New Media Advertising – An effective marketing tool

New media advertising is a powerful medium of advertising through the Internet. In today's highly competitive environment, new media advertising acts as a cost effective meduim with a wider reach, targetting a huge online audience. New media makes it possible to communicate with the audience using the benefits of technology on a interactive platform. Unlike traditional media, it is possible to track the audience usage and traffic by using new media as a marketing medium. Due to its unique features and benefits it has become popular among the users and advertisers alike.

exchange4media is an online portal that gives you access to a wide variety of information on the marketing and advertising industry with news on some of the latest happenings in the media.

Advantages of New media/ Internet advertising

Online Media advertising helps in targetting a selected audience for conveying specific information. Millions of users log on to the Internet everyday which gives greater visibility to the online advertisers. Internet advertising is also useful to track information about the number of users who visit the website everyday.

Marketing and advertising on the Internet also helps in lowering the costs incurred through traditional form of advertising. Internet advertising enables one to conduct transactions using an interactive meduim catering to a given audience based on their age, gender, background, demography,interests targetting specifc needs.

Internet advertising is done through advertising banners which is an interactive meduim to communicate with the users. Advertising banners have been used for online marketing since the 1990's and have become a popular marketing tool.Many advertisers use banner ads to give publlicity to their products or services.

Marketing and advertising companies use creative banner ads to generate curiosity among the users so that they click on the banner to see further information. This gives greater visibility to the advertiser with more audience reach and helps in branding.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

Online Media advertising helps in targetting a selected audience for conveying specific information. Millions of users log on to the Internet everyday which gives greater visibility to the online advertisers.

About the Author:
Anurag is a well known analyst who keeps a keen eye on Media advertising & Public Relations. He writes for www.exchange4media.com

Recession/Depression Marketing

marketing blogs

Believe it or not, economic hard times are here. Call it a recession, a downturn, a depression, or an economic slowdown. The results are the same...slow or declining sales, decreased productivity, layoffs, and dwindling profits.

So how does marketing work in a recession bound economy? Is it realistic to expect $3-$5 in sales or profit for every dollar spent in advertising and marketing under these extreme circumstances. Is instant "gratification" from a marketing budget reasonable. Probably not.

In many instances, marketing dollars, sales people, pressure for results with fewer bodies are the first "victims" of the decline. Is this just habit or good sense? Sales and profit are usually easy to come by when times are booming...even management idiots can make money. However when the times are tough, events willow out the dumb and dumber, the negative and the nay-sayers. Lean times call for tough decisions, creative solutions, leadership, and determination.

It is still possibe to make a profit during lean times. Creative solutions, sound judgement , and leadership make the difference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recession

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression

Simple Blog Web Promotion Ideas!!

Getting your blog off the ground is not as tricky as people make it out to be. If you follow some really basic steps then it can be as eating a piece of pie. I have found a couple great blogs that have taught be something very unique and extremely rare. What I have learned will benefit any and every blogger out there. Read on to find out more.

If you talk to bloggers about how many readers they had from the word go most of them will say absolutely NONE. They will tell you that it takes weeks if not months to get a small, simple blog off the ground and get people reading, reviewing, and subscribing to your blog. How would you like it if I told you that you did not have to weeks promoting your blog? How would you like it if you didn't even have to spend days promoting your blog?

Well I am going to tell you how you can get hundreds if not a thousand visitors to your blog in its first week. There are a few things that you will have to do. The steps are really simple to follow and you can either do it in one big load in one day or you can spread it out spending no more than half an hour or so a day over the span of about a couple weeks for best results.

Content

Many bloggers will start out with one to five post on their first day and then post once a day or week. This is the first thing that they are doing wrong to get their blog off the ground. You ask all of the bloggers that have done this and they will tell you that it took a week to a month before they started to get readers.

Having five posts when your blog is started is not enough to get people to hang around and keep reading. You have to have enough posts pre-written so by the time your blog goes live you can post them all one after another. This will allow a visitor to be able to have a look around at what your writing and the more they read the higher the chance that they will subscribe or come back for more.

To get returning visitors from the start you have to have ATLEAST 20-30 post pre-written and ready to post as soon as your blog goes live. If you have 20-30 quality posts ready to go you can be assured that your visitors will stick around and read.

Tagging

While researching blogs and blog promotion I came across something called Technorati Tagging. I had never seen this before and I didn't have a clue what they did so I looked into it further. I found out that Technorati Tags are actually able to deliver mass amounts of traffic. They way it works is as your writing your post when you come across a word that could categorize your post you add [tag] and close the word with a [/tag) (change the ) with a ]) around it. This will 'tag' that word and once your blog is pinged to Technorati your blog will be placed under the category of that word. When someone searches a word that you have tagged your blog will show up.

Social Bookmarking

You will definitely see results by social bookmarking. It is very simple and all it requires is a little time. All you simply have to do is notify them of your post :O that sounds so hard. I managed to find a great list of the best social bookmarking sites. Take your pick of these top 20. They are all great and will improve your search engine results greatly.

1. 30daytags
2. BlinkBits
3. BlogHop
4. BlogLot
5. BlogMarks
6. BlogMemes
7. BlogPulse
8. BmAccess
9. browsr
10. Fark
11. CiteULike
12. clipclip
13. clipmarks
14. Complore
15. Connectedy
16. Connotea
17. de.lirio.us
18. del.icio.us
19. digg
20. diigo

Tell Other Bloggers

If you are after highly targeted traffic then this is a MUST. Before your blog goes live search through Google and other search engines for blog that are highly ranked on the topic you are writing on.

Create some personalised emails for each of the blogs you find (I recommend around 30-40 as you should recieve 75% positive results). Do not email the bloggers until you have made your initial posts.By notifying other bloggers about your blog you will get the 'word' out and you should recieve some good traffic and links from these other blogs.

You're Done!!

If you do all this correctly then not to long after you made our first post you should be receiving some quality views. This has to be the easiest web promotion for your blog ever. You will be receiving many return readers if you have followed these steps because the traffic is so targeted.


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At www.splur.net we provide you with a great free directory to submit your links to and a complete section will soon be added with all the traffic generation tips and tricks you need!! We have added a free directory list so come check it out.

Article Source: http://www.marketingarticlelibrary.com

How is that Holdiay Marketing Coming?

Another commercialized season is upon us. The same lights, some 5 year+ old TV commercials, same or similar sales and products! Ho Hum.....boreing! And everyone wonders why sales are slumping?

Could starting Christmas decorating before Halloween be a factor, or stores such as WalMart having decorations and trees up by the end of September? Duh!

Come on the unlimited growth and surge in consumption is over...we need to move to a sustainable economy!

Let's brainstorm some new ideas, level the playing field, (do we really need 50 different companies to have competition?), see what sustainabilty vs growth and conspicuous consumption may offer. Let's get creative. Lets survive.

Three Easy But Inexpensive Business Marketing Tips

Lately businesses have suffered a slump due to the struggling regional economy and many business owners would want to promote and boost sales the cheap and inexpensive way. Business marketing would entail cost and owners and board of directors would want to keep it at the minimum to soften the influx of inbound and outbound cash flow.

There are many ways to deal with business marketing and everything lies with the premise of exposure and brand name mileage. It may be an advertisement on national television or a flyer distributed at a local pewee baseball game, this always leads to brand and business exposure.

Here are five easy and inexpensive tips that could get that mileage and give your business a sales boost.

Letterheads, Logo's and Emblem Envelops

As much as possible we would not want people scouring through our mail but having these business paraphernalia could make your business look more serious and professional. Logos on envelopes and stationeries can be noticed by third party individuals that might be looking for your services or products. It is important that you have a comprehensive paraphernalia design that can get messages across and not confuse your potential clients.

Press Releases and Infomercials

Many cable companies now offer there own channels as community billboard or an alternative to the local community channel and most of them would only be asking for just a fraction of what national television media are asking. Although having to narrowcast on the local area would mean fewer audiences but for a small local business it can be a huge impact since this is the only market that you cater to.

Local newspapers and magazines are open to press releases or an interestingly written informative article about your product. Media would need to research on interesting topics that they could fill their paper with for people to buy them and your product could be interesting enough to be featured on as an article or press release instead of advertising it. This could give a positive image to your company and product.

Sponsoring Community Based Activities

Having a business to sponsor a community activity may be one of the hardest to measure in terms of brand impact and recall. Though it may be hard to quantify and could be impossible to measure, it is one of the oldest tricks in marketing books. This business activity can promote brand loyalty among the society.

Another impact that can be enjoyed by this is the news about the sports event that carries your name, and it would be best to sponsor the team that has the highest chance of winning since everybody loves a winner.

Brand marketing strategies require patience and perseverance in achieving good results based on your budget. Everything is about timing, a good business marketing mix that is not well thought about or planned can lead to disaster with financial as well as moral losses. So be wary before spending your budget, because there is no half-way, either you push it-giving 100% support to your business marketing or not pushing it at all.

About the Author:

James Brown writes about resellrightsgarage.com coupon code, SnapMonkey bargains

Read more articles by: James Brown
Article Source: www.iSnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=204778&ca=Marketing
Article published on November 28, 2007 at iSnare.com

Holidays are coming......... Shop till you drop!

OMG, they started Holiday (Christmas) decorations the first of November here in the NW. The town tree is up, and the lighting ceremony is this Friday. all the stores are decorated for the season, snow is highly unlikely. Some ads are calling for a "Pre-Thanksgiving Day Sale", and then of course Friday is "Black Friday"...won't see me in any mall or store that day, or even that weekend.

I think commercialism is an addiction, much like tobacco or drugs. Shop till you drop, or are broke, buying crap you don't need, just to buy.

A "sustainable economy" under the current economic system here in the USA and probably most of the world, is highly unlikely! For example, thanks to surpluses/poor quality control/mass production, I have a brand new $150+ "Columbia" high tech winter coat. They are given out to the homeless (me). The real funny part is everything seems to be made in Thailand, China, or Malaysia...but hey it's an "American" company! Uh Huh. Maybe there would not be 3,000,000+ homeless/unemployed in the US if things were actually manufactured here.

The Coming Economic Collapse

It's coming within the next five years. Recession, depression, economic collapse is as inevitable as the sun rising each morning.

The current level of the world economy is unsustainable, and humans are unable and unwilling to change. Change to prevent Global Collapse by moving to sustainable economies vs growth oriented requires a new paradigm. People in the USA can't even adopt the Metric System that the rest of the world uses, let alone make such a leap of mindset.

In addition the threat of nuclear terrorism and nuclear war is almost imminent the present time, let alone in the next five years, with the possible fall of Pakistan into a radical Muslim nation and a supply of nuclear weapons!

Israel or even India may take preemptive action against not only Pakistan, but also Iran. The resulting global panic will speed the economic collapse.

Blind optimists see it all as a "temporary" setback, and that things from employment to housing will surely improve. Realists, such as myself, see the ongoing loss of high paying jobs, exported jobs, a service economy, as signs of the end.

The sky is falling, just get out of the way!

Homeless Marketing

There is approximately, depending on which source you choose to believe, 3,750,000 homeless people in the USA. Several thousand in most major cities.

While homeless, many of these folks are also consumers, they buy things. mostly necessities, but also many other different products. Of course alcohol and cigarettes, pouch tobacco and rolling papers come to mind.

But they also need services...medical, social. substance abuse, counseling, etc.

At least half, by my estimation are getting, SSI, SS, or some other type of government assistance, and there for monthly income. A good portion are VETs, and may utilize VA Loans, etc.

Could this be a missed marketing opportunity? There is at least one "Homeless Newspaper" here in the city, informational posters, emails (shelters have computers and many emails...I am typing this post from a shelter), pamphlets, etc.

Marketing and advertising can be directed at not only the homeless, but also the providers of homeless services. Government grants or "goodwill" social funding may be available for funding. This may be an untapped significant niche market. A market worth investigation.

How To Choose Trade Show Equipment

I previously worked for a Exhibit Manufacturer, as well as Exposystems and Expo Communications back in the mid 1970's. It's a highly competitive world and basicly one driven by price! I did have some class A clients though, like State of NM, Coors Brewing CO, Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle, etc.


Many companies understand the importance of attending a tradeshow. However when it comes to choosing the type of equipment that is needed to make a good impression at the tradeshow, many companies are at a loss, and what is needed to be made clear is that there are essentially two choices when it comes to choosing tradeshow equipment, and that is between custom tradeshow equipment and the ready-made variety. This article will look at the two types and discuss some considerations that need to be made when choosing display equipment for a tradeshow booth.

For the booth itself, the difference between a custom-made booth and a ready-made booth is a large one, both in terms of cost and the impression that it will make. A custom-made tradeshow booth is extremely expensive, but the impression that it will make will be extremely powerful to the attending tradeshow delegates, and the booth will fit in exactly what the marketing message that you wish to convey. A ready-made booth will be much cheaper, but the impression that it will make maybe nowhere near as strong as one made by a custom-built booth, since many of the elements that are used to construct the booth may well be used by other exhibitors at the same tradeshow.

When it comes to display equipment, much of the same thinking as that which applies to choosing the booth itself applies here as well. Custom-made display equipment, such as stages, pedestals, and the product display cabinets, are extremely expensive, but yet will produce a very strong corporate image. On the other hand, ready-made display equipment will be much cheaper but with a correspondingly weaker corporate impression.

However, much ready-made display equipment can be customized to a certain extent by the addition of corporate graphics and other corporate insignia. For instance, many off the available banner stands look very much alike, and will likely be used by many other exhibitors at the same tradeshow. In order to make the banner stand look original all that is needed is to add your corporate graphics and some other powerful marketing materials. This is where the services of a good graphic designer can be invaluable. More information on choosing display equipment can be found at http://www.displaystandworld.com

As can be seen, the choice is of which tradeshow equipment to use is a fairly simple one and is essentially one of choosing between custom-made or ready made display equipment or the tradeshow booth itself. Keep this simple advice in mind when you're looking at display equipment for your tradeshow booth, and remember that if you exhibit rarely it may be better to do for the cheaper option, and leave the custom-built expensive options to companies who exhibited at tradeshows regularly.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Carl Formby owns and operates http://www.displaystandworld.com, a website dedicated to information about Display Standshttp://www.displaystandworld.com">Display Stands>

Starting a Home Business Using the Internet

Starting a home business I not an easy task and to make things harder there are so many myths attached to starting a home business that it can become quite confusing. Some people get an idea in their head and just take off. Starting a business for them is easy. The majority of people, however, end up having the desire to start a home business before the actual business idea comes to them. Once they begin thinking about actually starting a home based business they are overcome with many myths that make it seem next to impossible to succeed.

One of the biggest myths about starting a home business is associated with the internet. The internet has opened many doors to home business owners, but at the same time the complexity of the internet has caused many to give up and abandon hope that they can ever get a business to be successful. Many people believe that the internet is a vast marketplace that is too he to compete in. That is simply not true. There are many small home businesses that are doing great on the internet. It is all a matter of knowing how to run a business website. A person has to understand about marketing and setting up a website. Once they've established their online presence they can make great money.

Another internet related myth about starting a home business is that there is no help available for the business owner. Anyone who has went to a search engine and typed in business will now this is not true. There are online networks of websites that are all aimed at helping people succeed in internet business. These people offer free information and plenty of support. A person can find answers to almost any question they have and even talk to others who have started their own business. The internet business environment is one of helping others.

One myth that may hold some truth is that marketing online is impossible. While it is, obviously, not impossible it can be difficult for the beginner. Starting a home business online requires plenty of research into internet marketing. The marketing tools used online are very different from those used in the traditional environment. A person has to understand how to drive traffic to their website and how to catch the attention of their target market. As mentioned above, there are plenty of resources available to help a person get their marketing plan in order.

These myths about starting a business all make it look impossible to tap into the internet marketplace. These myths are quite untrue and should be ignored. It does take hard work and dedication to start any business, but using the internet just opens up a business to a huge marketplace and offers additional opportunities that a traditional, offline business does not have. It is worth it for every business owner to look into the internet when starting a home business.

Source: http://www.articlecircle.com/ - Free Articles Directory


About the Author
Dustin Cannon is owner of http://www.NicheArticleClub.com and writes on a variety of subjects related to home business. To learn more about home business Dustin recommends that you visit: http://www.home-business.com

Promotion Strategies: Save with a Marketing PodCast

I have been wanting to try this and when i get my computer back on-line, I'll see what I can do!


Just a few years ago, radio was the way to get audio announcements out about your business and a marketing PodCast was nonexistent. Today, the marketing PodCast as a promotion strategy will revolutionize getting your message out but to a wider audience and at much cheaper production costs. The marketing PodCast is derived from the Apple iPod product and is an excellent way to promote your business as part of your overall promotional and marketing efforts.

A marketing PodCast can be subscribed to via RSS

RSS stands for real simple syndication and it is what makes a marketing PodCast easy to subscribe to. What people like about RSS feeds for their marketing PodCast is that the feed viewer is somewhat like an email client. However one can only choose what feed he or she wants. The information updates constantly from the website providing the feed.

To put this in simpler terms, think of the alternatives. If you have a marketing presentation that is recorded on a traditional .mp3 file, you have to notify your subscriber base to download the new file each time it changes. With a marketing PodCast, your subscribers will automatically get a notification through a RSS feed and a software application known as a PodCast aggregator will collect the updates without any intervention on the part of the user.

A marketing PodCast is like a radio ad

Anyone can create a marketing PodCast and publish it. It is very much like a radio advertisement except that your audience is now global. Another thing different about the marketing PodCast when compared to radio is that the listeners can filter out what they want to hear and what they do not want to hear. They do this by viewing the descriptions on the RSS feeds that tell the subject. It is better to get an audience in your marketing PodCast of people who actually have some interest in your product or service as they will be listening better.

A marketing PodCast can be listened to at any time

Radio ads have to be scheduled. Your marketing PodCast can be listened to at any time and from anywhere in the world. So when you have an update in a marketing PodCast all you do is have to put it on our server and let the subscribers get it at any time they like.

You don’t need an iPod to view a marketing PodCast

If you have a personal computer and want to enjoy a marketing PodCast offered, all you have to do is download the iTunes manager from Apple. This software is a PodCast aggregator much like an RSS feed aggregator that will bring all the marketing PodCast feeds you subscribe to into one central location and keep them updated. It runs in the Windows system tray and can be set to check for a new marketing PodCast in each of your feeds daily, hourly, or at a manual interval.

Be careful with your marketing PodCast

Not everyone has top-of-the-line computers or high-speed internet connections so make sure your marketing PodCast is optimized so as not to require a lot of system resources to play. Nothing can do more damage to the message you are trying to relay with your marketing PodCast then to have a file so large that these users will not benefit from it.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Matt D Murren owns and operates http://www.promotion-strategies-advisor.com Promotion Strategies

Podcasting Used As a Business Marketing Tool by Media Publishing Giant Simon & Schuster

This is something I have considered for some time and am interested in doing once I get settled in my new location, get a new computer, and an "office"!

Podcasting has hit the marketing world big time with the recent launch of a new podcast by Simon & Schuster. I was recently involved in a consulting role with a podcasting project with publishing giant Simon and Schuster and their website www.simonsays.com. They are using this podcast RSS feed to interview world famous authors and have authors read excerpts from their books. This is a brilliant marketing strategy for their website, authors, products and brand.

They are actually using the podcast to promote the products that they publish. This is a very innovative business marketing strategy. They are publishing 30 minute podcast shows every week. This allows potential consumers to get exposure to their products. This will create increased interest in their products. This will in turn drive sales and increase the branding for their business. This professionally produced podcast series of shows will undoubtedly become a favorite of many consumers.

It is also noteworthy to mention that you do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast. You can simply listen to podcasts on your desktop computer. You can subscribe to podcast feeds with Yahoo, iTunes, Mozilla Firefox, Google Desktop Search Toolbar 2.0, or any variety of desktop podcast RSS feed reader software tools.

The business benefits of a proper podcast marketing strategy can be quite immense. Podcasting is another business communication and marketing tool that allows businesses to communicate with their target market. Subscribers to the podcasts RSS feed will automatically receive new podcasts when they are published. Businesses that create podcasts can have a direct communication and marketing channel online.

Having a quality professional podcast that delivers value added exclusive content can increase your online visibility. Search engines such as Google will index podcasts feeds, Blog and podcast directories will list podcast feeds, and targeted traffic will subscribe to thos e podcast feeds. Let's also remember that a quality podcast has the opportunity to be listed in the iTunes podcast directory and found by over 40 million users.

Leveraging podcasting as a business promotion and marketing tool is going to be part of the business landscape online for years to come. When media giants such as CBS, Viacom, and countless other business giants such as IBM and Oracle are podcasting; you can bet money that this marketing media format is here to stay.

Your business should give serious consideration to creating a podcast marketing strategy with experienced professionals in this field. This is a marketing and communication medium that your business will want to execute and leverage for maximum marketing and business benefit online.

You may want to read an informative white paper about this new business marketing technology. You can read this white paper at www.leveragedpromotion.com/products.html

Author Bio
Rodney Rumford is the founder of http://www.Podblaze.com and is a business marketing consultant specializing in new media marketing tools such as Podcasting and Business Blogs. He is also co-founder of www.leveragedpromotion.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Blogvermercial

OK, I have been marketing my blogs since April 2007. I have them reviewed, posted to search engines, have big name affiliated advertisers such as Dell, Amazon, etc. and have not made one dime in commissions or sales.

I have read books, articles, etc. about logging, and as a former sales/marketing person, know something about the subject, I think. I don't get it......literally.

I think my ideas are as interesting as anyone else's, my web sites as attractive and functional, yet seem to get no traffic.

I tried reciprocal affiliated advertising sites and all I got was about 500 emails a day about everyone else's “junk”. I canceled that almost instantly.

Any suggestions?

Bum Marketing - How To Find A Niche

One of the most difficult tasks for most Bum Marketers seems to be finding a niche that’s profitable, but doesn’t have a ton of competition. One of the main reasons I believe they have a hard time is partially because they’re not exactly sure what a niche is. According to Wikipedia…“A niche market is a focused, targetable portion (subset) of a market sector.By definition, then, a business that focuses on a niche market is addressing a need for a product or service that is not being addressed by mainstream providers.

A niche market may be thought of as a narrowly defined group of potential customers.A distinct niche market usually evolves out of a market niche, where potential demand is not met by any supply.Such ventures are profitable because of disinterest on the part of large businesses and/or lack of awareness on the part of other small companies.

The key to capitalizing on a niche market is to find or develop a market niche that has customers who are accessible, that is growing fast enough, and that is not owned by one established vendor already.

”Although exercise is by definition not a niche, a subset of exercise such as lower back exercises could be a niche."

But is it profitable? You bet, but it also had a modest amount of competition.With Bum Marketing, the goal is to find a niche where there isn’t a lot of competition, but there are enough buyers to make it profitable. If there’s a ton of competitors around, it’s going to be that much more difficult to dominate the niche and show up in search results. But on the other hand, if there aren’t enough people actively searching for a product similar to the one you’re promoting, as a result you’re not going to make many sales and earn much in the way of income. You need to find a healthy balance of the two and for most people, that’s one of the harder and more time consuming aspects of Bum Marketing.

So where do you find a niche that has enough buyers but not enough sellers? The easiest way is to look around you and your life. Look for and identify a problem that you’ve had or people around you have and find a solution to it. Ideally you’ll want to write about something you already know about so you don’t waste precious time with research and fact finding. Maybe you lost some files on your computer recently and needed to buy file recovery software. You probably didn’t buy the very first software program you came across – you likely compared them a little including differences in price, features/benefits, ease of use and so on. File recovery software is a niche that you know enough about from your research you should be able to write 5 or so articles on it.

Some other placed that I regularly get ideas from include online forums, television, newspapers, advertisements, conversations, wanted ads and so on. Or if you’re really stuck, you could even go to eBay or Google and search for private label rights niche articles to get good ideas for topics. You can buy them if you like, then simply rewrite the articles to save time, or you can just borrow the niche or topics and write your own from scratch.All in all, simply keep your eyes and ears open and a pen and paper handy, and you’ll come across more niches than you could ever utilize.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Justin Michie is an internet marketing entrepreneur, small business coach and author of Street Smart Internet Marketing.



If you're interested in earning $1,000+ per month, per niche using advanced Bum Marketing methods, be sure to grab a copy of his Advanced Bum Marketing Tactics & Techniques Report.



Or for some more free Bum Marketing articles, resources and tips you can check out his Bum Marketing Blog.

Identity Theft...Sign That Damn Card !

Guarding Against Fraud (from the FTC)
Here are some tips to help protect yourself from credit and charge card fraud.


Do:

Sign your cards as soon as they arrive. Carry your cards separately from your wallet, in a zippered compartment, a business card holder, or another small pouch.
Keep a record of your account numbers, their expiration dates, and the phone number and address of each company in a secure place.
Keep an eye on your card during the transaction, and get it back as quickly as possible.
Void incorrect receipts.
Destroy carbons.
Save receipts to compare with billing statements.
Open bills promptly and reconcile accounts monthly, just as you would your checking account.
Report any questionable charges promptly and in writing to the card issuer.
Notify card companies in advance of a change in address.


Don't:

Lend your card(s) to anyone.
Leave cards or receipts lying around.
Sign a blank receipt. When you sign a receipt, draw a line through any blank spaces above the total.
Write your account number on a postcard or the outside of an envelope.
Give out your account number over the phone unless you're making the call to a company you know is reputable. If you have questions about a company, check it out with your local consumer protection office or Better Business Bureau.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/cards.shtm

Drug Advertising & Made Up Diseases.......Oh My!

CBS Sunday Morning, revealed today, something, I've long suspected. The drug companies and their advertising honchos make up diseases to sell drugs!

RLS or Restless Leg Syndrome was a fine example. Just one of hundreds of diseases that did not exist when I was younger!

The other amazing revelation was that all drug advertising on TV is banned world wide, except in New Zealand, and of course the USA! And New Zealand is considering a ban!

I once worked for a pharmaceutical company in Ft Collins Colorado. It was the most corrupt, greedy, and immoral place I have ever worked. It should have been run by the Mafia instead of the Southern Baptists that actually ran it.........many who where graduates of Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

This company violated most SEC laws and rules, as well as FDA regulations...........OK, they lied, big time. It was all for money....big money. The biggest joke of all on investors was the drugs the company was built on didn't work........or in fact caused cancer........all are off the market. The company was sold and everyone who lied, became millionaires!

Maybe I should go see that new Michael Moore movie?

Identity Theft Part 3

http://www.amazon.com/Street-Journal-Complete-Identity-Guidebook/dp/0307338533



OK, finally I asked a customer in the store I work in where they learned the idiotic practice of not signing their credit/debit cards.or writing "see ID" instead of a signature. The Internet they tell me! Uh Huh.

The number one thing all credit card companies say to prevent fraud and identity theft is , "Sign your cards".........I feel this also needs to be a readable signature, not some flourish that is unreadable like a doctors writing!

Aside from shredding documents, stopping unwanted mail and card offers, how about limiting how many cards you carry?? No one needs 24-36 credit cards!

Oh, and how about stop writing checks? You have a check card, hello? The "float" is over...use a check card dummy! Also, since so many merchants have huge problems with check fraud, many, at least in Colorado Springs, have stopped accepting checks! I can think of no reason to use a check in a retail store.


Most major credit card issuers have "zero liability" for fraudulent purchases....MasterCard, American Express, and Visa! If your card doesn't do this, don't use it!

Cash Businesses are Losing Billions to Employee Theft

I have been in retail for over 20 years, and I'll never believe employees are the major cause of loss!

The bookstore I work for searches your back packs,lunch pails, etc. every day or every time you leave the store! You have to ask permission to go to the bathroom over a walkie-talkie! It is embarrassing, and despicable...and rude. If you think someone is a thief, fire them! Don't subject all the honest employees to ridicule


If you are a retail business owner or manager, be assured of one thing: employees are stealing from you. This article offers pragmatic tips you can put into action immediately to stem employee theft loses.

If you are a retail business owner or manager, be assured of one thing: employees are stealing from you. Employee theft is costing you and your fellow business owners billions of dollars annually.

The National Restaurant Association estimates that employees are responsible for 75% of inventory shortages--and that they steal what amounts to four percent of sales in restaurants. That alone amounts to over $20 billion in employee theft. The US Department of Commerce says 75 percent of employees steal from the workplace at least once--and half of those steal repeatedly. Why? Because no one catches them!

Many owners and managers already suspect they have a theft problem--but they don't really believe it could be their employees--especially if they themselves are honest people. Why would an employee steal?

But think like the employee. They often make minimum wage, and struggle financially. Maybe they're not taking cash--just walking out the door with food or liquor. They may even justify it by saying "everybody does it." This behavior is so widespread that--worst of all--they even may assume that management knows about it and is doing nothing.

Here's how to make a big dent in theft:

o Track Employee Sales
Dishonest employees count on owners and managers to not be paying attention. If the boss doesn't take the time to review the accounting and track individual employee sales, it makes it easier to skim cash.

Audit the cash to look for patterns. During a shift take a current reading, remove the register drawer and replace it with a fresh one. If one employee's cash register is always over or under by a large amount, or if the cash isn't adding up to what the register reading says, it should be a red flag. Share audit results with the staff. Just putting employees on notice that they could be audited at any time will discourage many of them from stealing, especially if the company is consistent about it. (And the boss could put a positive twist on it, by offering a reward to any employee who balances to the penny.)

o Work Side By Side With Employees

Pick one day a week to work behind the counter. Be sure to work with each employee. Is there a difference in sales for that day? Are the numbers always higher when the manager works? In a bar, restaurant or other cash retailer, this may mean an employee is pocketing some sales, or giving away food and drinks (or merchandise) to friends. (Don't reach any conclusions, however, until there's at least a month or so of results to analyze.)


o Trust But Verify

Review employees' schedules, their total sales, their "no sales" and their daily sales over several weeks and note which days they work. Then give the highest grossing employee an unexpected schedule change. What happens to the shift he or she left should provide interesting data. If sales increase for that shift, you may find that what looks like the best salesperson could also be the biggest source of employee theft. The busiest shifts are the easiest times to steal. Doing this with the lowest grossing sales person may provide more insight, too.

In the restaurant or bar business, this can be an eye-opener. A very busy bar may turn out to be the result of a bartender who is giving away drinks. Why not? He gets big tips--and frequently is rewarded by an owner who thinks the employee is generating big business!

These simple steps not only can minimize employee theft, but can provide a manager with useful insights. But if the company still appears to have a major problem, turn to an expert--someone who can identify what's happening when the manager isn't around. An undercover observer--whether a licensed investigator or a mystery shopper--can help catch the dishonest employee who's simply smart enough to keep his eye out for the boss.

Where there's one, there may be more

One final piece of advice: Never assume "the problem is solved"--or even that the worst offenders have been stopped. Nonetheless, by showing that you are serious about employee theft, you may discourage all but the most determined thieves--and reinforce the honest employees. The key is to be consistent and thorough.

Article Source: http://www.ArticlesAlley.com/

The Pros And Cons In Establishing An Ebay Store

Hmmmmm? I have still not been paid by the eBay/PayPal fiasco of selling my car on ebay on July 3 rd. I am sooo dubious!



Ebay has provided some amazing opportunities for many people to earn online. This widely popular auction site has become the primary destination for users who wish to purchase anything - ranging from tangible products to digital items - hence making eBay a website visited by millions of people every day. Because of the volume of transactions happening in its pages, eBay has also become a virtual market place where thousands, if not millions, of dollars exchange hands on a daily basis as well.

Do you want a piece of that big, big pie?

Then you must first have to establish an eBay store.

Now, this is not a strong recommendation. This article is not meant as a sales pitch for a membership with eBay, rather, it seeks to present the advantages and disadvantages of building your own eBay store. You must remember that eBay isn't the only place where you could peddle your goods. It is a good place where you could sell your items, but there are other alternatives you could consider. Should you settle with eBay? Or should you explore the alternative options? Let's study the matter more closely.

There are most certainly a lot of benefits that could be gained from establishing your own eBay store. Let's take a look at them.

* You'd be able to sell in a hotly visited environment. You'll be able to expose your products to a wide array of prospects.

* Once you have upgraded to a Featured Store, you'd be given $30 worth of PPC keywords per month. This means that your store would appear prominently in the results for the particular keywords that users will search for. Such would most certainly drive more traffic to your auctions.

* A Featured Store would also deliver some advanced reports for your auctions. You could use the statistics delineated therein to improve the way you construct your sales pages, and the way you present your items for better efficiency in your future offers.

* A Featured Store will also allow you more eBay pages, which would mean more exposure for your products. It's still a numbers game. The more auctions you have running, the more earning opportunities you could capitalize on.

* A Featured Store would allow you to reduce the size of the eBay banner appearing in your every auction. This would give you the chance to work on your page and bring the focus of your visitors to the items you will be selling.

* Ebay provides a certain level of seller protection and dispute resolution for potential problems you might encounter with your buyers.

Though these are great advantages for your online business, please bear in mind that they do not come without cost. There are also other disadvantages that are attached to having your own eBay store.

* Ebay stores don't come free. A basic store setup would cost $15.95 per month. A Featured Store status would cost an even higher $49.95 per month. And the king of all kings, an Anchor Store, would require you to spend an onerous $499.95 per month.

* Having your own eBay store would pressure you to perform well when it comes to your sales. Though some may consider this as a benefit since such will motivate the seller to plan his course of action, the dangers will be experienced when you fail to earn enough profit to cover the cost of your subscription.

* People go to eBay expecting the best deals in the online market. You have to compete at this level, otherwise, the moment people would see the going rate for your auction, they'd immediately hop to the next item up for sale.

* You'd be bound by eBay's selling policies. You cannot go around some of these restrictive policies, otherwise, you account can get suspended, or worse, terminated.

Establishing an eBay store is a solid choice for a business model. But you have to determine your goals as well as your marketing plan. Would an eBay store help you accomplish them? Or would selling your own goods in your own website, or through some affiliate automation program like http://www.clickbank.com , http://www.paydotcom.com or http://www.cj.com be better for your online business?

The choice is yours.

NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the "About The Author" resource box. Thanks! :-


About the Author
Nial Robbins owns the work at home directory website located at: http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com Come by and visit us today! Also, be sure to check out our "top pick" work at home opportunity at: http://www.NDR-HomeBiz.com/pips.html

Strategic vs. Tacticle Marketing

Most people mistakenly assume that when you talk about marketing, you're automatically talking about "Tactical" marketing - placing ads, generating leads, sending out mailers,attending trades shows, creating brochures, implementing a follow-up system, and so forth.

They fail to realize that the "Strategic" side of the coin - what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to - is almost always MORE important than the marketing medium of WHERE you say it.

So, What's The Difference Between Strategic And Tactical Marketing?

The distinction between the two is huge. "Tactical Marketing" is the execution of your marketing plan, such as generating leads, placing media, creating marketing tools, and implementinga follow-up system. In other words, it's the medium in which your message is delivered.

"Strategic Marketing" has to do with what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to. In other words, it's the content of your marketing message.

Strategic Marketing starts with understanding your customers andthe things that are important to them, understanding "WHY John Smith buys".

"If You Want To Know WHY John Smith Buys What John Smith Buys, You've Got To See The World THROUGH John Smith's Eyes."

Just putting a marketing message in an appropriate medium for John Smith to hear or read is not good enough. The strategy must derive from an understanding of what's important to John Smith. Otherwise, this tactical part of the marketing process will be much less effective, resulting in ads that under-perform.

Many companies try to figure out how to sell more before they find out how to provide a solution to their consumers' needs. The procedure for accomplishing this is exactly the same everysingle time, for every kind of business.

It's The Advertiser's Job To Pay Attention To Human Nature.Buyers Always Want To Make The Best Decision Possible.

Strategically, marketing programs and advertising should get theattention of target market prospects and facilitate their decision-making. This lowers their risk for taking the next step in the buying process.

By understanding what's important to your target market, you can then put together a strategy that gets more qualified prospects to call, reduces your sales cycle, and increases your conversion ratios.

AFTER the strategy is in place, the tactical execution simply consists of testing and implementing your strategic plan.

Get a FREE Comprehensive Tactical Marketing Checklist, simply email your request to mailto:support@mymondemand.com and ensure that you are considering all of the different types oftactical marketing resources you should consider.

May your marketing efforts be profitable.


About The Author:
~~~~~
James Bell, the author, teaches business owners, entrepreneurs,and professionals how to acheive bigger, bottom line results from their advertising & marketing efforts without spending moretime, effort, or money. Learn marketing strategies and tactics to separate yourself from your competition and become the obvious choice to do business with. To learn more about how to improve your own Marketing Efforts and Achieve Better Results, visit: http://www.MYMOnDemand.com. Email: mailto:jbell@mymondemand.com


Read more articles by: James Bell

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