Wealth is in the Eyes of the Prospect

Wealth is in the Eyes of the Prospect

by: Craig Friesen

If you do any browsing of online home business sites or Internet marketing, you will surely have seen this message is some shape or form: กquit your job and become wealthy working from home…let us show you how!ก In fact, most of the people who will read this article may have promoted a product or home business opportunity with a similar sales line or a variation.

What many do not understand is that wealth can be defined in different ways. A dictionary definition of wealth is: 1. riches; large amounts of money or worldly possessions; 2. an abundance of anything.

Your typical advertisement promoting an online moneymaking opportunity focuses mostly on the first definition a large bank account and luxury items to your heartกs content.

Home business opportunities, on the other hand, tend to focus more on the 2nd definition. Here are several examples of how wealth is used as กan abundance of everythingก in online marketing:

quit your job / fire your boss (wealth = more independence and control)

work at home / work from home (wealth = more time for family and self, with flexibility of schedule)

earn extra income / need help paying the bills? (wealth = more discretionary income).

The implications of this observation for us marketers are that you can promote the same opportunity in different ways and by doing so expand your market. Letกs say you have a home business opportunity that involves selling a health product. The 2 most obvious ways to market the opportunity is to interest persons who use the product as well as those people just looking for some kind of home business. Your promotional material will be different for the 2 types of recruits one that promotes the opportunity primarily, and the other that says, กyou use the product, why not earn some money selling it to your friends?ก You could also promote the opportunity as a means to luxury the first definition of wealth. Design your promotional material to highlight the possibilities of residual income.

The point is, no matter what the opportunity, you can widen your prospective market by designing variations to your promotional material. Splash pages are a great way to accomplish this. Optimize the keywords and graphics to focus on one segment of your marketing instead of trying to attract them all. You might also want to prepare matching landing pages so tha tyour prospect doesn’t think they ended up in the wrong place.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then wealth is in the eyes of the prospective recruit. Understand what your prospects are looking for and promote your business opportunity accordingly.

Copyright 2005 Craig Friesen

About The Author

Craig Friesen is a freelance writer and Internet marketer, living in rural Saskatchewan. Visit FreedomdreamR.net for business opportunities, webmaster resources and to sign up for the free business newsletter.

This article was posted on March 09

by Craig Friesen

Creating Your Internet Marketing Plan

Creating Your Internet Marketing Plan

by: Megan Corwin

For large corporations, a marketing plan is a huge document detailing strategies for the fiscal year. It may include competitor analysis or a sales forecast. While these elements are important to a large business, do you as a small business owner (without a well paid marketing staff) have the time or energy to devote to putting together a huge document? Unless you are trying to get a financial loan, probably not…

But that doesn’t mean you should totally scrap the idea. A marketing plan can be a wonderful tool to help you refine your focus. Youกve heard the old saying กIf you fail to plan, you plan to fail.ก Thatกs because when you don’t plan you lack intention and attention.

My suggestion is to create a กmicroplan.ก Open up a new document and take an hour or two to answer the following questions.

ขMicroPlanข Questions

What is your purpose for being online?

Awareness

Sales

Community

What % of your overall marketing to be done online?

How much time do you expect to spend marketing on internet?

What strategies will you use?

Contests

Forums

Free reports/ebook

Newsletter

Pay per click advertising

Banners

Articles/content

Viral marketing

Timeline

Assign a project date to each of the strategies. Will they be one time events (contest) or something you need to do frequently (forums)? While you are thinking about it, schedule your projects in your time management system or planner.

Analysis

How will you track the success of your marketing plans? What is your ROI?

Budget

What is your total yearly internet marketing budget?

Assign a $ to each of the strategies you will use.

A successful internet marketing strategy begins with a plan. The time you take to put together your กmicroplanก will be well worth it to your business.

About The Author

Megan Corwin is an internet marketing coach who helps work at home professionals grow their businesses. For more articles and advice about online marketing strategy and solutions, become a member of Megan’s online community for work at home women: http://www.wahwoman.com/membership.html

This article was posted on January 30, 2004

by Megan Corwin

5 SureFire Ways to Make More Money on eBay

5 SureFire Ways to Make More Money on eBay

by: John Lenaghan

Have you ever dealt with a salesperson or a waiter who gave you unbelievably good service? How about someone who didn’t seem to care about you one bit?

Which of those people would you go back to the next time you needed to make another purchase or eat another meal?

Iกm willing to bet you would go back to the business or person who gave you great service. Have you ever considered that this same principle applies to your eBay sales?

One of the easiest ways to get more sales on eBay is to make every buyer think กWow, Iกve never had such a good experience buying on eBay!ก

Once someone has bought from you and had a good experience, they’re much more likely to buy from you again. They already know they can trust you, you ship quickly, your descriptions are clear and honest, and all the other things buyers wonder about when dealing with an unknown seller.

Use the following 5 tips and watch your repeat business go through the roof…

1. Quick Response

When you have an item listed on eBay and a potential buyer contacts you with a question, respond quickly. Itกs important, and actually critical to your success to check your email several times a day. Answering a question quickly could be the difference between you getting the sale or the buyer going elsewhere.

2. Accurate Listings

When you list your items on eBay, write an accurate description. You don’t have to write long paragraphs or rambling information, but provide exact measurements, colors, condition, etc. Be honest and precise when it comes to your description.

3. Buyer Contact

Once your items have sold, be responsive to the buyer. Contact them as quickly as possible after the auction has ended, thank them for their purchase and provide the required information for payment.

4. Sending Items

In your description, provide accurate details regarding shipment. Make sure the items are sent within the time you stated. In many cases, people purchase something for a specific purpose and if you don’t ship it when stated, not only do you mess up their schedule but you have probably lost a customer and opened the door for negative feedback.

5. Shipping & Handling

You should always charge actual shipping costs, or at most a little extra to cover the cost of your shipping materials. There are a number of shipping calculators that can be added to your description so people can calculate their own shipping. Another option is to state that you will provide actual shipping at the end of the auction, based on the destination. Overcharging your customers for shipping and handling is frowned upon and will often result in unhappy customers.

Itกs always a good idea to include a thankyou note with every item that you ship. It can be on a business card or something larger, whatever you prefer.

Of course your thankyou note will also include the address to your eBay listings and a friendly reminder for your customer to check back regularly for more of your great deals and exceptional customer service…

About The Author

John Lenaghan offers success tips for eBay and other online auctions at the Online Auction Advisor website. Visit http://www.onlineauctionadvisor.com for more ways to improve your buying or selling on eBay.

This article was posted on August 31

by John Lenaghan

Accomplish Difficult Tasks Easily

Accomplish Difficult Tasks Easily

by: Cathy Wagner

Is there something youกve been meaning to do? If you’re like me, you probably have a long ‘todoก list, but have you noticed that some tasks come and go very quickly on that list while other things linger.

Look at your list now. Is there anything you can cross off today because it is just not necessary anymore? Probably not. The long standing items on my list are usually large, time consuming projects or difficult tasks that I am unsure of the best way to complete.

It is much easier to stick with what we know and more rewarding to cross several items off our lists in the course of a day than just one.

Are Your Difficult Tasks Really Important?

But, think about it. Why is each item on your list? Will it make your life easier? Will it increase sales? Odds are if you do it once, it will be over and you won’t really have to do it again. And, if you do have to do it again, it will go much faster next time, once you get the hang of it.

Where will you be if you don’t do it? Will your sales remain sluggish? Will you continue to be disorganized? Will you fail to get you project off the ground?

Well, what are you waiting for? My tip today is to pick something (anything) thatกs been on that list for a while and just do it.

How?

Do you need help? ASK! You probably know someone who has experience with your particular task. Ask them. In most cases they will be able to give you advice that will make your work much easier, but in some cases, you may find that they will be glad to do it for you! You might even be surprised to learn that they can use your help too. No one is expected to know how to do everything and it is truly a sign of strength to ask for help when you need it.

Building a business network or Mastermind Group is the best way to get difficult tasks done. Interacting and working with colleagues will help you to see your own strengths and more effectively accomplish your goals using ALL of the resources available to you.

For example. I know a little html. I update my web site every week and I can even create simple pages relatively easily. But, whenever I have a more complicated web site related task, I always ask my web designer and here is why: it takes me a week to do what she can do in an hour.

We have a mutually beneficial relationship, we work together and are glad to help each other with simple tasks. Of course when I need a lot of work she gets paid, but some things that seem huge to me are easy for her to do in just a few minutes. She doesn’t feel as inconvenienced as I would if someone asked me to do the same thing.

But…

The first thing people say to me when I tell them this is, กBut I don’t have any skills I can trade.ก My answer to this is กRubbish!ก Everyone has skills.

While my web designer is a whiz with web sites, she knows relatively little about online promotion, other than search engine placement. I keep her up to date on other methods and Iกve given her a couple of tools that she really loves. I can also proofread work she does for others and help her test the functionality of her designs.

Think about what you CAN do and who you know. Talk to them, find out if they have any needs you could fill. Then, make the time to help them and get some of your more challenging tasks done!

About The Author

Cathy Wagner, owner of ONE STOP Internet Business Services at http://www.onestopinternetbusiness.com, will help you reach your goals faster with expert, handson marketing guidance and support, personalized for you own unique business. Learn how to save hundreds of dollars and countless hours of frustration.

This article was posted on April 20, 2004

by Cathy Wagner

Resources Ensuring You Never Get Scammed

Resources Ensuring You Never Get Scammed

by: Trent Brownrigg

The internet is loaded with SCAMS aimed at taking as much money from you as possible in the shortest amount of time. With so many innocent people trying to find a great opportunity to work at home it’s easy for scam artists to draw you in with the promise of riches.

Fortunately, there are resources available for you to check with to help ensure that you are not helping a scam artist to get rich by throwing away your hard earned money.

There are quite a few of these opportunity ขregulatorsข as I like to call them. Use these resources to investigate an opportunity before you get involved and/or send any money:

1) Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov):

The FTC has a lot of information for businesses and consumers. You can check out things such as the top 10 consumer fraud complaints, workathome schemes, your legal rights, and much more. You can also file a complaint if you have already had a problem.

2) Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org):

The BBB is a very well known and reliable resource for checking out businesses. They provide information on over 2 million organizations. You can find reliability reports on organizations as well as a lot of other helpful information. As with the FTC you can also file a complaint at the BBB if you need to.

3) Scambusters (http://www.scambusters.org/):

These guys claim to be the #1 Publication on Internet Fraud. You can find a wealth of information and resources on this site aimed at avoiding scams and fraud. They also offer links to other sites that may be helpful.

4) Internet Trade Bureau (http://www.internettradebureau.com/):

The ITB was formed to help promote fair business practices on the internet. They offer site reviews, and tracking of consumer complaints. They do not retain any members who get complaints.

5) ScamWatch (http://www.scamwatch.com/):

These guys offer a scam directory, a list of things to watch out for, scam reports, most likely scams, and more. There is a lot of information on this site designed to prevent you from being scammed.

You can also check with these organizations:

http://www.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

http://www.quatloos.com/

http://www.webpolice.org/

http://www.dsa.org/

http://www.fraud.org/

Here’s a list of email addresses for you to report scams, fraud, and spam:

Email the FTC to report กget rich quickก spam email scams: [email protected]

Internet Fraud Center at [email protected]

National Fraud Information Center email: [email protected]

Email address of the US Postal Inspection Service where all กChain Letterก spam email scams should be sent: [email protected] and [email protected]

As you can see there are plenty of resources available to you so you should be able to check out any money making opportunity very thoroughly to ensure your safety. The above list is by no means all the organizations you can check with but they are some very reliable resources. If you find an opportunity listed in the scam or fraud section, of any of the above sites, I would highly recommend staying away from it.

Remember, there are many legitimate opportunities for you to choose from. Working at home has tons of rewards, so don’t give up on your dreams just because you are afraid of getting scammed. Do your homework on any opportunity you are pursuing and you should be fine.

Now, go and find yourself a legitimate business opportunity to secure your financial destiny!

Copyright © 2004

Trent Brownrigg http://workathomejobsiowa.com

About The Author

Trent Brownrigg is a successful home business entrepreneur, webmaster, and author of work at home articles. Learn more at: http://www.workathomejobsiowa.com. Find great products & services for your home, business, and family here: http://quickinfo247.com/8198358

This article was posted on February 11, 2004

by Trent Brownrigg

Need of Document Management System (DMS)

Need of Document Management System (DMS)

by: Dr. Vikas V. Gupta

Document Management or Enterprise Information Management is perhaps one of the most important of the enterprise solutions that will provide a solution to the various requirements of SOX. Several sections of SOX have a direct bearing on the manner in which the digital documents/records of the enterprise are created, reviewed, approved, stored, retrieved, transferred, and destroyed.

Knowledge Management: Document & Records Management

Estimates have been made calculating that a significantly large proportion (some say, more than 70%) of the documents owned by an enterprise are in digital format and might never be seen in hardcopy.

According to Gartner’s Editor in Chief James Lundy: Records management will become a top 10 issue for many CIOs in the coming year.

In the following, we will discuss the various sections of SOX that a document management solution might help in complying with.

SOX Sections:

Section 302: According to Section 302, the CEO and CFO have to personally certify the financial statements and disclosures made by the company on authenticity and accuracy. This requires a system in place that will make the CEO and the CFO confident that all the disclosures that the company makes are accurate and authentic. This can be done in two ways:

One is to trickledown the responsibility of the CEO and the CFO to the lower management levels and in response bubbleup the signoffs from the lower management levels on all documents that are inputs to the company filings.

Second is to design comprehensive business processes that produce the company filings. The business processes will be designed in a very rigorous manner to comply with all the provisions and proper implementation and training of all the personnel related to the business processes will be carried out and tested on a periodic basis. Further, the business processes themselves will be open to stringent internal audits that will be carried out from time to time.

One, or a combination of both these practices will go a long way towards ensuring proper compliance.

For both these options it is clear that a strong enterprisewide document management system will provide the foundation on which the compliance will actually be carried out. In the first case, the signoffs can be configured using a workflow module of the document management system. In the second case, the business process itself will be configured in the document management system and all the relevant supporting or input documents too will be part of the DMS and appropriate subordination and linking will be done between the official company filings and all the input documents to it.

As proof of the records supporting the final company financials—as filed or reported—it is important to archive all the emails, excel sheets, instant messages or other communications and documents that were exchanged which led to a final certified filing by the CEO and CFO. This will safeguard the CxO’s claim that all the financial reports are true to their knowledge and due diligence was carried out before certifying the reports.

Section 404: The CEO and CFO need to provide a report assessing and certifying that the ขinternal controlsข have been assessed and are working fine or that there are weaknesses and appropriate action is being taken. Complying with this requirement is one of the most difficult parts of SOX and requires a whole slew of people, processes and technologies. However, DMS has an important role to play in this.

All the emails and attached documents in the chronological sequence will need to be archived for the purpose of proving that the internal controls are appropriate. Ideally, a workflow module will provide added assurance that the internal controls are implemented.

Section 103: requires storing the documents for a period of 7 years for audit companies. The company being audited would naturally want to replicate the documentation to guard against any discrepancy or miscommunication or mismanagement. Also another part of the act requires

Section 409: requires nearrealtime reporting of all material events—whether internal or external to the investors and the regulatory bodies. This can be accomplished by using a single enterprisewide document management system with appropriate ขalertsข and notifications and workflow configured according to the design of the compliancebased business processes. This system would make sure that all relevant information is immediately relayed to the top management (CEO and CFO) and the compliance committee and advisors with minimum delays and latency. DMS provides appropriate capabilities to the compliance advisors to provide a recommendation (within the stipulated time frame) linked to each alert and escalate the reports to the CxOs with the appropriate recommendations. The CxOs can then decide whether it merits disclosure under the compliance act based on recommendations of their Compliance Committee or Advisors.

Section 802: provides for criminal penlties for knowingly altering, destroying, concealing and other activities, such as introducing false records, related to impeding or influencing an ongoing or potentially upcoming investigation by a federal agency. This would call for holding all documents in a secure system where absolutely no one in the company can alter them once they are finalized. Also this calls for a formal document retention and destruction policy which is strictly adhered to (in fact, can be proven to be adhered to) and which involves making sure that no document which any investigating agency would require is being destroyed or deleted. Furhter, the act requires that as soon as the company comes to know about a potential investigation all documents pertaining or somehow germane to that investigation are immediately ordered indestructible to or unalterable by anyone—including the CxOs of the company. This makes it important to have a feature related to creat!

ing and accepting ขalertsข from the legal department of the company about any ongoing or upcoming potential investigations and as a consequence immediate information ขvaultingข of all related documents. This feature will ensure compliance with this particular section and save a potential prison term and a large monetary fine and of course loss of credibility.

This section has a strong bearing on a records or document management policy of a company. The company should develop a proper document management policy and adhere to it in a timely and rigorous manner. If this is not done, the company is exposed to severe costs and damage in terms of providing documents to hostile parties in ขpretrial discoveryข—the legal process of providing all relevant documents to the opposing party in a legal suit. It also exposes the company to accusations of hiding or destroying relevant documents—if done at a later stage—even before any legal proceedings are begun against the company—a la Arthur Andersen’s Enronrelated documents.

Document Management systems provide several benefits to the company. Since an IT system is a business process frozen in a particular software and hardware implementation, it proves that the particular business process is being consciously and diligently adhered to. In the worst case, this proves that the compliance is being followed in spirit. Now whether the compliance is being followed in form can be found out from the results of the particular system and also from the audits of it at various stages of the business process. The capability to follow an audit trail on all documents created or processed through it is extremely useful in executing compliance activities and also in proving compliance at a later stage. The capability to create workflows automatically creates auditable process paths. The DMS also makes possible to access any documents at any point of time with relative ease. It also acts as a centralized repository of documents (both structured and unstruc!

tured). All publicly disclosed documents can be locked in the final form as images and can not be tampered with later on. These can be stored and deleted according to the schedules of various regulatory and compliance Acts of the Government. Document and information which is supposed to be for limited consumption at the top management level can also be strictly screened and internal controls on these can be enforced rigorously. At the appropriate time the documents can be ขpublishedข.

Whistleblower: For this section of the act, it is important that a document management system is provided to log all whistleblower communication—absolutely securely where no unauthorized personnel may be able to access it—and store all communications.

An indirect requirement for Document Management Systems in the enterprise is for the purpose of storing the documents related to enterprise compliance policies, their updates, amendments, the internal control policies of the company and other documents of a similar nature that help in proving the compliance process at the enterprise.

The company needs to make policies about the following aspects of documents:

 Creation

Approvals

Publishing

Retention

Access

Distribution

Lifecycle

This policy will help in implementing the contradictory requirements of document retention for compliance purposes and document deletion for reducing the cost of document retention and improving operational efficiency.

Initial step is to define the document retention policy. The second step is to survey the existing document management systems in place in the enterprise and the third step is to create a proper document management system.

Have a centralized repository of documents.

Have a structured and hierarchical architecture

Have security & access control

 A Report Distribution System or Document Management & Workflow System will disburse this to the CEO and the CFO within the prescribed timeframe and allow them enough time to make their own final judgments about the situation.

Finally, a Public Information Distribution System should exist to quickly disburse this information—if judged important by the CEO & the CFO—to the investors & other stakeholders or relevant authorities prescribed by SOX.

Author: Dr. Vikas V. Gupta.

Email: [email protected]

http://www.inkorus.com

http://www.istrat.co.in

http://www.gemolap.com

http://www.internetsrus.com

http://www.realestatewebsoftware.com

About The Author

Dr. Gupta is the Founder & President of Istrat. He is a B.Tech. from IIT, Bombay & did his M.S.(Engineering) & Doctorate in Engineering Science (Ph.D.) from Columbia Univ., New York. Following his doctorate he has worked at University of California, Irvine as a Research Scientist and as an Asst. Prof. at IIT Kharagpur.

He is responsible for setting the strategy and direction of the company and looks after the strategy and execution of the strategy. He provides a global perspective to the company and provides a bridge between Indian IT resources, including talent and products, and global clients with IT requirements. He provides the Indian IT talent with an understanding of the parameters important to the global client (namely, quality, reliability and delivery, besides cost). Similarly he provides the global clients with an understanding of the breadth & depth of expertise of the Indian IT workforce (namely, Architecture & Design expertise, product development & project management expertise and functional expertise of business processes of various industry sectors, besides low cost programming talent).

[email protected]

This article was posted on October 26, 2004

by Dr. Vikas V. Gupta

Business Marketing Strategy

Business Marketing Strategy

by: Joy Gendusa

The term business marketing strategy might sound like it is esoteric or stratospheric, so let’s take the mystery out of it so you can devise and implement your own business marketing strategy that fits in to your small business plan.

Strategy comes from a Greek word ขstratageinข meaning ขto be a generalข. Think of a strategy as an overall plan of action needed to win a war. The smaller, detailed actions are called tactics. You can have tactical plans which help you achieve your strategic marketing plan or overall business marketing strategy. That’s simple enough, isn’t it?

A business marketing strategy or strategic marketing plan is an overall plan of marketing actions you intend to take in order to accomplish a specific goal for your company.

Start with a goal: $2 million in sales this year; expand into new premises by a certain date; double the size of the company in 2 years… whatever the goal may be. Something realistic but challenging. Thatกs the กwarก you want to win. Guess who the general is.

Then work out a simple, overall plan of the major marketing steps needed to accomplish that (for example):

Publish a newsletter for all existing customers and mail out quarterly.

Work out 4 special offers in the year and promote them to all our customers.

Set up online shopping and expand the web site.

Direct mail campaign promoting the web site to all customers.

Get mailing lists of (target markets) and do a series of 3 mailings of postcards to them and follow up on and close all leads.

Etc.

You get the idea. Don’t rush this. Do your homework. What worked in the past? Read up on successful marketing campaigns.

Your business marketing strategy needs to be laid out in the right sequence and you should have some idea of budget when you write it. ขRun a series of 30 second TV ads during the Superbowlข might sound like a good thing to do but can you afford it? On the other hand, when you build your business marketing strategy you mustn’t try and cut corners. If you don’t promote heavily, it doesn’t matter how good your product or service is, no one will know about it and you will go broke.

What really works when it comes to marketing?

Many business owners don’t have a good enough answer to this important question. I learned by a combination of study and trial and error.

From my own hard won experienceI have discovered that a real marketing campaign will take into consideration at least the seven points which are outlined below:

1. Target Your Market

Your marketing will produce the best results for the lowest cost when you target prospects with the greatest need for what you offer.

Identify the best people to send your postcards to. Design your postcards to appeal to their greatest need.

If you are able to break down your target market into sub markets you can then write postcards that specifically speak to the needs of those people (an example is breaking down your own customer list into customers who buy most often, customers who spend the most money with you, customers who have been your customers the longest and then making them special offers based on the category they fit into).

2. Create A USP For Your Business

USP stands for กUnique Selling Propositionก.

It is a statement of what is different about your company and its products. Your USP gives the reason people should do business with you. It amplifies the benefit of doing business with you and your company. My USP is POSTCARD MARKETING EXPERTS.

Create your own USP and put it on all your promotional materials, invoices, shipping labels etc.

Use your USP to communicate the benefit of doing business with you and why you are better than any of your competitors.

3. Always Make an Offer

Make sure you ask your prospects and customers to do something when they receive your postcard. By offering them something you know they are likely to want and giving them a smooth path to respond on, you are making it easy and desirable for them to respond.

4. Create and Maintain a Database of The Customer Information You Collect From The Responses To Your Mailings

Most people who receive a postcard from you won’t contact you the first time they receive one.

But once they contact you, you must create and maintain a database which allows you to repeatedly contact them with offers to respond to.

Fifty percent or more of many businessesก sales come as a result of following up with people who were previously contacted, but didn’t buy right away.

No kidding, repeat contact does drive sales. Onetime mailings can get response, but are bound to leave sales on the table. Those sales can be picked up with repeated mailings.

5. Take Away the Fear of Loss

People don’t want to be fooled, plain and simple. Unfortunately trust does not run high today between customers and businesses in general. People have been disappointed too many times by being sold one thing and getting another.

A guarantee or warranty is a good way to reduce or eliminate the customers’ risk of getting something other than what they bargained for.

Guarantees and warranties increase response and sales by reducing customer risk.

6. Expand Your Product Line

Getting new customers is more expensive than selling to existing ones. By regularly developing new products and services to sell to your customers and offering these new products and services to them, you can expand your business efficiently and easily.

7. Test Your Postcard Promotions

Track the effectiveness of your postcard mailings. How many people responded to your mailing? What dollar amount of sales resulted from those responses?

Is the money you are spending to attract new business giving you a good return? What can you do to make your marketing more effective? Change your offer, headline, price, the timing of your offer. When you do track the results and improve your response.

These are the points to follow when designing your own marketing strategy. When you are done, you will have laid out the steps needed to accomplish your goal using existing resources to achieve a great marketing ROI (return on investment).

After that, you simply have to get those steps executed and that might require further planning but it is all in the context of your main business marketing strategy.

About The Author

Joy Gendusa founded PostcardMania in 1998; her only assets a computer and a phone. In 2004 the company did close to $9 million in sales and employs over 60 persons. She attributes her explosive growth to her ability to choose incredible staff and her innate marketing savvy. Now she’s sharing her marketing secrets with others. For more free marketing advice, visit her website at www.postcardmania.com.

This article was posted on March 14

by Joy Gendusa

Outsourcing your Web Marketing

Outsourcing your Web Marketing

by: Philippa Gamse

The online world is still very new, and constantly evolving. You may be thinking about outsourcing your Web promotion to an expert who is immersed in this world as their fulltime occupation, rather than trying to acquire this knowledge, and cope with the pace of change inhouse.

So, what should you look for in a consultant, and what guarantees can you expect?

Choosing the consultant

The consultant should ask a lot of questions about your business and your objectives. They need to be very clear about the strategic and specific goals of your site. Do you want as many visitors as possible (as in: ขWe get millions of hits on our Web siteข), or are you more interested in attracting qualified leads for your association? Are you selling products? Are you looking for new members, signups for your newsletter or events, media coverage, etc.

It’s possible that there could be different markets for each of your objectives. The consultant needs to demonstrate that they clearly understand the demographics of the audience you want to attract. This includes whether your markets are currently online, whether they are comfortable using email, etc. It’s also important to clarify any restrictions on your marketing – for example, if you are only targeting specific locations.

The key to effective Web marketing is to have a comprehensive, integrated plan that focuses on where your markets ขhang outข online. It’s absolutely not enough to concentrate your efforts on search engines – that’s a passive rather than an active approach. You want to reach out to your potential visitors, not wait for them to come to you. And, you want to ensure that your offline marketing includes your Web site – up to a third of your traffic can now come from realworld sources.

So, the consultant should propose to you a wideranging plan (assuming that’s appropriate for your goals) that includes:

Search engine strategies

Paid (bid for placement) listings

Review sites and directories

Linking with other appropriate sites

Advertising / ezine sponsorships (depending on your budget)

Online public relations opportunities

Integration with your realworld marketing

Effective Web marketing must also include an email strategy. The consultant should include in their proposal some ideas for targeted, personalized (and fully optin) email. This requires a contact database that you can use to select out the different audiences that you might have for these messages. The consultant should also be able to help you create this, if required.

And finally, the consultant should explain how they propose to evaluate the success of any marketing campaign against your goals and objectives. Marketing is an ongoing process, during which you’ll learn a lot about your site and about your visitors. This knowledge should be analyzed and used to tweak your site and refine your business strategies. A good consultant will be able to work with you to achieve this.

What guarantees can you expect?

Let’s be very clear – there is a distinction, which often gets blurred, between sales and marketing. The job of a marketing consultant is to bring qualified traffic to your site (or in other words, into your storefront). Completing the sale is then a separate challenge.

Marketing is also a very gray area, in which it’s difficult to provide castiron guarantees of results. This is particularly true in the area of search engine optimization, since the search engines are so unpredictable. In my opinion, if a consultant promises you ขtop ten placementข you should be very wary – it’s possible that they are using tactics that could be classified as spam – soon if not now.

But obviously you do want to check that the consultant has a good track record, and that they can provide references from other clients. I believe that good Web knowledge and proven online marketing tactics are as important as an indepth familiarity with your industry.

In setting your contract with the consultant, it’s important to have a mutual comfort level with your goals, expectations and budget. There are many opportunities for free promotion online, but if you’re prepared to spend some money, you can potentially build your traffic faster. Since building awareness of a site takes time, perhaps a minimum sixmonth period would be advisable, but with appropriate getout clauses for both parties.

Conclusion

Good Web marketing is a team effort! Hire a consultant who you feel very comfortable with, who asks lots of questions to really understand your business and your goals, and who seems genuinely interested in promoting you. But then be prepared to work with them – respect and consider their suggestions, and allow them to be creative in their approach.

About The Author

Philippa Gamse, CyberSpeaker, is an internationally recognized ebusiness strategist. Check out her free tipsheet กBeyond the Search Enginesก for 17 ideas to promote your Website: http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html Philippa can be reached at (831) 4650317 or mailto:[email protected].

This article was posted on November 14, 2002

by Philippa Gamse

Intranet Portal Project RAD or Waterfall?

Intranet Portal Project RAD or Waterfall?

by: David Viney

In this short article, David Viney examines whether Rapid Application Development (RAD) or Waterfall development methodologies should be used during Intranet Portal projects.

Building Bridges

I have often used the analogy of building a bridge to explain to business colleagues the difference between RAD and Waterfall.

Let’s say that we are in the middle ages and the Mayor of KingstonuponThames is evaluating whether or not to build a bridge over the river to the north side, to replace the current ferry. The whole area has been growing rapidly and a bridge at Kingston should give his town a lead against competing local towns like Ham and Richmond (who also have their own ferries).

However, building a bridge presents problems. Firstly, the bedrock north and south of the river are very different. Secondly, the river is still tidal at this point and its path continues to vary across the floodplain. Finally – and perhaps most importantly – there is no guarantee that the projected growth in crossriver traffic will indeed materialise – or that people will wish to cross at this precise point, rather than further up, or down, river. A new bridge could prove an expensive white elephant and divert muchneeded town resources away from other projects. The increased local taxes required could also scare the very businesses he is hoping to attract away to other local towns.

Option 1 Waterfall

Waterfall, as a methodology, is all about building reliable systems. At each stage of the lifecycle, the results are correct. The Mayor’s engineer believes that when building a bridge the result needs to be safe, sound and capable of lasting for decades. He recommends a design phase, which includes thoroughly testing the bedrock by driving piles and developing ways to limit the future variance of the river’s course. During the build phase, the bridge would be tested to ensure it can take the loads that will be placed upon it and to deal with high winds or flood conditions. The engineer confirms that each stage would only start once the previous stage had been proved correct beyond reasonable doubt. The stone bridge will take five whole years to build (with a high upfront cost commitment). If the project were ever stopped, the value tied up in phases to date would be lost. The engineer reminds the Mayor that a collapsed bridge would not help his place in history!

Option 2 RAD

RAD, as a methodology is all about building relevant systems. The argument runs that it is better to be there quickly with 80% of the functionality in 20% of the time, so as to take full advantage of the business opportunity. The Mayor’s political advisors recommend the RAD option; to lay a pontoon bridge first alongside the existing ferry. This can be achieved in just three months, using a series of boats with a makeshift road surface and swing bridge lock for river vessels to navigate. The pontoon bridge allows the business model to be tested very quickly; If the expected benefits materialise, then further iterations of the bridge can be constructed later on. Sounds good, but of course (overall) the costs will be higher than waterfall if a full, stone bridge is ultimately required. In the meantime, if the river changes course, or floods impact the area, then the pontoon bridge will be washed away. His chief advisor reminds him that a bridge five years from now would not help his reelection prospects two years hence!

The Mayor’s selected option

Hmm. Interesting, isn’t it. Not a clearcut decision. There are good arguments for either approach. The Mayor’s decision will ultimately depend on (a) how sure he is of his own vision, (b) his financial and time constraints and (c) how changeable these factors are likely to be over time. In short, he has a tradeoff decision of relevance vs. reliability.

Turning the analogy onto Intranet Projects

In chapter 16 of my Intranet Portal Guide (see http://www.viney.com/DFV/intranet_portal_guide/during/development_methodology.html), I explore these concepts in a bit more depth.

However – put simply – the answer for you will depend largely on how sure you are of your vision, the support of stakeholders, the availability of resources and the degree of change in your organisation and it’s requirements.

If you are operating in a stable business environment and are well funded and supported, then waterfall offers real benefits. You could establish an Intranet Portal that is well founded, scalable and secure. If not, then RAD could offer you the means to make some progress now at low cost and use the results of your early work to build a stronger case for future investment. It also allows you to vary the approach – or begin again – should circumstances or requirements change.

Most Intranet evangelists will find themselves perhaps in a mixed situation, where there is support and funding but there is also the risk of rapid changes to the underlying business environment and requirements. Here, I would recommend a mixed approach: Use a waterfall project to establish the underlying portal infrastructure (as this platform will be the bedrock on which you will build and needs to stand the test of time). Then use a RAD method to build the content and applications (developing solutions that are timely and relevant to businesses operating in a fastmoving and competitive environment).

About The Author

David Viney ([email protected]) is the author of the Intranet Portal Guide; 31 pages of advice, tools and downloads covering the period before, during and after an Intranet Portal implementation.

Read the guide at http://www.viney.com/DFV/intranet_portal_guide or the Intranet Watch Blog at http://www.viney.com/intranet_watch.

This article was posted on November 01, 2004

by David Viney

4 Color Printing: A MustHave for Businesses

4 Color Printing: A MustHave for Businesses

by: Mart Gil Abareta

The printing industry continues to evolve in the midst of technological advancements and global competition. And undoubtedly, above all the printing processes, it is 4 color printing that has been widely used by almost every business. Originally created for printing color photography, it didn’t take long to incorporate it into the printed graphics seen today. For those who still don’t know, this printing process uses four different primary inks namely: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) to simulate a near full spectrum of colors by using various dot sizes when printed.

4 color printing has countless advantages for those who are in need of quality and professional brochures, flyers, business cards, magazines, catalogs, periodicals, books and many more for whatever purposes that it will be used. Why is this so? Basically, it has something to do with the quality and the efficiency of 4 color prints for the marketing and promotional aspects of all businesses. Well, this article will tell you some of the benefits that 4 color printing offers its beneficiaries.

First, as advertising materials, these printed outputs from 4 color printing are effective and inexpensive means to promote a company’s products, services or its important events or occasions. They are certainly the ones that will motivate clients to keep on coming back for more, and you must also assure the quality and standards of your printed outputs. Along with this, state of the art and reliable printing presses and equipment must also be utilized to achieve the desired result successfully.

Then, 4 color prints also plays a big role in the daily operations of a business. They can serve as effective means of communications among different departments and its people. Through them, the operations of a business can be carried out according to what is planned because company executives and top officials have it on paper. They will be guided in deciding and doing what is best on a certain matter or subject.

Indeed, this printing process has really come a long way. 4 color printing, when utilized properly by businesses, will definitely bring fruitful outcomes to them. 4 color presentations have become a standard in almost all businesses today. My advice now is for you to look for a reputable printing company in the Internet or in your area that can provide you with 4 color printing in virtually any quantity at reasonable costs.

About The Author

Mart Gil Abareta

Well, I must say that I am not a born writer. I didn’t acquire this gift hereditarily either. However, I’m an adventure book lover and used to read everything that I come across in the Internet that sounds interesting. I think, I only developed it through constant practice and exposure to numerous writing stuff. I was chosen to compete in press conferences that showcased my needsowelldeveloped writing skills. I became part of our school publication staff. I started as a news writer and photojournalist of the school paper. Soon, I was appointed editorinchief. It was during this time when I realized that I needed to be more efficient in writing because duty called for it. I should say that this event in my life opened me wholly to the wonderful world of writing.

With all these, I can’t say that I have mastered writing because of these writing experiences. I believe that this craft is also a continuous learning process. I’ve been working hard to become more efficient and competent in writing, most especially now that I’m working as an article/content writer for this company. I’m doing articles for printing companies, medical sites, legal sites, and many more.

For additional information about 4 color printing, visit http://www.4colorprintingservices.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 04

by Mart Gil Abareta

If You Own a Printing Company, Then…

If You Own a Printing Company, Then…

by: Mart Gil Abareta

Printing companies may vary in the way they process your printing jobs and the prices that they offer their clients. However, all of them have only one objective and that is – to provide their clients with high quality prints at affordable rates. They always think of the impression that they’ll get from the individuals, businesses and organizations that trust their efficiency and competency as manifested by the products that they produce. If you are a regular customer of printing companies, have you ever thought if what it’s like to become one? Hmmm, let’s see.

If you own a printing company, you’re basically aware of the in’s and out’s in this industry. From the start, you must know what you’re getting into. You have to know the best possible means to stand out from among your competitors – that is basically through the purchasing of the best printing resources that include software programs and printing presses, and acquisition of skilled and experienced printing professionals to work for your company.

If you own a printing company, you have to be very resourceful. Knowing the latest trends in the printing process, the newest tips and techniques in printing, and the most recent printing technologies and software programs is part of resourcefulness. It also pertains to being always ready to find appropriate answers and solutions to any problems that the company might encounter along the way.

It you own a printing company, you must be quickwitted. The daily operations of your business is always critical so you always have to be prepared because there will always come a time when you have to make quick decisions that can pose a big impact to your company. However, in general, the printing business is not that much difficult to manage. When you get to learn the usual flow of the business, you can always handle printing jobs successfully.

What I’ve mentioned in this article are only a spoonful of the necessary things that one must understand and possess in order for a printing company to become a leader in this industry. All of us know that to have one is never easy, it really entails time, money and lots of effort. Nevertheless, engaging in this type of business is financially rewarding. You’ll soon realize that all of your hard work and efforts are worth it, and you’ll be striving more for excellence and customer satisfaction.

About The Author

Mart Gil Abareta

Well, I must say that I am not a born writer. I didn’t acquire this gift hereditarily either. However, I’m an adventure book lover and used to read everything that I come across in the Internet that sounds interesting. I think, I only developed it through constant practice and exposure to numerous writing stuff. I was chosen to compete in press conferences that showcased my needsowelldeveloped writing skills. I became part of our school publication staff. I started as a news writer and photojournalist of the school paper. Soon, I was appointed editorinchief. It was during this time when I realized that I needed to be more efficient in writing because duty called for it. I should say that this event in my life opened me wholly to the wonderful world of writing.

With all these, I can’t say that I have mastered writing because of these writing experiences. I believe that this craft is also a continuous learning process. I’ve been working hard to become more efficient and competent in writing, most especially now that I’m working as an article/content writer for this company. I’m doing articles for printing companies, medical sites, legal sites, and many more.

For Comments and Questions about the Article you may Log on to http://www.printingshoppers.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 22

by Mart Gil Abareta