door handing samples out to consumers as they walk by. This technique works well in shopping malls and in other high traffic areas. It's no secret that consumers love free things and will often come into the store simply to pick up an advertised giveaway. The hope is that those customers will buy something else once they are there.
|
|
|
Lift Foot Traffic and Retail Sales With Freebie Marketing
| |
| Despite the convenience and availability of online shopping, many consumers, especially those in higher age demographics prefer shopping at a concrete retail location. One of the oldest methods of increasing retail locations sales is through increasing foot traffic, and nothing attracts customers to a location like the word free.
|
|
|
Free Sample Marketing Basics
| |
| Free sample marketing is a technique that many companies successfully employ. It is also known as the razor and blade business model, because it was popularized by Gillette. When used effectively, it is a great promotional technique. For new products or services, it educates consumers and encourages them to make future purchases.
|
|
|
Tips For Freebie Marketing
| |
| If utilized intelligently, freebie marketing is a wise and cost effective method for attracting new customers and promoting continued loyalty with established customers. Everywhere you look as a consumer you are bombarded with free offers. Free offers work to build trust and to entice consumers to take a chance on something new.
|
|
|
Motivate your customers to buy from you
| |
| Too much "Hard Sell" can mean "No Sale". With the proliferation of advertising both online and off-line, customers have grown wary of products or services marketed through traditional sales methods. Entrepreneurs of today must therefore learn how to invest more time and money in soft-sell methods. Here are some real secrets to making your customers want to give you their money.
|
|
|
Marketing Mix For Retail Consumer Packaged Goods
| |
| For Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies, a good marketing mix is essential. The beginning of the twenty-first century has seen rapid changes in consumer demographics. Not only are consumers spending more wisely, but the age, face and needs of the consumer are changing as well. It takes a well thought out marketing strategy to not only find, but communicate with customers.
|
|
|
2011 Consumer Retail Trends
| |
| In this competitive retail environment, retailers have their eyes fixed directly on the latest trends in consumer spending. Staying one step ahead of the ever changing retail landscape is a top priority. 2011 consumer retail trends include a slight increase in consumer spending, while unemployment and wages have remained stagnant. With mixed messages like those, marketers are paying closer attention to the needs of their consumers. One immediate result is an increased attention to customer service.
|
|
|
Using Retail Freebies for Consumer Packaged Goods Marketing
| |
| For marketers and promoters of consumer packaged goods, one of the most powerful tactics is the use of freebies. A good freebie generally requires no investment on the consumer’s part. While there are many scams out there that mislead consumers simply by using the word ‘free’, most well known brands and CPG companies can be counted on to give their customers a freebie with not just implied value, but actual value as well.
|
|
|
Likelihood of Confusion: The SAM Rule
| |
| When filing for a Federal trademark, it's important to keep the SAM rule in mind.
Who's SAM?
SAM's not a person but a concept employed by the USPTO during their review process of new Federal trademark applications. |
|
|
Quote: Taking African products where there’s no bias
| |
| While more established economies begin to focus on the revenue potential of emerging economies, many of those emerging economies are also seeing the benefits of selling to each other. |
|
|
Let Consumers Sample Your Brand - e-Sampling For Retail
| |
| E-sampling can be a great way to promote your business. By setting up a micro-site or page that focuses on your product, you will be sure to get the views you need to promote that particular product. When e-sampling, remember to include a coupon for use on the product after you have sent the sample. This will not only incentivize the product, but it will allow your potential consumers to know that your product is of value. Make the directions clear on how they will receive the sample and what the sample will include. |
|
|
Trademark Your Clothing Line
| |
| The first subject should definitely be explaining what branches of intellectual property are available for the various items that typically make up a clothing line.
|
|
|
Customer Focus Just 5 SimpleThings You Need to Think About
| |
| In all the businesses we conduct, there are customers. And they are the life-blood to us. It's TRUE! Despite all the million and one things we are doing - we've got to have paying customers! Nevertheless, just five things will dictate success or failure. Have you got them right? |
|
|
Stop Dreaming - Now Is The Time To Start Your Own Business
| |
| Starting your own business can be one of the most challenging difficulties that you have ever made. Yet making that decision, for many, will be the best decision they ever make. To help make it easier, here are a few ideas to help you. |
|
|
Facebook … The Next Best Thing to Buy, Like
| |
| Telly's old TV line was "Who Luvs Ya Baby!" but today what the heck life is flying by so fast we'll settle for a Like! Sure it started out just for people but companies, products have feelings to so they need to be liked (truthfully they'll settle for your buying them). What's a like worth? Well if you're a "social media expert" probably a lot. If you're just a guy/gal? Maybe a like you back. If you're a company, product, service? Just don't unlike us cause we can't stand rejection. The big winner is Zuck because he's just added another page to the stuff he keeps on you to sell to "interested" parties...life is grand!!!!
|
|
|
6 Steps To Improve Customer Loyalty From Site Visitors
| |
| Online shopping has quickly outstretched high street shopping for popularity and overall spend. One of the big advantages that consumers gain is the ability to comparison shop for a better deal. However, for the e-store owner or service provider, this can make it difficult to survive without offering the lowest prices and the greatest deals. |
|
|
When Marketing Goes Viral
| |
| Viral marketing is an extremely appealing concept to many marketers. Whether it is online or offline viral marketing we refer to, it is the very concept of having your product or service trip off the tongue of all would-customers without having to spend a small fortune. |
|
|
Quick Mobile Hits Around Africa
| |
| 2go
Rafiq wrote a review of a new mobile service out of South Africa called 2go. It enters the chat/social network fray with fellow South African competitor Mxit (past with interview Mxit’s Darryn Foster found here). |
|
|
How To Make Money Online Surfing
| |
| Anybody can make money online by simply surfing the internet. Many people are looking for ways to make money online without having to pay first. This article describes what you need to know before you get started. |
|
|
Harnessing Passionistas Through Digital Media
| |
| Social Media is a very viable channel that all businesses can use to really enhance their level of expertise in the eyes of their consumers. This article discusses how Yahoo! has done a study on consumers who are online users with specific passions and how they can help us sell our products and services. What better way to market your product than to have your happy customers sell it for you? Read on for more about this interesting study. |
|
|
Harnessing Passionistas Through Digital Media
| |
| Social Media is a very viable channel that all businesses can use to really enhance their level of expertise in the eyes of their consumers. This article discusses how Yahoo! has done a study on consumers who are online users with specific passions and how they can help us sell our products and services. What better way to market your product than to have your happy customers sell it for you? Read on for more about this interesting study. |
|
|
Harnessing Passionistas Through Digital Media
| |
| Social Media is a very viable channel that all businesses can use to really enhance their level of expertise in the eyes of their consumers. This article discusses how Yahoo! has done a study on consumers who are online users with specific passions and how they can help us sell our products and services. What better way to market your product than to have your happy customers sell it for you? Read on for more about this interesting study. |
|
|
Harnessing Passionistas Through Digital Media
| |
| Social Media is a very viable channel that all businesses can use to really enhance their level of expertise in the eyes of their consumers. This article discusses how Yahoo! has done a study on consumers who are online users with specific passions and how they can help us sell our products and services. What better way to market your product than to have your happy customers sell it for you? Read on for more about this interesting study. |
|
|
Free Advertising
| |
| Advertising your company is all about convincing consumers that your product has a benefit that will enrich their lives or solve one of their perceived problems. It can’t just communicate your product’s benefits. Instead, those benefits must be directly relevant to your consumers. But, how do you go about doing that in a way that doesn’t wind up costing you an arm and a leg? Is there a way to engage in free advertising or launching promotions that are both effective and within your budget? Yes, there is. Read on to find out how. |
|
|
Free Advertising
| |
| Advertising your company is all about convincing consumers that your product has a benefit that will enrich their lives or solve one of their perceived problems. It can’t just communicate your product’s benefits. Instead, those benefits must be directly relevant to your consumers. But, how do you go about doing that in a way that doesn’t wind up costing you an arm and a leg? Is there a way to engage in free advertising or launching promotions that are both effective and within your budget? Yes, there is. Read on to find out how. |
|
|
Marketing Techniques that Cut Through Clutter
| |
| One of the greatest challenges an entrepreneur faces today is cutting through the clutter caused by too many marketing messages. Here's how to get your prospect's attention. |
|
|
Why B2B Needs SEM
| |
| Your business is going to reach the most people via the Web. Search engine marketing involves many methods in bringing business to your Web site. Read about why business-to-business pursuits warrant the presence of search engine marketing. |
|
|
Marketing to Generation X and Y
| |
| Have you heard of generation X? As one of the most wealthy market segments, generations X and Y should be your target market. Here's how to reach them and sell your products or services. |
|
|
Can Creating Experiences Improve Internet Marketing Results
| |
| Can experiential marketing, a modern marketing methodology, improves online conversion rate? |
|
|
Can Creating Experiences Improve Internet Marketing Results
| |
| Can experiential marketing, a modern marketing methodology, improves online conversion rate? |
|
|
Do Not Call!
| |
| Since the federal 'Do Not Call' law came into effect, many of you have written, called or e-mailed asking what effect this new law will have on prospecting by telephone. |
|
|
Turn Your Ordinary Notebook into a Powerhouse
| |
|
Face it mobile device manufacturers want you to buy the newer, sexier device even though it's pretty darn good and has served you pretty well for a year or so. They have pretty nasty warnings when it comes to you upgrading it with 3rd party products. How hard is it to do and what's the real scoop? Here you go straight talk, solid recommendations.
|
|
|
Turn Your Ordinary Notebook into a Powerhouse
| |
|
Face it mobile device manufacturers want you to buy the newer, sexier device even though it's pretty darn good and has served you pretty well for a year or so. They have pretty nasty warnings when it comes to you upgrading it with 3rd party products. How hard is it to do and what's the real scoop? Here you go straight talk, solid recommendations.
|
|
|
Blog for your Business
| |
| Blogs offer a great opportunity to connect with the masses. Blogging will familiarize the public with your business and make them aware of your areas of expertise. The following offers suggestions on how to incorporate and construct a blog into your business. |
|
|
Principles of Selling
| |
| Principles to consider when attempting to sell any type of product or service. |
|
|
The Long Tail Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
| |
| Book review -- The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More – Chris Anderson, Hyperion, www.hyperionbooks.com, July 2006, ISBN-10 – 1401302378, 256 pages, $24.95
|
|
|
Book Review The Long Tail
| |
| The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More – Chris Anderson, Hyperion, www.hyperionbooks.com, July 2006, ISBN-10 – 1401302378, 256 pages, $24.95 |
|
Other consumers Related Articles
|
Console Games...Gone in 60 Sec.
| |
| Short game. Long game. No game. Gone in 60 seconds. Expecting too much from consumers can prove to be foolish even in video games. The outcome of the Xbox, PS3, Wii challenge could lead consumers to a less than "obvious" decision. It isn't the power that wows, it's the fun that satisfies. |
|
|
DRM…Pirates Helped in Ways They Didn’t Plan
| |
| Digital Rights Management (DRM) has been the rallying cry for the motion picture industry for years. Contending they are losing billions of revenue each year they have struck out against individual consumers. The latest blast of hackers may have done the marketplace and consumers a big favor. |
|
|
Can Businesses Afford To Think Like Consumers?
| |
| It should be no secret that successful business people do not think like consumers. We instinctively know that return on investment is more important than price. In spite of our instincts, there are those who would treat us like consumers, and we must avoid the folly they would otherwise plunge us into. |
|