The Never Ending Sale

The Never Ending Sale

by: Jay Conners

Once you have added a new customer to your book of business, plan on keeping that customer until you have all of their business, and the business of their family and friends.

This way you can ensure having their business forever.

When working as a branch manager a few years back, I was never satisfied with a customer portfolio until I had the complete wallet share of their business.

By wallet share I mean I not only wanted their checking accounts, I wanted their savings accounts, certificates of deposit, home equity loans and so on.

The same should go for you. Once you have a customer in the door, and have sold them that first product, continue to satisfy their needs with excellent customer service, and make them aware of certain products that have become new to your company, or any promotions that you may have going on. Continue to make them aware of all things that can make their lives more convenient or save them money.

Getting a customer to do all of their business with you, I admit, is a challenge. But like all relationships, the same holds true in business, relationships are built on trust.

Once a customer grows to know you and trust you, they will then begin to become more prone to moving the rest of their business over to you, and hopefully shoot some referrals your way.

For starters, get your customer in the door, just get one little piece of the pie. Think of it as asking them to lunch as opposed to asking them to dinner. Try and convince them to try out one of your smaller or less expensive products, or if you offer free trials, even better. Than go from there.

Getting back to wallet share . . .

While still in banking, I once had a customer tell me, that he did all of his business with us, and for that reason alone, he should be approved for the loan he was applying for.

Although I was confident that he would be approved for the loan, I decided to call his bluff any way.

I said; Mr. Jones, do you really do all of your business with us. His reply was yes.

I then asked him if I could see his wallet.

He pulled it from his back pocket and handed it to me.

After I opened his wallet and examined it for a few seconds, I pulled an American Express card from one of the sleeves and laid it on the table.

I said, Mr. Jones, you are a customer of American Express.

He replied that he was.

I than proceeded to tell him that he did not in fact do all of his business with us. I also seized this opportunity to sell him on one of our credit card promotions.

He chuckled at my wit, but did not take the credit card.

My point is, you want to get complete wallet share, you must dig deep, you might only have half of your customer’s business, when you think you have it all.

So ask questions, get to know your customers as well as you can. Find out what their needs are, than sell them the products you believe they can use, make their lives a little easier, or save them some money.

So remember, the sale never ends, it goes on and on. Your customers will always be in need of new things. So sell them, their friends, and their family what you have. At the very least, make them aware of the products you have, you never know when they may need it. Good luck!

About The Author

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of http://www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

[email protected]

This article was posted on September 09

by Jay Conners

Marketing Success Defined

Marketing Success Defined

by: Mark S. Levit

How do you personally define success? High income? Substantial net worth? A fine home? Peer recognition?

On a personal basis, there are likely almost as many definitions of success as there are people in the world.

In marketing, though, there are just four measurable elements of success:

Profitability, Market Share, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention.

Profitability requires little explanation. The very reason businesses exist is to make a profit, or generate more revenue than they pay out. Profitability may be increased by reducing overhead and the cost of goods sold—or by increasing the price to the buyer.

But prices can only be raised so much. Per the laws of price elasticity, as prices rise, unit sales tend to decline, as does Market Share; which brings us to our next measure of marketing success.

Market Share, as a measure of success, is important to marketers since the greater the share, the more stable the brand’s performance is in the marketplace. A product with 65% market share is a force with which to be reckoned. A product with 3% share is vulnerable to a variety of market factors such as competitive pricing, promotions, loyalty to betterknown brands and more.

Financial managers understand the impact of Profitability and Market Share. But concepts such as Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention are softer items and tend to be treated as lesser by those managers. Yet, the long term success and growth of a brand is highly dependent on them.

Customer Satisfaction doesn’t appear on a balance sheet. It can’t be measured in dollars and cents. It’s measured by the customer’s feelings about a brand. Does the brand deliver its promise? Is it a good value? Does it bring status to the owner? Is the customer generally happy with the product? Customer Satisfaction begets repeat purchases, loyalty, wordofmouth advertising and, of course, longterm profitability via Customer Retention.

Customer Retention, the final measure of marketing success, is closely tied to Customer Satisfaction, Profitability and Market Share.

A satisfied customer is likely to remain loyal to a brand, thus enhancing market share over the longterm, as new customers are acquired. Retained customers increase the profitability of a brand. In the course of acquiring new customers, retained customers’ purchases can be counted on for continued profit performance.

It’s widely known that it’s five times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep an old one. Makes you wonder why marketers don’t generally invest more in Customer Retention, doesn’t it?

Few business organizations focus on all four elements of marketing success, probably because they’re difficult to balance and manage as separate items, yet they’re strongly interdependent.

The four elements of marketing success are reasons enough for financial managers and marketing managers to gain a better understanding of one another’s’ disciplines and work toward the common good of their companies.

About The Author

Mark Levit is managing partner of Partners & Levit Advertising and a professor of marketing at New York University. Partners & Levit is an aggressive marketing services firm leveraging branding, advertising, sales promotion, direct response, seminar and event marketing, the Internet and other channels to guide prospects along a continuum until they become your loyal customers. To learn more visit http://www.partnerslevit.com or call 212.696.1200.

This article was posted on December 06, 2004

by Mark S. Levit

The Power Of Viral Marketing

The Power Of Viral Marketing

by: David Bell

You certainly know by now that the term กviral marketingก is not just another dotcom cliché. Quite the contrary, it describes the incredible, unmatched power of the Web to promote your business by marrying email to the traditional concept of กwordofmouth.ก

Viral marketing, the concept of making each customer a marketer by encouraging wordofmouth referrals, is indisputably one of the most effective mediums of ongoing selfpromotion a site can employ. It gives Internet companies a costefficient, proven tool to increase traffic and lower advertising costs.

Hotmail originally broke through the mold by proving that companies no longer needed to spend millions on flashy advertising to become the best and biggest in the business. With a simple viral marketing campaign they effectively cornered the market with a budget that spent money on original customer acquisition and not overthetop Super Bowl ads.

However, instead of just standing by idly and hoping it happens, you can actually กdriveก viral marketing by crafting an extremely effective viral marketing program targeted to your audience. This article will provide you with the key steps to create a viral marketing program that will power your business to new heights of success, and do it for a fraction of the cost of other promotional efforts.

DO EVERYTHING RIGHT FIRST

Your potential customers now have the power to tell colleagues, friends and family about great web site experiences in greater numbers and far faster than we could have imagined just a few years ago. Think of the power of a dense email address book and a few mouse clicks. In fact, that is the กfuelก behind viral marketing. The downside is they can do the same thing regarding bad experiences with the same efficiency and speed. Research has shown that people share bad experiences up to 5 times more often than they tell about good ones. Before you post a site to your server and invite people to visit it, everything should be quality tested and in perfect order. While software makers can sometimes get away with shipping buggy software, you can’t issue a กpatchก to a site that has already turned off your target audience because in this market, your audience will go somewhere else, fast. And instead of gaining customers กgeometricallyก, youกll be losing them exponentially.

TWO TOOLS: Buttons and Links

There are two basic tools in your viral marketing arsenal: buttons and links. The idea is that with a single click a visitor can share your site with others, and those people in turn can do the same. The goal in designing and placing these buttons and links is to make them obvious, easytouse, and perhaps even rewarding to use. By making your buttons more obvious, you give the visitor a visual cue to pass your site on to a friend and take an active role in the creation of your own viral marketing campaign. You can take an even more active role and move beyond mere suggestion by actually offering your visitors an incentive to pass something on.

ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS

The analysis is pretty straightforward. For your buttons and/or link to work, youกve first got to get it in front of your target audience of potential customers. Second, your potential customers have to be able to readily tell what it is that has been artfully put in front of them. Itกs that old threeclick rule if you can’t find what you want on a site in three clicks, you’re going to surf elsewhere, and if you can’t understand what you’re reading immediately, you’re going to tune out. Part of what needs to be clear to potential users is what they need to do and exactly how they can do it. If you fail in any of these elements or if you confuse your message with unnecessary complications, you’re potential customer is gone, and youกve blown your possibly one shot at a few seconds of their attention.

Your referral tool needs to, at the minimum, accomplish seven critical things:

Stand out from the clutter of the page.

Be instantly understood

Embody a clear call to action.

Give clear instructions on how to act.

Be placed effectively.

Offer an incentive.

Make the offer simple, clear and obvious.

BUTTON VS. LINK

Button: Eyecatching, can be graphical. Link: Line of blue text. Both viable, both serve their respective purpose. The tool you choose will depend on two factors: 1) what you want your visitor to share with others, and 2) the context in which your visitor will be sharing. If you want people to share content items such as articles or white papers, you can use either a button or a link, although a button is more appropriate as itกs more attention getting. Also, if the context is your site as a whole or a specific product or a service on your site, then a button is preferable because eyecatching buttons can be designed and placed by using simple code that will load almost regardless of browser or bandwidth. However, when the context is email, whether mailing to your own optin list, doing a targeted promotion, or simply sending ‘thank youก emails when customers submit an order, you are better off sticking with a link. Many of your potential customers don’t have email that supports HTML, and even if they do, a button can easily get chewed to bits in cyberspace when moving across platforms and programs. A good rule of thumb is site = button and email = link.

OPTIMIZE YOUR BUTTON

To optimize the design of your button, look back to the seven elements of success. To fulfill the first rule, and to stand out from the clutter of the page, the button needs to be small enough not to take up too much abovethefold real estate, but not so small that it won’t be seen. Simplicity is the key here your button should have a pleasing and eyecatching design, not one that will give the viewer a headache from Flash overkill or frightening color combinations. If your user doesn’t know what your aesthetically pleasing button is for, they’re probably not going to use it. This is where you need to do what your elementary teacher always admonished you to do: use your words carefully. Clearly spell out in straightforward terms what the button is for, why you want your user to use it, and finally, how they go about using it.

PLACE YOUR BUTTON

Now itกs time to place the button, and there are multiple placement options depending on what you want your visitors to share and in what context the item to be shared appears. Remember that your button is a call to action, so the best placement is at the point in your process where your visitors are the most engaged, and motivated. The number one location for a product referral is the page where the product appears and appears by itself or differentiated from other products. Not only will your visitor not yet be preoccupied with billing addresses and credit card numbers, you also do not run the risk of losing a referral opportunity because you placed the button deeper in the ordering process, where the likelihood of an abandoned shopping cart rises.

If you provide a referral tool for an article or white paper, the best spot for the button is at the beginning of the article or white paper for shorter pieces and at both the beginning and the end for pieces more than a page in length. Like most surfers do not read every line of text on every site, it is likely many of your visitors will also not be reading every single sentence and paragraph of what they might send on, especially if they’re doing preliminary research or idly surfing.

Other prime locations for referral buttons, depending on your site and on your needs, are your home page, your product or service pages, and on any special offers. Ask yourself what it is you want visitors to your site to pass along and place buttons accordingly. Place the button close to names, icons, or logos that you expect to catch attention, while also keeping the important basics as close to the top of the page as possible. Web sites, like newspapers have a กfoldก (i.e., whatกs seen before the user has to scroll) and anything considered of paramount importance should be placed above the fold.

OPTIMIZE YOUR LINK

A link is a link is a link. Not exactly a lot of design flexibility, is there? The best you can do, and what you should do it if you can, is to create links that carry at least a part of your message. A very simple example would be http://www.xyz.com/share. The real key with links is to accompany them with a short, clear, and compelling message. Also, underline or color the text of your link so that it is obviously a link.

PLACE YOUR LINK

Again we go back to our earlier point that the call to action works best when the visitor has been fully engaged. If you want people to share an article or white paper, the link goes at both the beginning, when they’re first interested about the material, and at the end, when theyกve read it. If itกs in an email, you put it at whatever point in your message that youกve given your reader the strongest incentive to act. Place it too early in the process, (before that special offer or promotion), and it is like suddenly demanding money from your customer when they are only halfway through the purchasing decision process. You not only won’t gain a customer, you will lose one customer with exceptional wordofmouth potential.

THE SECRET INGREDIENT

Consider Three Scenarios:

People love your site, but you don’t give them any tools, much less any incentive, to share it.

People love your site, and you give them an easy and obvious way to share it.

People love your site, and you not only give them an easy and obvious way to share it, but you actually reward them for doing so.

Which scenario will result in the most referrals? Which scenario would you yourself respond to best? Adding referral tools is a great start, but when you also add an incentive, youกve given your visitors no reason not to act, and your response rate will skyrocket accordingly. As esales guru David Weltman, successful CEO and former IBM advisor, says, กWhat you get is referrals on rocket fuel.ก

But before you start handing out incentives, consider what your target audience will value and appreciate. To a techsavvy audience, an offer of a free กOuthouse Construction for Numbskullsก manual will be less compelling than, say, free shipping or entry in a contest to win a new monitor.

IN CONCLUSION

When used properly, nothing can match the power of viral marketing. It is so effective because it is based on personal opinion, much the same way an editorial carries more weight than an advertisement because itกs coming from a trusted source. You trust your friends and colleagues to send you material that is interesting, useful, and pertinent to you personally. Trust will always be more powerful than flashy design and expensive ad campaigns, and when information comes from someone you trust, it is much more powerful.

You can employ a team of designers and programmers and copywriters to build you a beautiful and functional site. You can pay for content, buy advertising, and even purchase lists of email addresses. The one thing you can’t buy when growing your business is the trust of your users and the recommendations from current customers to potential new ones. Thatกs achieved only with viral marketing.

About The Author

David Bell

http://www.wspromotion.com/

Advertising research and development center

This article was posted on August 19, 2004

by David Bell

The whole truth about Doublers, Triplers & Cyclers

The whole truth about Doublers, Triplers & Cyclers

by: Frank Bauer

Would you like to know the whole truth and nothing but the truth about Doublers, Triplers and Cyclers? Then please read on…

I am sure that you noticed the dozens of Doubler, Tripler & Cycler programs that seem to grow like mushrooms nowadays and that even many of the well known Internet marketers seem to jump on and promote.

Yes, even I have tried a bunch to see what all this is about. Can you really earn money with them? Yes. Can you loose money with them? Yes, also. What separates the earners from the losers can be simply narrowed down to one point… knowledge.

What I am about to share with you is what I personally learned during the last six weeks. I will share with you my own experience with those kinds of programs.

So, letกs get started…

Before you join any program, you should look at it very seriously and make a decision based on the following facts:

Is the program still in prelaunch? Can you maybe even get shares before the crowd?

Do you know the admin or do you know somebody that knows him or her?

Does the program allow you to see your share numbers and the last share number that cycled?

Is the product offered of general interest and good quality? Would you buy it even without the income opportunity attached?

Does the admin have a long term plan for the program?

Are there contact details on the web site of the program?

If you can answer most if not all questions with yes, you found a pretty sure money maker. The more questions you answer with no, the riskier it gets.

You found a money maker? Not so fast… read on to learn what other stumbling blocks you have to watch out for…

1. Don’t be greedy…

All Doubler, Tripler & Cycler programs will eventually slow down. If you are too greedy and don’t pull out your money at the right time, you will basically waste it.

Most programs will tell you to keep reinvesting your money so you will double your money over and over again.

You will read on many site phrases like: กInvest $50 and when it doubles to $100 you reinvest it and then $100 to $200 and so on.ก

A lot of people fall in this trap… don’t follow the other lemmings! If you think that by reinvesting you will get super wealthy in a few months… then think again.

All Doubler, Tripler & Cycler programs need new members coming in to pay for the existing members. What do you think happens when several thousands of people think this way?

The money that is needed to pay everyone is getting more and more and the time needed to cycle will increase more and more. And simply put, you will have to wait a loooooonnnnng time to get your money doubled or tripled.

Thatกs why you need to play it smart!

If possible, always join during prelaunch and be one of the first people to buy your shares.

Right at launch time you might see cycling times of just a few hours. During this time keep reinvesting all your money. If the program doesn’t have a auto reinvest feature, keep checking if your shares cycled.

Stop reinvesting your money if the share numbers are higher than 1,000 (unless the cycling time is still just a few hours) or if the cycling time is higher than 2 days.

Withdraw your money whenever it reached twice your initial investment as well as after you stopped reinvesting.

By following these rules you will greatly reduce the chance to get burned.

Don’t be greedy and you WILL make money with Doubler, Tripler & Cycler programs.

2. Get in early…

As I already mentioned above, in most instances it is important to get in early.

Unless you know that the owner has a good long term plan and the product is attractive even without the money making opportunity attached… make sure that you don’t join too late.

How can you make sure that you won’t? Keep yourself informed and join an announcement list that will tell you when there is a program about to be launched. And generally speaking, always keep an eye open.

I have personally tried 15 doublers during the last 6 weeks…

8 turned into a total profit of $2,940.92 after expenses plus $5,572.32 in potential profits if all shares cycle one more time.

7 of them I joined during prelaunch… one had launched already.

From 3 I requested a refund after they had launching problems and received a full refund of my initial investment.

One of them had to be forced through StormPay as that admin tried to run with the money.

2 have a total potential profit of $1,610.00 if all shares cycle one more time. One has already doubled twice (had launched already) and the other one once (prelaunch).

Those are potential cases of me having been too greedy. 😉

2 of them I just joined and they have not yet cycled.

With most Doubler, Tripler or Cycler programs it does not matter when during the prelaunch you join, because they will only allow any spending on the exactly launch day.

But on that day and time you have to be ready and waiting…

If the time says that they will launch at 6:00 pm CST then you have to be ready and the account loaded with the amount of money you like to invest at least a few minutes before that time.

Most of the times a LOT of people will be waiting like you do. Use the time before to make yourself familiar with their rules and guidelines.

Here are some of the program rules that you should keep an eye open for…

Some programs have the rule that you can only withdraw once your share cycled all the way to the highest investment amount, e.g. $480

Advantage: Keeps programs cycling longer

Disadvantage: If you start with a small amount, you need to wait longer until you can withdraw money.

Tip: If you can afford, start with the highest amount and you will earn more much quicker.

Other programs have the rule that you can only buy a certain number of shares every x minutes or hours. E.g. only five $5 shares can be bought every 30 minutes.

Advantage: Gives small investors better chances for good share positions and is this way fairer for them.

Disadvantage: It takes much longer to invest a big amount and can this way cause you to get on the average not so good positions for your shares.

Tip: Unless you plan to invest only a small amount you should better invest into programs that don’t have this kind of limitation.

3. Sponsoring others…

Most doubling programs also offer commissions on sponsoring people. This alone can make you a lot of money… on top of what you earn by cycling your shares.

I personally prefer a higher direct sales commission than just being paid a little on three levels. The ability to earn several levels deep is usually only of advantage if you are in a long term program.

All you need to do is promote your site and the referrals will come. Of course it makes a big difference where and how you promote.

Here are the 3 best ways to promote…

Invite the subscribers of your optin email lists to the prelaunch.

If you don’t have your own lists, start building them now! To be successful online you have to build your lists of optin subscribers. I personally use the Add2it Mailman Pro software to manage my lists.

Build and email your own Doublers, Triplers & Cyclers program announcement list.

Place banner and text ads on other Doublers, Triplers & Cyclers program pages.

Many offer this as their main of part of their product. You can often promote program A on site B and program B on site A without having to spend an additional cent of advertising.

Ok, this wraps it up pretty good. Now you know the whole truth about Doublers, Triplers & Cyclers. By following these simple rules you will be well on your way to making an income from this programs.

But before I close… here the most important rule:

ONLY invest money in any Internet program that you can afford to lose. NEVER EVER spend your rent money or YOU WILL GET BURNED (or have to sleep outdoors).

If you play it smart you can have some fun. 🙂

Copyright 2004 Frank Bauer

About The Author

Frank Bauer is the owner of Add2it.com Scripts & Services for your Web Business at http://www.add2it.com and the publisher of the More4you Newsletter at: http://www.more4you.ws

To see how he can help you, visit: http://www.frankbauer.name

Be the first to be alert of new prelaunch Doublers, Triplers & Cyclers… join the First Alert list for free at:

http://www.add2it.com/mmp/sub.pl?firstalert=!FL

This article was posted on October 29, 2004

by Frank Bauer

When Times Get Tough… or When to Really Advertis

When Times Get Tough… or When to Really Advertise

by: John Jordan

The Pundits say the economy is slowly, but surely, recovering. Maybe not at the rate of the mid90s stock boom, but recovering nonetheless.

It must be true, because ad agencies are running Help Wanted ads. So, ad budgets are getting bigger. Tsk tsk. They have been missing out. Actually, for maverick thinkers like you, that should be good news.

When the Pundits say, ‘times are getting tougher,ก usually the first thing to get axed in business are ad and marketing budgets. This makes nearly no sense. But, to your competition, you should say, ‘tighten that belt another couple of notches!ก

Because thatกs when you go for the kill.

Socalled ‘tough economic timesก should be a boon to your marketing. Itกs then that your competition will pull back their advertising efforts. And you should increase yours. Your competition is purposely weakening its position. It is the perfect time to fortify yours.

Since most others are cutting back on their ad spending, media becomes more negotiable, if not altogether cheaper. Your messaging can become more visible with less clutter.

Your message also needn’t be more hard sell in this type of environment. Traditional notion dictates hard sell is the way to go. But proper strategy, creatively executed, will nearly always win over a hard sell approach. Creative ads always get noticed, and often garner free publicity.

Of course, you don’t want to confuse กBad Tasteก with กCreative.ก If you have the proper strategy, that shouldn’t be much of a concern. If you are presented ad concepts that bother you on a deeper level (more than the placement and size of your logo or other such trifles), maybe itกs time to address the strategy as much as the concepts.

The big payoff really comes when bad economic times rebound into good. When people have more money to spend, your business will have a higher, better mind share than the folks who chose not to advertise. Higher mind share leads to higher market share when the public starts buying again.

Thereกs the story of a brand of peanut butter that, due to governmentmandated conversion of its factory for the effort during World War II, was not even commercially available. Yet, the brand was consistently advertised. When the war was over, guess which brand had higher market share?

And itกs in this atmosphere of free spending that market share is hardest to hold onto. More dollars to throw around, more choices, the market gets diluted. Why not go into that phase the leader, or the biggest gainer?

So, when your competition rolls back their ad spending, pump yours up. You stand only to benefit from the lesscompetitive atmosphere. Still a little unsure? Then set up a dollar cost averaging system for marketing. Spend the same amount every week, every month, every quarter. You might be surprised you get more results in กdown turnedก markets.

Marketing is everything. If it weren’t, your company would only subsist on word of mouth and chance.~

Republishing part of or entire article, in all forms, is welcomed, as long as author bio info is printed and proper authorship credit is given. As a courtesy, please send author a complimentary copy.

About The Author

John Jordan is a freelance commercial writer based in Omaha, Nebraska. He publishes a free monthly ezine focusing on branding, advertising, and marketing from his web site http://www.brandedbetter.com. Speaking with both agency and in house experience, he knows the most valuable asset of a business is its brand.

This article was posted on January 12

by John Jordan

How Advice Columns Build Loyal Readers

How Advice Columns Build Loyal Readers

by: Rix Quinn

Last year while researching a book on memorable speeches and essays, I stumbled across an ageless writing technique that continues to captivate readers.

Advice articles first appeared several hundred years ago. Some were submitted to papers and magazines anonymously. The questionandanswer format probably appeared a little bit later.

While opinion articles have been around for years, few develop the loyalty and following of advice columns.

Test this for yourself by gathering newspapers and magazines from the last several decades. My guess is: you’ll find the old question/answer columns still ageless and vibrant.

Advice features generate return readers. Why? Maybe it’s because people love to share problems and possible solutions.

Want to start your own ขadviceข column for a magazine or newsletter? Here are three simple steps to get started:

Survey your readership for the two or three industry issues perpetually discussed.

Find out all you can about those issues, and experts in those areas with whom you can consult.

Prompt questions from readers about those issues, and answer them regularly in a column.

Current popular syndicated features, for instance, offer advice on personal relationships, doityourself projects, and travel.

In a professional or trade magazine or newsletter, your question/answer feature might cover the history of your profession, provide an open forum where readers share information, or follow a howto format. That’s your decision.

One lesson Iกve learned: If I don’t know the answer, I generally admit that right away, and consult an expert in the area with more expertise than I. Also, I state that the opinions I express are subjective, and invite others to share their opinions, too.

Bottom line: If you want to connect better with your readers, you must also give them the opportunity to reach you.

About The Author

RIX QUINN wrote the new book กWords That Stickก, which offers lots of writing tips for professionals who hate to write. The book’s available at your local bookstore, or Amazon.com.

Rix can be contacted directly at 8179207999. His web site is http://www.rixquinn.com

Copyright 2005 Rix Quinn Communications, LLC

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 15

by Rix Quinn

What is Groupware?

What is Groupware?

by: Mike Nielsen

Vince Lombardi once said that, ขThe achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.ข If this is the case, then what do we need to do in order to insure success in our companies? How can we combine the efforts of each individual as Mr. Lombardi said was so key to the success of a particular organization? While there are many possible solutions to these questions, I have found something that will help your company become more organized, and your employees more unified in their work. I am talking about groupware.

What is Groupware?

Groupware is software that facilitates the communication between the members of a network workgroup. It allows people within a company, whether they are physically in the same location or in several locations all over the world, to share documents, information, and data. It allows them to collaborate on ideas and projects, by allowing them to essentially work on the same page at the same time. With groupware there is no limit to the number of people that can work on the same project without creating duplicate ideas and work. Since groupware can track all document information, you will never wonder if you are using the latest version of a document.

What about CSCW?

If you have ever heard anything about groupware, you have probably also heard of CSCW. CSCW stands for Computer Supported Cooperative Work and is the study of groupware, i.e. how it is designed, developed, adopted, and used. People that are involved with the study of CSCW not only include software designers and computer scientists, but also researchers and people that study organizational behavior.

How does Groupware differ from the Traditional User Interface?

Where a traditional user interface generally focuses on the use of only one person, groupware relates to groups and understanding how people work and function in a group. Groupware is also more focused on the ease of use for the user because the system must be more responsive as the pace of a particular application is generally driven by the pace of the conversation. Other factors, such as the size of the group, and the roles that people play are taken into consideration when designing groupware.

What can Groupware do for you?

Groupware has many functions and can be a very useful tool to keep your company organized and your employees working in unity. While there are many advantages to using groupware I have listed a few key ideas below. By having some sort of groupware in your company you can allow your employees to:

Share information

Keep common schedules

Manage email

Maintain bulletin boards

Have several people work on one document

Write Collectively

Hold realtime network meetings

Share files

Share calendars

Share database access

Share spreadsheets

Have electronic conferencing

Have cooperative project management

As you can see, there are several advantages to using groupware to keep your company more organized and unified. Groupware will allow your employees to collaborate on information, ideas, and many other facets of their work and allow them to be more effective, productive, and organized. We already know that when we combine the efforts of each individual in an organization, we will see greater achievements and more success. If your company could benefit from groupware, then I encourage you to find out more about it and explore different possibilities to see which one will fit your needs the best. It will be one of the best decisions you will make with regard to the organization of your company documents, ideas, and information.

About The Author

Mike Nielsen is a client account specialist with http://www.10xmarketing.com/ More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For more information about groupware, visit http://www.nextpage.com/landingpages/groupware.htm.

This article was posted on March 01

by Mike Nielsen

This Here Web Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us! Can

This Here Web Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us! Can You Corner Web Market Share With Negative Actions?

by: Francisco Aloy

If you’re a fan of Western movies Iกm sure youกve heard most of the title line before; just replace กWebก with ‘town.ก That line of dialog is offered right before the two cowboys go outside and have a deadly gun duel. Wind blown tumbleweeds and shades of the OK Corral as a backdrop!

Nevertheless, can mean spirited politics help you corral a little corner of the Web? Can you put up no trespassing signs on what youกve deemed to call your own?

Most progressive Net businesses grab market share by their good business practices and excellent customer service. Thereกs more than a few of those that come to mind. There are others less enlightened that use negative practices to maintain their market foothold.

Creative ways to slow down or stop your perceived competitors or opponents are many. They can take the form of misinformation, gossip, poisonous tips, setting up dummy email accounts to spread rumors, etc, etc

A few of them will work in the short term. Some will be more effective than others. Most will stain your personal and business name, when found out! All of them are foolhardy!

Yes, you can raise your hand to the sky and block the sun; yet and still, itกs not an accurate description of whatกs happening. When the mighty Mississippi river wants to change course, how can it be stopped? When the Net wants to grow, expand and mutate, how are you going to tame it to your petty designs?

Entire countries have bent to the will of the Web! Hereกs an example: Longstanding phone monopolies in Central American countries used political pressure to stop their citizens from making Internet phone calls, to no avail! Though กspecial legislationก was passed, there was such a huge outcry from the rest of the Net, they relented! Let the Net be the Net, is the call of wisdom.

Historically speaking, the Web is an infant. It will continue to grow and expand, networking even the most remote outpost or village! Powerful and speedy microchips will give us the ability to reach out to other people and cultures. Language barriers will be eliminated with realtime, two way translation. Stone Age villages are going to join the modern world in one fantastic step!

The swift technological change and the accelerated rate of deployment promise a bumpy ride, to say the least! All we can do is grab the beast by the tail and hang on; uncertain as to where it leads and what it will look like!

Those are just a few of the things awaiting us, in the nottoodistant future. Iกm sure there are many more in store; not imagined, unseen and unexpected. The only two constant factors are: growth and change! In its tender years, the Net has grown and mutated in ways barely imagined a decade ago.

If Iกve waxed too fantastically in the preceding paragraphs, I do apologize! The point is to explain the utter futility of arresting or trapping a corner of the Web! By its very nature itกs the agent of revolutionary change and growth; never to be proclaimed as your selfappointed kingdom! It won’t work!

All Internet Marketers should consider the preceding when making policy decisions that deal with perceived competitors. Notice my usage of the word กperceived.ก Just because an upstart business wants some of the turf you formerly called your own, is no reason to engage in attrition and trench warfare.

These are much better options:

(a) Find weak areas in your competitorกs business. Not so much for the purpose of exploiting them, but to see if you can supply some of their needs. No matter what the copywriters say, all businesses have strong and weak areas.

(b) Look for product lines that are complementary and form linking relationships. The nature and placement of the link will insure mutual benefit from the agreement.

(c) When provoked by some of the negative practices of other less progressive competitors, do what you must to uphold your reputation. If itกs something trivial and small, turn the other cheek and seek the high road; not from altruism but to save your time, energy and attention for more productive endeavors. Pick your battles on principle and only when all other avenues are exhausted.

When all things are considered, the best use of your time in maintaining market share should be spent in finding new resources and partners. Likewise, implementing new content delivery technology will prove very effective. By all means, every possible effort should be made to convert competitors into friends and partners.

The alternative is so unsavory:

While the Web continues its relentless gallop, leaving both you and your sparring partner in the dust; will you even recognize why you went into battle, in the first place?

About The Author

Francisco Aloy is the creator of The Newbie Business Guide. For more resources for website building, visit Mr. Aloyกs website and look at our section on SiteBuilIt integrated hosting.

http://www.newbiebusinessguide.com/website_building.html

[email protected]

This article was posted on December 13, 2004

by Francisco Aloy