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Archive for May 30, 2010

bikram | May 30, 2010
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Internet Marketing Bloopers You Are Committing, and How to Avoid Them

We all being humans commit mistakes. The situations differ in the way we react to our own faults. Some of us treat our mistakes as failures and never try to proceed further from where we left. Others consider each mistake as a learning experience and each failure as a new milestone towards success. An internet marketing newbie is no different when it comes to erring while starting up an online business.

You can track these common bloopers that you might be committing, but be assured that it is not difficult to avoid them.

Insufficient research work

You will agree that most people get influenced with the best advertised products or business online if one is willing to begin one’s own online business. How many conduct an online research to verify and cross-check the advertisement or the claims made by the company? This is one of the biggest mistakes that a newbie internet marketer falls prey to. It is imperative to first gauge your interest and then launch an extensive research related to the product or service that you wish to make money out of. As you are planning to begin an online internet business, so you cannot afford to get cheated and lose money instead of making any. Whether it is to accumulate information abut the product or the company, the various search engines on the internet serve as efficient tools. Remember that product hopping cannot lead you to success, but a clear vision definitely can.

Lack of focus with dedication

If you are working from home on internet marketing for small business then nothing can be as satisfactory as earning money from the convenience of your home. The only trick is to remain focused. You will be surprised to know the fact that most of the internet marketing beginners overlook the keyword ‘dedication’ when at the ease of their home. There should be no distractions to lead you away from your work even if it is online business. Following a disciplined schedule and abiding by strict deadlines can make a firm client base for you. It may sound difficult, but practice carves out perfection which cannot be neglected for better professional prospects.

Inadequate internet marketing strategy

When you are in the rat race to make money then you cannot take chances with the internet marketing strategy made for your online business in the highly competitive work scenario. A carefully designed website with precise content proclaiming your domain of business is not assertive enough to divert traffic. You need to include the fast moving world of Twitter and the all exclusive insight provided by the Facebook’s Fan page in your business-to-business internet marketing stratagem to glide ahead of your competitors. It is essential for you to create a niche for your self online to be noticed by your clients and their friends to progress by leaps and bounds.

Confining oneself in a cocoon

You must admit that even the best product cannot sell without proper advertising. Similarly your services, however good, cannot make a mark without your vocalizing about them. Come out of your cocoon and become an active member of the social networking media. Speak in webinars and online chat conferences about your products and services directly or indirectly. This will not only increase the traffic, but also give an impetus to the word of mouth.

Abiding by these simple practices, you can become adept at internet marketing. Online internet mistakes are a part and parcel of business life. Even the most successful businessmen commit mistakes, but the real mettle is tested with the ability of ones brain power to absorb the shock wave and venture out with a refined spirit. So, better learn from others’ mistakes and avoid them.

Category: Marketing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Gossimer | May 28, 2010
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Telescopic Pricing will go live

Dear Reseller,

Telescopic Pricing will go live this Saturday on the 29th of May, 2010. This mail contains details on the impact of the launch on the SuperSite.

Telescopic Pricing and its advantages:

With the current set up, your Customers are charged the same amount regardless of the number of years the Product is purchased for. Using this feature, you will be able to set a different price based on the number of years the Product is purchased for and hence tempt Customers to purchase Products for a longer period. For instance, if you are offering .COM Domains @ $10 for a single year, you will now be able to charge a Customer $90 for a 10 year registration instead of a fixed fee of $100.

There are several advantages of multiple year purchases such as:

Greater Customer Retention: the tenure for which a Customer does business with you is greatly increased and thus gives you the opportunity to build Customer loyalty and drive renewals.

Greater Upselling Opportunities: with a longer tenure, you have that much more time to upsell your additional Products and Services and hence earn more off each Customer.

Greater Revenue Earned: through multiple year purchases, you can earn more on every Product sold and hence increase the revenue earned.
 Impact of the launch

Impact on Base Slab Prices:

We have found that certain Resellers have not set Base Slab prices for their Customers and Resellers. If you have not set Base Slab prices, we urge you to set them before the launch to avoid being negatively affected.

Impact on Customer Slabs:

As part of this launch, we will be deprecating all Customers Slabs.

Impact on Specific Pricing:

Post the launch on the 29th, Specific Pricing will have the highest priority for Customers. A Customer for whom you have set a Specific Price will always be charged that price regardless of the Promo Price or Telescopic Price that is available. In case there is no Specific Price set, your Customer will be charged the lower price between the Promo Price and Telescopic Price.

However, the implementation for Resellers and Sub-Resellers will not be affected by this launch. They will continue to be charged the lowest available price between the Specific Price, Promo Price and regular Slab based Price.

Impact on the SuperSite:

The following files will be modified as part of the launch:

Check Availability.html: Manage Site » Edit/Translate Content Pages » Products  » Domain  » Domain_registration  » Check_availibilty  » Check_availibility.html
Dom_reg_addorder.html: Manage Site » Edit/Translate Content Pages » Products  » Domain  » Domain_registration  » Dom_reg_addorder  » Dom_reg_addorder.html
Domain_pricing.html: Manage Site » Edit/Translate Content Pages » Products  » Domain  » Domain_pricing  » Domain_pricing.html

Please Note: Your SuperSite will continue to function normally without these changes. However, if you would like Telescopic Pricing to be displayed on your SuperSite, you will need to modify the above-mentioned files.

Category: Resellers | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
bikram | May 27, 2010
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US Ad Expenditure Grows in Q1 2010

According to a report on ad spending by media types released by Kantar Media ad spending by the US companies has grown by 5.1% in the first quarter of 2010 on previous year to touch $31.3 billion mark. The company studied 19 different media types for the financial health, only to find that 13 among them have shown a rise in the first quarter. The data is as follow:

Ad spending by category

Television

  • Overall growth: 10.5%
  • Spot TV: 22% (Main advertisers coming from automotive, retail, financial services, and political categories)
  • Network TV: Winter Olympics led to 11.6% growth in ad spending on network television.
  • Cable: 8.2%
  • TV (Spanish Language): 7.2%
  • Syndication fell by 13.2%

Radio

  • Overall growth: 7.4%
  • National Spot Radio: 19% (Main advertisers coming from automotive, telecom, and financial services)
  • Local Radio: 4.6%.
  • Network Radio: 3%

Print

  • Overall growth: - 3.2%; Newspaper:-3.7%
  • Consumer Magazine: fell by 3.9%
  • B-to-B Magazine: fell by 8.4%
  • Local Newspaper: slipped by 5.6%
  • Sunday Magazine: spending grew by 13.7%
  • National newspaper: 9.1% (thanks to growth in the Wall Street Journal)

Internet, Outdoor and FSIs

  • Display Ads (Internet): 5%
  • Outdoor: largely flat (drop by -0.4%)
  • FSI: 12.8% growth

As the above data suggested print media is going down, and it touches new low in every successive quarters. But growth in the Sunday Magazine brings some relief for the print industry. It is high time for the print industry to rethink its status and reinvent itself should it not want to follow the footsteps of dinosaurs.

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bikram | May 26, 2010
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What is Brand Association?

Anything that connects consumer to the brand is ‘Brand Association’. Such associations can be developed with elements like – imagery (attitudes, beliefs, and perception), product attributes, brand personality, symbols, color, use situations etc. Brand associations reinforce attributes of the brand in consumers’ mind, when the brand is talked about. It can be implicit or explicit. In a word, brand association unveils the ‘feeling’ or ‘perception’ people possess of the brand. That is the degree to which a particular brand is associated with the general product category in the mind of the consumer.

Brand associations are definitely not the reason to buy, but bare the differentiations that are unique and immune to replacement. Such perceived qualities of a brand actually develop brand’s entity, and over the time cultivates brand positioning. For example ‘Nike’ reminds of sports, ‘BMW’ talks of sophistication and superior engineering; ‘Tide’ is synonymous to whiteness. That’s the power of brand association.

Marketer should never underestimate the prowess of brand association. It goes much beyond of what it seems like. Marketer should associate his brand with a positive imagery. Brand association should be strong and explicit so that whenever people come across imagery associated with the brand, they immediately think of it and the brand remains on top of the mind. Association should never be negative and out of the marketer’s control. Marketer cannot always fully exercise his control on brand association, but can surely influence it. Marketer should always strive to make an association stronger, so that the brand receives share of voice in the market. Such positive situation helps brand incur a good positioning in the mind of the audience. So, while choosing the brand name marketer should carefully craft a name which reinforces an important attribute or benefit associated with brand.

A brand seated on a deep positive brand association enjoys the benefits of good image, trustworthiness, brand familiarity, brand acceptance and even brand loyalty. Thus strong brand equity is not a myth for such marketer. Such brands are huge threat for competitors and new entrants in the market. And which brand will not enjoy such benefits?

Brands associations are developed on the basis of elements like –

  • Advertisements
  • Word of mouth publicity
  • Quality of the product
  • Retail price
  • Packaging
  • Customer relations
  • Employee relations
  • Brand ambassador
  • Schemes/offers
  • Promotions

Now as you know what brand association is, are you going to use it to construct one for your product, or may be of your blog? It would be interesting to see how you use this concept for your blog.

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bikram | May 25, 2010
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How to Prepare Before an Interview Session?

The word ‘interview’ brings a chill down the spine of many job aspirants or students. The most critical part while enrolling into a new institute or applying for a job is the interview session. Today, in this global economic slowdown phase it’s even more important to prepare yourself and stand confident, well-prepared before facing the showering questions at interview session.

Keep following points in mind while preparing for the interview:

  • Check your resume. Spellings, grammar, fonts, print all should be perfect. You can’t afford to mess with it.
  • Do a complete self-introspection and self-analysis before you face others. Unless you know yourself you can’t tell others about yourself. Stand before the mirror and talk to yourself. It will make you self- critical and confident. It’s your sales pitch.
  • Mentally think about how you are going to project yourself before the panel of interviewers. Prepare your introductory speech. Don’t mug up. Remember it. Do not sound like a machine, rather talk professionally and confidently.
  • Don’t ignore your body language and appearance. Clothes, shoes, hair style, make up, accessories, body language – all have to be taken care of.
  • Get used to solving case studies, facing group discussions and sudden presentations. These may come suddenly your way. If you have already prepared yourself for these, there will be no shock for you.
  • Read about stress interviews. You may be subject to one. Be mentally prepared for it. Such tests help panel to assess how you will behave in stressful and unexpected situations. Panel will test your tolerance, confidence, patience. They will test how suitable you are for tough job situations. In such situations stay calm, remain positive and think rationally.

How will you prepare yourself before the interview?

Research about the company

Study the company you wish you join. Learn about the company’ goals, past and future projects, client list, achievements. Command on these will give you a competitive edge on others. It will prove your interest in the organization, knowledge of the industry.

Appearance

How you look, how you dress up, how you carry yourself are very important. Minimalistic make-up and accessories coupled with neat, basic colored formal attire are what interviewers look for. Clothes should be stain-free and clean, wrinkle free. Avoid missing buttons, unpolished shoes. Trimmed nails, neat haircut are important. A good appearance can fetch you preference on others. Dress up as per the industry standard.

Interview kit

Don’t panic in the last moment with interview kit. A day before the interview arrange your resume, portfolio/projects, certificates, letter of reference, photographs, pen, writing pad, calculator and other supporting documents in a folder.

Now sit back and relax. Tension and stress can spoil all preparation. Stay calm and enjoy the process. Good luck for the interview!

Category: How-To Guides | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
bikram | May 24, 2010
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How to become a Good Team Player?

Many of us are excellent performers at work, but when we work individually; very few are good team players. Getting along with other employees and working in unison towards a given objective are what employers look for. Some are comfortable in team work and some are not. But surely one can be groomed into a team player. In professional dictionary getting along with other colleagues and working together is called ‘Team Play’.

Nowadays every working environment is divided into groups or teams, who work together. Every team comprises of friendly people, aggressive and hostile people; people whom you like and people whom you hate. People will hold opinions about you too and there lies the challenge. You have to work with enemies and yet under the mask of professional friendliness you have to be together, work together and share things. Such alliance is the base of team work. Employers seek people who come forth with a good positive attitude and readiness to work in a group achieving organizational goals.

Here are some valuable sets of criteria that employers list while judging the ability of ‘Team Play’.

Attentive Listener

One important aspect of good team player is attentive, patient listening to other speakers and ability to incorporate the messages into one assimilated thought. A good team player pays attention towards others views, opinions, ideas; even if they may contradict his own. One has to be open minded, flexible, respectful to others.

Communication is important

Inter-personal communication within the team is most important for success of any project. Team players should share all important information exactly in the same way it has been received. Such communication can take place by email and passing the carbon copy (cc) to the relevant people. Communication can take any channel as per the company’s structure and policies.

Cooperative & Amiable Attitude

An ideal team player prefers to lend a hand of cooperation rather than competing with other fellow team members. They get motivated by others success, and do not end up competing with them. They get inspired and learn from others success stories.

Optimistic & Joyous

A positive mined, enthusiast, happy team player is always greeted with open arms. Such person generates positive vibes and optimism. He is always in center of attraction; drawing team mates towards him, encouraging sharing of things. An optimist learns from mistakes and moves towards a better future. They don’t fall weak in front of failures. They stay away from complaining, making excuses, blaming others and fostering negativity. Instead they own others mistakes and held own success as success of the team. Such attitude makes them win faith and hearts of all team associates.

Flexibility

In today’s working condition, flexibility and open-mindedness are important. Growth is impaired when one approaches new concepts or changes with rigidity and negative attitude. Welcome changes with open arms and adapt to it. Changes bring growth.

Conflict Negotiator

An ideal team player knows how to handle hostile situations like conflicts, verbal disputes, aggressions and the like. They can resolve tense situations with an ease. Expert team player can arrive at a mutually compromising and mutually satisfying decision, without being partial towards any one party.

Helpful

Always lend a helping hand to other fellow members of your team. A helpful person is always looked up to, admired and loved by all. A helpful team player is always an asset for the team.

Not all are born as a good team player. But by following the given tips one can easily groom oneself into an ideal team player.

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bikram | May 22, 2010
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How to Develop Effective Communication Skill?

A good communication skill is an inevitable key to success; and this is what distinguishes Tom from Dick, and Dick from Harry. Every person has a different style of communication. The one who masters the art of effective communication turns into a winner in every phase of life, whether professional or personal.

Attitude plays a big role in communication, and perception people will develop of you. Be honest, patient, attentive, optimistic, sincere, respectful, flexible and sensitive. A positive set of attitudes are must for a good communication.

Attentive and patient listening ability are two highly recommended practices. Every speaker seeks an attentive listener. Don’t interrupt. Try listening patiently and reflect back, that shows your interest.

Don’t try to develop a fake accent. Be yourself. Speak in the style, tone and accent that you are comfortable in. Good accent and tone can be developed over the time. One can follow good speakers, tutorials or daily news to grab the perfect accent and tonality of verbal communication; especially while grooming oneself for the professional life.

Eye contact is essential in any communication. While speaking and listening, don’t let your eyes wander here and there. See into eyes of the speaker. It shows interest, participation and appreciation. Even while delivering speech try to maintain eye contact with the audience in front.

Don’t underestimate significance of body language. Body language plays an integral role in communication. Arms relaxed at sides shows that you are approachable and ready to listen; whereas crossed arms and shoulders hunched shows your unwillingness to communicate. Posture, eye movement, gestures, hand and leg movement play important role in any communication process.

Speak with courage, confidence and conviction. Knowledge brings confidence and conviction. Sharpen your knowledge and once you know things don’t hesitate to put them forward. Fear of speaking comes from self-doubt. Courage to speak is essential. Unless you speak you won’t learn.

Be heard. Talking in low pitch reflects lack of self-confidence. So speak clearly, loudly with a convincing tone. It will lower risk of misunderstandings.

Don’t get too rigid with your own views and opinions. Listen to others. It will help you to explain things better. Others will be more likely to listen if they are heard when they are speaking.

When you come across criticisms don’t turn sour and defensive. Keep in mind, welcoming criticisms with open arms will fetch you great benefits in future. Rather be thankful to the critics.

Don’t own success or strengths alone. Own your mistakes too. It will help you to grow, to judge yourself and inspire others.

The ultimate key to successful communication is practice. Practice makes one perfect. Don’t hesitate to interact more and more with others, whether personally or professionally. Make it a part of your daily habit. Each time you communicate, you learn new things and open doors of opportunities before you.

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bikram | May 20, 2010
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Types of Advertising Agencies

An advertising agency is an independent organization of creative people and business people who specialize in developing and preparing advertising plans, advertisements, and other promotional tools for the advertisers. The agency also arranges for or contracts for purchase of space and time in various media. J. Walter Thompson, Leo Burnett, Ogilvy & Mather, McCann Erickson, Lowe, Saatchi & Saatchi are some of the top international advertising agencies.

Full-Service Advertising Agency

A full-service advertising agency is generally a big size advertising agency having all departments, specialized people heading each department and numbers of subordinates under them. It has almost all major departments like – client servicing, account planning, copywriting, art direction, creative studio and production, media planning and buying, accounts etc. All big renowned advertising agencies are generally full-service advertising agencies.

Creative Boutique

Advertising agencies specialized in creative work are commonly known as creative boutiques. These agencies are not responsible for client handling, campaign strategy planning or media planning; they are solely responsible for the creative idea and its execution. Such agencies are relatively small and have only a few creative people like – copywriters, art directors, creative heads.

Media Buying Agency

Media buying agencies are specialized in media planning, scheduling and buying. Such agencies are also known as agency of record (AOR). These agencies plan and select media, schedule advertisement release dates and time, and then buy media space/time from the publications/television or radio channels. Nowadays full service advertising agencies have a separate media wing, under a separate name, which operates as a media buying agency alone. Such agencies comprise of only media planning and buying specialized people.

Interactive Agency

Interactive agencies are those advertising agencies which specialize in digital new-age media of advertising communication. Such agencies prepare internet advertisements, sms advertisements, viral advertisements etc. Such advertisements are relatively new, highly interactive, innovative and challenging.

In-house Agency

Some big companies prefer to have their own in-house advertising agencies. Such in-house agencies solely work for the owner company, and not any other client. These agencies apparently look like any other full-service agency, but they work solely for the owner company. Such agencies are relatively small in terms of manpower. These in-house agencies are responsible for all advertising and marketing communication activities of the company. Many big consumer durable companies have in-house agencies.

Category: Marketing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
bikram | May 19, 2010
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How to do Power Walk?

Power walking is an in-between point of regular walking and jogging. Power walking is often defined as the walking at a speed of upper end of normal range of walking, typically 7km/hr to 9 km/hr. Power walk is also known as ‘Speed Walking’. In recent times, power walk has swept in lot of followers as health practitioners have been recommending it more as an alternative to jogging as a part of daily exercise regime.

Many of us have heard of it, but hardly know how to go about it. Such amateurs can follow the given tips while opting for a power walk.

  1. The preparation starts with the selection of a perfect pair of shoe. Power walk requires a pair of running shoes, as these shoes facilitate fast movement. Bend each shoe to figure out its flexible most part. Shoes bending the most near ball of your feet are the perfect ones for power walk. Carefully consider size of your shoes, keeping in mind swelling of feet during exercise. Needless to say the shoe should be totally flat, where toe and heel should rest on same level. Don’t ignore the quality of your socks. Wear good quality synthetic socks instead of cotton socks, as they may cause blisters.
  2. Develop the required posture for power walk. Stand straight, hold head up with chin parallel to the ground, look forward, hold chest raised, shoulders relaxed, tighten your abs and butts, flatten back and tilt pelvis forth, bend elbows in less than 90 degree angle close to your body. Allow arms to swing from front to back, fast.
  3. Start your power walk! Think you are walking on a straight line before you. Focus on that. While you forward your foot, make sure your heel strikes the ground first, roll your foot and push off with toes. While pushing off with toes bring another foot forward. Talk smaller, faster steps. Longer strides will slow down the process and hasten fatigue too. Utilize the natural flexibility of your calf muscles. While walking breathe normally. Take deep, symmetrical breaths. Maximize oxygen intake. And keep walking! Walk fast enough that breathing is accelerated, yet you shouldn’t feel out of breath.

A power walk will help you stay fit and healthy. It is a must-do health activity for busy professionals, and given your schedule, power walk is a perfect weight management mechanism. Begin today and share your experience here.

Category: How-To Guides | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
bikram | May 18, 2010
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Types of Advertising

We all see advertisements, talk about them, complain about them, admire them, and some of us are in the business of making them. But how many of us know the various types of advertising? Let’s take a look.

Corporate/Institutional Advertising

These advertisements are prestige advertisements that create, sustain and enhance image of the company. These advertisements are also called Public Relation advertisements. Such advertisements help to develop corporate identity of the company, generate good will among the public and portray the company as a socially responsible organization.

Industrial Advertising

Industrial advertisements are a way of business-to-business interaction, where business circles are informed about the availability, quality, special features of the raw and semi-processed materials, machinery, and equipment, machine parts.

Trade Advertising

Trade advertisements cater to the retailers, franchises, wholesalers. Direct mail, trade journals, specialized magazines, newspapers are used for such advertising.

Professional Advertising

These advertisements are directed towards the professionals (doctors, interior decorators, hair or skin experts) who themselves will not buy or use the product but recommend, prescribe and suggest to the end users.

Tender Advertising

These are the ads given by manufacturers or companies seeking suppliers of raw materials, equipments, service providers. Such ads are targeted towards the suppliers and manufacturers.

Financial Advertising

Financial advertisements are done by financial institutions like banks, unit trusts, insurance companies, credit lender and cooperative societies. Such advertisements are targeted towards the users and investment communities. Major economic and national dailies, commercial and trade publications are used as advertising medium.

Retail Advertising

Retailers often advertise their stores. In case retailers stock more than a brand they may advertise the entire list of brands available with them. Exclusive right holding retailer may advertise locations of its chains.

Comparative Advertising

Comparative advertising draws a direct comparison of the advertised brand with its major competitor in the given market. Comparison can be product feature centric, price centric, quality centric, offers centric, benefit centric.

Public Service Advertising

Social service or public service advertising (PSA) is non-profit advertising and seeks no profit. Govt. and many social private institutions practice this type of advertising. Such non-commercial ads seek acceptance, help, donation, support, or attitudinal changes towards a cause or idea. Campaigns relate to blood donation, AIDS awareness, wild life protection etc.

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