Why Digital Marketing Is The Way Forward

by: Anita Lyon


Digital marketing solutions are a must for companies attempting to progress into the new age. Standard advertising and marketing tactics are far less effective these days, but why. Well it's pretty simple actually, cost and reach. In days gone by, focusing your entire marketing budget into newspaper, radio or magazine advertising campaigns could be sufficient for some businesses. Nowadays, readership in print media is down almost across the board, and that is largely due to the rise of the internet. Why stop and buy the newspaper when you can get to your office go online and read all the news you can handle without having to hand over any money. With this rise, came the dawn of digital marketing. For many top companies, digital marketing involves a lot more than just public relations. It is an integration of the right technology, equipping your staff with the right skills and streamlining the way you turn browsers into customers. Remember, attracting attention is great, but
paying clients is what you are actually after when you use digital marketing services.

Here are some tips to help you kick-start your journey into the digital marketing era:

• Set goals: Decide what you want to achieve, then you can properly plan the steps needed to get there. When using your website as a marketing tool, consider attracting visitors through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). You should also integrate a decent analytics system to properly monitor the visitor movement on your site.

• Create an identity: The rise of social media has allowed companies to connect with their customers on a deeper level. It also makes marketing to these interested parties that much more effective.

• Email marketing is a must: Many people will compare email marketing to pamphlet drops. In a way they are similar, except with email marketing it is far more effective both in its ability to attract customers and the number of people it reaches.

• Help your customers: Try using a blog as a standalone marketing tool. Here you can share helpful information about products, share thoughts on certain topics and also provide more in-depth answers that your customers may be searching for.

These are just a few of the things to keep in mind when taking your first step into digital marketing. Although it is quite possible for you to do it yourself, choosing a leading digital marketing company will definitely give you the edge. There has never been a better time than now to implement digital marketing solutions for your company.

About The Author
Anita Lyon is a Professional freelance SEO Copywriter and writes on various topics. If you are looking to gain a better understanding about digital marketing solutions visit Acceleration, the leaders in Digital Marketing Services.

Investing In Gold Bullion

by G Smith 
Today I am 100% invested in Gold.........in a practice investment account, my position is $998,000 in GOLD!  In a few hours I'll see how I did. (BentnWasted)
 
For thousands of years Gold has been used as currency and been
a highly prized precious metal. Gold has always been a favored
investment to hedge your portfolio against inflation. Gold
prices in the international gold market can remain fairly
stable through times of instability, recession and currency
fluctuations.

The ways of investing in gold can be via purchasing physical
gold bullion in the form of gold bars or gold rounds, minted
gold coins. Gold shares in gold mining companies are also
available and various types of gold funds or mutuals that are
managed by professional investors.

Holding at least a small percentage of your stock portfolio in
gold bullion is always a good idea. The relatively stable price
of gold can help insure your investment portfolio against
economic instability. Gold bullion prices may fluctuate over
the years but gold investments are highly unlikely to get
devalued and have performed well over recent years.

Gold coins have a legal tender face value in the countries
currency that they were minted, and can be easier to dispose of
if you need to liquidate your gold assets. Many types of gold
bullion rounds or gold coins are available, such as American
Eagles, Krugerrands, Sovereigns, Canadian Maples, Australian
Gold Nuggets, Chinese Gold Pandas and many more. Gold bullion
bars are available in many different sizes upto 400 ounce size.
The 400 oz bullion gold bar is the London Good Delivery bar
size. Good delivery bars must meet certain specifications, they
must weigh between 350oz - 430oz and be of a minimum purity of
99.5% pure Gold. These London Good Delivery bullion bars are
normally held by central banks and not usually held by smaller
private investors.

Mining shares can be lucrative but their performance depends on
the success of the mine and the general standing of the mining
company you are investing in. Therefore mining stocks may not
follow the general trend of the gold fix market, but can
outperform the market if the mining company is particularly
successful.

A precious metals gold managed fund can provide a more diverse
gold stocks portfolio. The funds manger may invest in various
precious metals and gold shares spreading any risk between a
selection of stocks. Precious metals mutuals are available that
also invest in other metals such as Silver, Platinum and
Palladium as well as gold stocks.

The most cost effective way to invest in physical gold is to
buy larger bullion bars. Gold bullion in bar form offers the
lowest gold dealers percentage over the gold market price,
depending on the bars size the dealers premium over fix can be
as low as 2% - 5%. Compared to the premium on various gold
coins of between 7% - 20% or more gold bullion bars appear much
more attractive financially. Although the fact that gold bullion
rounds or coins are much more liquid than bars may sway your
decision to purchase bars. Gold coins can be disposed of on the
open market fairly easily and quickly in comparison to large
gold bars. Coins are also much easier for the smaller investor
or private individual to obtain and to store. There is also the
collectable and historical value that gold coins have against
gold bullion bars.

About The Author: Gold bullion investment tips and live gold
fix market price charts visit http://www.gold-fix.co.uk For
silver,gold and platinum live price quotes and information
visit http://www.goldfix.net

Restaurant Marketing

by: Massimo Montone

Marketing is defined as a communications-based process where individuals and people discover that their existing or new needs and wants can be satisfied with products and services of others; in your case, your restaurant.

The question is - do you need a marketing plan for your restaurant or are you waiting for guests to come in?

If you are full every shift, maybe not. Unless you want to achieve greater profits, however a marketing plan means thinking in advance. Don’t wait until the revenue goes down to do it. Do it before and fill your seats.

In order to get the marketing plan for your restaurant right, you need to have a good understanding of your potential customers and be clear on why they make decisions to buy from you and not from someone else.

Subsequently, to get it right, you want to look at all of the following factors:

• Nature of the market.

• Customers.

• Competitors.

• Financial and marketing history.

• The industry as a whole.

• Any external influences, such as events, festivals etc.

Obtain a good analysis of what and where your guests are coming from and how often customers are visiting your restaurant.

When writing a restaurant marketing plan, you have to consider the seven Ps of marketing - plus one of mine.

• Product.

• Price.

• Place.

• Promotions.

• People.

• Process.

• Physical evidence.

• Positive.

Let’s focus on the last four for a moment.

To have a good competitive advantage, you need to focus on people, therefore get the right staff and training to deliver what people expert from your business. Aptitude and service knowledge needs to be equal to what your customers are outlaying.

The process is the system you have to implement and follow. Consistency is essential in order to get it right and supply what you are offering. Every step in the process is important - from the few words spoken to a guest when they call to make a booking, to the conversation during a guest’s departure.

Physical evidence is a critical ingredient of the restaurant service mix; your guests make perceptions based on their view of the restaurant. Make sure you keep your restaurant clean, friendly, fun, organized and an enjoyable place to be.

People are attracted by positive statements and positive organizations. Do everything in your power to keep your business and everyone who works for you POSITIVE. If you have great power and energy, eventually this will pass on to your guests.

http://www.restaurant-success-course.com/

The strategy

A restaurant should spend at least somewhere between 6% and 8% of the total sales in marketing, but the idea is to do marketing when you are busy. Don’t wait until you are quiet. Remember, for a restaurant it is more, much more difficult and more expensive to do external marketing.

What you want to do is to invest in your current guests, and build loyalty and relationships. However, most restaurants spend 85-90% of their budget trying to get new customers.

What we are going to look at now is how to do that effectively by using simple tactics.

Signage:

You want to have branded signage that is the best on your street, considering relevant laws.

Flyers:

Don’t be scared to distribute flyers if you are opening, reopening, or launching a new dinner menu. It is the most powerful mode of direct marketing and if done right can result in a fantastic return on investment.

Newsletters:

Before creating a newsletter, list on your website reasons for visitors to register, by giving out a receipt or a free drink if they book online. Once you have your mailing list, do a newsletter every week, informing guests of your news, menus and once in a while offer something to them as a thank you for being on the list.

The internet has become one of the most powerful marketing tools for restaurants. So, make sure your restaurant is up to speed.

Food testing:

Have your positive staff members offer samples in places where your potential customers congregate.

One to one:

Go around town, or in front of your business dressed in a themed costume (for example, if you sell pasta, dress up as such) and hand out your flyers. I know businesses that have used that tactic in bad times who are now extremely successful.

Themed Dinners:

On slow nights offer diners a reason to come to the restaurant. For example, on Mondays offer wine at cost price, lunchtime specials or a specific set menu that is cheaper during slow times. Remember, give your guests reasons to come in.

Prize Draw:

Have fishbowls for collecting business cards and offer chances to win prizes, for example, dinner for two.

Website:

Make sure your website is interesting and well presented, but most importantly, make sure your information is CORRECT. I see many restaurant websites that feature old menus or outdated information. Many people before they buy something make a decision to check the internet for information and reviews. This includes restaurants. More than 50% of adults aged between 18 and 44 have used the internet to gain information before going to a new restaurant.

Comments Card:

Ensure that if you decide to have one, it is professionally presented and offer a prize for completing one, for example a bottle of wine. Obtain the guest’s information, for example, e-mail or phone number to increase your customer database.

Loyalty Program:

You may want to create a loyalty card for regulars by giving 20% off the bill, or offering a free bottle of wine with every fifth dinner.

Happy hour:

Make people stop for a drink after work by offering a two for one drinks or free starters.

Live Entertainment:

Select a specific night to do live music. Be specific about what you are playing, could be jazz, or another genre of music.

Some restaurant operators have on the back of their personal business card the message, “please come and have a drink on me.” This is a very powerful strategy!

Remember that you must offer great customer service and warmth to your visiting customers. Make them have fun and have an exceptional experience, so that they tell their family and friends about their positive experience.

Only then you will have the best form of marketing - free marketing!

http://www.restaurant-success-course.com/

About The Author

Meet Massimo - Professional Restaurant Coach

Massimo Montone is the author of the Money Making Restaurant Success Course, and founder and creator of the Expert Restaurant Coaching Program EPER module for restaurant success.

He is a successful Manager and Life Coach Professional, creating solutions for restaurants and bars around the world, using innovative consultancy skills to quickly assess new opportunities in-house and externally - to capture market potential in the hospitality sector.

Introduced to the restaurant business at very young age in Italy, Massimo ran his family’s successful restaurant and was educated at one of the world’s best culinary schools. He then went on to work in some of the finest kitchens in London, gaining much ‘hands on’ experience. He holds a Masters Degree in Business Management. Moreover, his professional vision helps him see the restaurant business from the ‘outside of the box.’

Massimo’s unique and positive approach to people management makes him one of the best in the field of personal development training for restaurant managers and owners. His workshops are fun, easy to understand, practical, interactive, informative and full of energy.

An author of the Money Making Restaurant Success Course and creator of the Expert Restaurant Coaching Program, Massimo Montone is a leader in professional restaurant success coaching and consultancy.

http://www.restaurant-success-course.com/

The author invites you to visit: http://www.restaurant-success-course.com

How to Perform a Job Search

by: Jimmy J. Davis

Going on a job search can often be a very harrowing experience for many people around the world. However, it doesn't have to be, especially if you are well organized and plan things out. If you know where and when to search, then finding work should come a little bit easier to you. But you need to realize that you will have to put some time and effort into the venture. It's not very often that jobs will just fall into your lap.

It's often been said to job seekers that "it's not what you know it's who you know." However, while this may certainly be the case for some people, it's definitely not the norm. So be prepared to show your skills and talents when being interviewed for a position. Make sure you can live up to your resume.

And speaking of resumes, it's essential that you have one and that it's up to date. It must also be well organized and error free. If you need help creating one, there are many types of agencies that can help you out. It's almost impossible to get a job these days without a good resume as well as an accompanying cover letter.

When going on a job search it certainly will help if you know exactly what type of employment it is you're looking for. There are some people who are desperate and will take anything, but if this isn't your case, then decide on the field of work that appeals to you. If you've just graduated from college or lost a previous job you probably have a good idea.

If you're one of those people who just can't seem to make up their mind about the type of job or career you'd like, then you may want to get some help. There are a lot of employment-related agencies around the world that will give you tests to see what field of work appeals to you and what you're qualified for. Most of these agencies charge a fee, but some countries offer government programs that are free.

Once you know the type of work you're looking for then it's a good time to start your job search. There are various places to look for work. You can start off with the classified ads of your local newspaper and the job board at the regional employment office. Job agencies are also a good place to look as are online classifieds.

In fact, there is usually a wealth of jobs available on the internet as there are many sites that are designed to help people in a job search. These websites usually have a listing of available employment opportunities in a variety of categories and fields. They're usually updated on a daily basis and some of them will even send you the job listings to your email address.

If your job search leads to an interview make sure you take it seriously and are well prepared for it. Be sure to dress appropriately and be on time for the interview. Having some knowledge of the company and their field of expertise will also go a long way in helping you land a job.

About The Author



Jimmy J. Davis is the article writer for three major Texas job sites. For more career advice visit http://www.thetexasjobsource.com, http://www.texasjobfaircalendar.com and http://www.houstonjobdepot.com.

12 Ways To Do Social Media Marketing With Twitter

by: Ron Knight

Twitter is a wildly popular microblogging service. It involves writing Tweets, which are short updates of a maximum of 140 characters that tell your followers what you are up to. Although your Tweets are technically supposed to answer the question, “What are you doing?” Twitter has moved far beyond that. Tweets are used to share stories, link to photos, promote content, break news, and a whole lot more. Twitter has also become an incredibly important tool for social media marketing professionals. Here are 12 ways in which Twitter can be used in your social media marketing campaign.

1. Sharing Links to Items of Interest

As soon as you read something online that you think is interesting, it is easy to share it on Twitter with all of your followers. Twitter is highly effective in this manner because it is such a quick way to be able to reach a large group of people. You can also get a lot of great ideas for blog posts from Twitter since many new ideas and stories are floating around that haven’t even made it to the blogosphere and definitely not to mainstream media.

2. Building Your Network

Using Twitter is a great way to build your network because it allows you to find and follow people with similar interests. You can use Steeple to find people who live in your geographical area. You can also use other tools that help you find new people to follow based upon who your Twitter friends follow.

3. Build Relationships within Your Current Network

People in different networks often use Twitter to connect with their contacts instantly rather than using instant messaging for that purpose. Furthermore, many people use Twitter to connect with their network during events like conferences.

4. Re-Distributing Content from Your Blog or Website

Twitter can be used to redistribute content from your blog or website. However, you should take care to do this thoughtfully since many of your Twitter followers may already read your blog. For that reason, you may want to avoid using a blog plug-in that automatically Tweets your posts. Your best bet is to Tweet your content manually and customize each Tweet so it doesn’t get old.

5. Get Involved in Live Tweeting Events

Twitter launched at SXSW last year, catapulting microblogging conferences to fame. Live Tweeting events are great because they are a form of citizen journalism that allow you to connect with several new people in your niche while making active and valuable contributions to current discussions in your community.

6. Pitching Stories to Journalists on Twitter

You can send a direct message to a journalist who is following you on Twitter to pitch a story idea.

7. Communicating with Your Team

You can use Twitter as a company intranet that connects all of your employees. Twitter can be particularly useful in this regard if you have a virtual business with employees in different geographical locations. You can set your updates to private for security reasons. Anytime you are working on group projects, you can stay in touch with your team members using Twitter.

8. Brand Monitoring

Stay up to date with any mentions of your business on Twitter. If there is anything negative, you will be able to counter it quickly. You can also use Twitter as a way to receive feedback from your customers and improve your business. Just ask your followers to give their opinion on something. For example, if you designed a new website, ask your followers what they think about it and get their constructive criticisms so you can make your site design even better.

9. Acquire More Votes on Social Media Websites

If you have submitted a story to Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, or any other social voting website, tweet a link to that submission to try to score more votes from your followers. If your followers like what they see, they are sure to vote for your content.

10. Hiring People

Looking for a programmer, designer, or writer? Whatever type of professional you seek, try finding them on Twitter. Simply send your followers a tweet telling them you are looking for someone for a job. They can either recommend someone to you or offer themselves for the job. Using Twitter in this way is ideal for finding qualified freelancers. It is much more convenient than putting out a classified ad.

11. Build Your Personal Brand

When you use Twitter to talk about things as mundane as what you ate for breakfast or how you are going to sleep early tonight, you make your followers feel like you are casual and approachable. Even those with running a company that has a cold, corporate brand image could create more appeal and build a unique personal brand using Twitter.

12. Streamline Electronic Communications

When you use Twitter, you’re likely to find yourself using IM, email, and other electronic communication methods less. Twitter not only provides public chatting through Tweets, it also allows you to send direct messages. Twitter will help you streamline your electronic communications, allowing you to scale back online.



About The Author

Ron Knight is a India based Internet Solutions consultant with many years of experience helping people and businesses out in establishing a stronger presence on the web. Many Internet Marketing Services India companies have benefited immensely from his advice. (http://www.empoweredseo.com/)

Advertising for Free

Advertising for Free
by: Omar Radaidehf


Advertising for free sounds impossible when mentioned, especially if we're talking about effective advertisment . But there are several ways by which the cost of advertisement can be reduced or even eleminated (money wise) though at the expense of some extra time, and with the help of some imagination and creativity.

A business wanting to advertise, through article marketing, can write articles related to their field of expertise and can submit them to media and publications having interest in that particular field. The advertising article can have information about the company and dealership opportunity. new websites have sprung up which offer free services such as article submission and press releases and articles can be written for these websites and then broadcasted for free, which will be viewed by hundreds of people everyday.

Once the business has gained some recognition, within no time it will gain popularity .

Free bulletin board located in the neighborhood, like in grocery stores, libraries, and salons, are another good idea. Advertising circulars can be posted on such boards for free. Circulars for mass distribution can be handed out at the mall, shopping center, bus stops, particularly on weekends when there is a big rush. Students can be hired on part time basis for this purpose.

Promotional advertisement can be printed on the envelopes used by the business firms. Both the sender and the receiver can view this advertisement. Promotional offers can be sent to customers by postcards, which should be utilized to its full, leaving only place left for writing the address.

Some of the new mail order publications offer free first time and seasonal deductions for advertisers. Other publications offer pay per inquiry space. Inquiries can be made about stand-by space, which means that the publication holds the submission of advertisement until the space is not sold and in that case, thirty three percent saving can be achieved. Usually local newspapers provide these kinds of offers.

If the business is involved in ad sheet or catalog publishing, other publishers can be contacted for the purpose of bartering an advertising exchange. They can place advertisement in their publication, in return for placing their advertisement in the business’s publication.

Free offers can be provided to the customer. This can be done by emailing or printing newsletter about information regarding the area of interest of the targeted customers and can be made popular by using tag lines. Attach a free coupon with it, which the customers can use it for shopping, if a criterion is met like minimum purchase of $ 50. By this the response will be huge and most of them will purchase something or the other to avail the free offer. The basic ingredient for advertising for free is imagination and research. Opportunities should be searched and a strong working force should be applied to increase the sales.