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Friday, May 29, 2009

Fatal Branding Mistakes Business Owners Make

By nazir 4

In launching a new business, branding can often be an aspect given far less attention than it really deserves, and this can cause a number of problems and issues in the future. The brand of a product or service, or the company as a whole, can make a huge difference as far as its success is concerned. Think of the many brands which are clearly in the general public's consciousness, and then ask yourself, how they managed to get there.

In some cases, it is simply as a result of longevity. Naturally, major brands or companies which have been around for many years have become well known, and household names. But there are many new companies, organizations and services available which have not been around for very long at all, and yet they have already achieved a high level of status and recognition.

The most successful companies, including offline and online home businesses, put a great deal of time, effort and attention into their branding, and will include marketing and advertising into the discussion to try to ensure that the product is as successful as possible.

Branding can be everything from the name of the product or company, the logo, and any attributes such as color themes, styles, physical appearances and slogans. These need to work together, without being too complicated.

When it comes to a successful brand, simplicity is often the key. Sometimes the very complicated graphics, or difficult names, can be forgotten or ignored too easily. The simplest graphics, slogans and names can often become very popular, simply because they are so easy to remember and to recognize.

If you think of logos first of all, which brands jump to mind? Often it is the simple, clear, distinct logos which are most easily remembered, such as Nike, for example. Although there are successful logos which are at the same time quite complex, they tend to be in the minority, and have another aspect to them which is simple, in order to compensate for it. The Coca Cola logo is rather more complex than Nike's tick, yet the colours are limited to red and white, with a distinctive font.

Branding involves a wide range of aspects, the name being one which is of most importance. Remembering a logo, or a slogan, or even a color theme, without being able to remember the actual product or business name, is of no use whatsoever. Any logo or slogan needs to be able to bring the product or business name to mind, otherwise the branding has failed.

But thinking of a clever brand name is fraught with challenges. How do you come up with a name which is memorable, easy to pronounce, even if your customers don't speak the same language as you, and at the same time, encourages associations which are positive and relevant?

When deciding on a good brand name for a product, there are a few golden rules. Firstly, avoid trying to cash in on a rival's success by emulating their brand name, or copying or adapting it in a way which is clearly recognizable. Although this has been done before, and occasionally with a measure of success, it is best to avoid it for a number of reasons.

Associating yourself too closely with a rival could result in people thinking you are the other company, and remembering your advertising, but their product. You might also find yourself beset with legal challenges and infringement of copyright issues. Not only that, but what would you do if there was a scandal, or problem with the company you were trying to piggy back a ride on?

The general public has tired of words such as 'mega', and other related superlatives. The trouble with superlatives is that they can be too frequently abused and, like a medicine or drug, they become accepted, and eventually ignored and unnoticed. If your first product is a 'mega', and then you bring out an improved model, what superlative will you use next? And after that? Eventually it can become absurd, with products branded as new, and improved, mega super products that begin to sound slightly desperate.

Be aware also that when people are searching the web for products or services such as yours, the name needs to be clearly associated with the type of product or service. Think about the keywords you'll be using. If you're selling web hosting, then try to include the words web, hosting, or other technology related words in the brand name, since most searches will be based on these.

Branding is a tricky area, and needs to be treated with caution and care, and given enough attention, without overworking it to the point of unnecessary complexity.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

Naz Daud - CityLocal UK Business Franchise Ireland Business Franchise Business Franchise Opportunity Latest Businesses Featured Businesses

Thursday, May 28, 2009

How to Write Sales Letters for your Business

By Robert D. Thomson

Sales letter is considered the workhorse of any direct-mail sales effort. Sales letter has been around for a hundred years, and from the last 50 years, the experts are working at fine-tuning its appeal.

Many direct-mail campaigns consist of sales letter only. You can easily duplicate and reproduce the newsletter. It is very simple to test it. A well-written sales letter offers you the opportunity to "make your case" to the prospect.

Here are some principles that you can follow to write a good sales letter:

1. Write person-to-person
It means that it should be in the style "I" writing to "you." It provides you one-on-one selling opportunity. When the prospect opens your envelope, you have grabbed his/her attention at least for a few moments. You should not use formal language in your sales letter. Write the sales letter in such a way as you are telling the benefits of the product to your friend.

2. First impression is the last impression
Your first paragraph should be very impressive. As people are busy, so they do not have enough time to finish it. Therefore, your first paragraph should have a good impression upon the prospect. You should put the maximum benefits that your product is offering in the first paragraph. You should put the solution of the problem that your product is offering.

3. Boxes, subheads and bullets in your letter
You should avoid your sales letter to make an encyclopedia article. By breaking up any large chunks of copy with headings and indents, you can convey your message in a very subtle way. Your reader would be able to scan the letter quickly and he would decide in the first few seconds whether it's worth reading. So, you should make your letter in such a way that the reader is able to get the main idea with a cursory look.

4. Keep the sales letter short
You should try to keep your sales letter as short as possible. It can be limited to a single page as well, if you can include all the relevant material in a single page.

You should try to make your newsletter very attractive to grab the attention of your customers even for a few moments.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

Thomas is an author and SEO expert. He teaches effective article marketing strategies with unique content articles. Take a look at his blog for new online SEO and web hosting related articles. Visit How to Write Sales Letters for your Business.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Qualities of a Management Consultant

By Gen Wright

With the fast rising organizations and workplaces, it is important to have a business practice which should analyze the existing business problems and develop plans of action for further improvements for these organizations or companies. This business practice is known as management consultancy. Anyone who has good analytical capabilities and is good in assessing as well as solving the specific business problems can fit in well as a management consultant. Other than these, there are some basic requirements which are crucial for a person to become a good management consultant.

The basic qualities required to become a good management consultant are:

1.) Holding a proper degree. To become a management consultant, the first and foremost requirement is to have a degree in accounting or business or any other related subject before getting into this endeavor. Companies usually give preference as well as credit to those people who have a related education background pertaining to the job as it helps the individual as well as the growth of the organization.

2.) Expertise in your chosen field. It is very important to specialize in a particular field as specialization is directly linked to obtaining expertise in your chosen field. You should know yourself well to analyze whether you would want to focus on business law, accounting or information technology. In case you have a 10 or 15 years experience in consultancy, you can then become a general business consultant easily without even having specialization.

3.) Get the exposure. Companies usually don't hire if you don't have a related business experience of at least 3 to 5 years. In case you are a fresher, it would be advisable to start your services as an intern where you can work, provide your consultancy services and gain experience for free. The process might not enable you to make money but it will surely provide you with an experience which is very important for you to get further in the field of management consultancy.

4.) Have good communication as well as interpersonal skills. Being a management consultant, your job profile requires you to be able to interact with diverse kind of individuals. Therefore, you must possess exceptional interpersonal and communication skills. In fact, whatever the job profile might be, these skills should be inherent in every individual to be able to stand out amongst the fellow mates and to be able to put his/her point across the people. For this purpose, you can attend the training sessions and seminars that keep happening these days to improve your skills and your temperament as well.

5.) Be able to sell your services. With the required degree, your expertise in your chosen field, all those inherent skills and your experience you should be ready to offer your services to your prospects. One major requirement would be to create presentable and powerful curriculum vitae which should talk loads about your experience and your expertise but should be truthful and then circulate them in all those companies where you would want to work.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

Visit the website to know more about management training provider or management consultants.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

How to Write an Ebook Properly

By Scott Boyd

Ebook writing is an unusually complex monster unlike simply writing a novel or an essay. Regular books or novels can depend on popularity and style. Ebooks on the the other hand is still a totally new ballgame for most of the players, and you must always be playing at the peak of your game than you would be anywhere else.

Similar to websites, there are a number of ebook writers who are more successful than the rest and it's not just a matter of style and whipping out as many books as possible. From start to finish they pull off numerous tricks and philosophies that purely make their ebooks more interesting than others. In any case, a vast amount of people still doesn't prefer to read books on their computer screens - that's why you must continue to read on to make your digital writing masterpiece more interesting.

To start with, you must research, research and research. You have to remember that there are a lot of people in the world saying plenty of useful and interesting things free of charge - and that's why you need to say something fresh and innovative or something more clearly than everybody else around you. Do the groundwork yourself or employ someone to do the groundwork for you, so that you can focus on writing.

There is a need to be slightly over the top for the reason that competition is stiff. As mentioned before, it is unwise to just keep offering the same thing. You can't just also offer the same thing as everyone else - you need to go above and beyond to secure your readers and obtain their love. If they ask for five, give them seven. Make them feel special by giving extras, bonuses and the like. A remarkable product with a money back guarantee makes a digital item more appealing than already is.

You need to know what it is that you desire to offer them, when speaking of what you're offering to your customer and putting it in your ebook. You also have to find out just how much they're prepared to spend on a certain piece. Keyword research also plays a very significant role in figuring out what people are on the look out for and just how much they're shelling out for it. It is of course, a type of market research.

It's incredibly understandable that you'd want to get into writing and selling ebooks. With just a month's work, you can sell and make money out of one thing forever. Of course, you may not have an everlasting life and people won't be interested in it forever, but you already get the picture. You have to write every ebook as excellent and interesting as you can make it. If you're well known for high quality work, sooner or later you'll also be famous for having high profits and sales. Writing an ebook doesn't require that you have to be a Pulitzer winner, but you still have to work hard and write well.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

Do you wish to make great money writing and selling ebooks in just 30 days or less? Discover the simple action plans in one complete guide for writing and selling ebooks today at Write and Sell Ebooks Guide. Check out my jam packed Writing Ebooks Blog where you will discover a wealth of free information.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Power of Testimonials

By Lilach Bullock

The first thing a testimonial does is give your company credibility. By gaining credibility, people gain more confidence that your company does a good job and is reliable, taking away some trepidation about buying your services. It also differentiates your company, helping you to stand out from the crowd. People can see beyond what is advertised and share in personal experiences that really demonstrate why your company is the one they should go for.

But how do you go about obtaining them? Well, there are a few different ways. For my company, I always hand out surveys at the end of workshops to get feedback. I will also email regular clients and ask for them, and link back to their business on my website when I post their testimonial. Some businesses have surveys after appointments, or you can take them verbally as well. If you do take one verbally, just make absolutely sure that you do not misquote your client.

When you do get testimonials in, make sure they are compelling and will impact future prospects. A good testimonial should be very positive, not blase in any way. For example, “Overall I was pleased does not have the same impact as the service I received was brilliant, prompt and always with a smile!” It is not illegal or ethically wrong to edit out less exciting bits of a testimonial as long as you are not changing the intention of the statement. So for example, it would be okay to edit a statement as follows:

“I thought the seminar was good. I thought it was very impactful and would highly recommend it to anyone else.”

“I thought the seminar was very impactful and I would highly recommend it.”

Testimonials are great to use on your website, on leaflets, brochures and information packs. Really, they are good to use anywhere you are promoting your services. In shorter promotions, just use your strongest one to highlight how great your company is.

Another form of testimonials, which is actually the strongest, is video. Television is the most powerful media outlet, so if you have any way of exploiting it, I suggest doing so. Video testimonials give a person behind the statement, and are an avenue through which people can really connect with your business. It is real people, just like them, experiencing great results. It is genuine and unrehearsed, and people relate to people better than they do to printed materials.

So use your testimonials to give your business credibility and show potential new clients that you have proven your worth time and again. Otherwise, how would they know?

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

Lilach Bullock runs 2 full time businesses, asklilach providing virtual pa services & Virtual PA Training, helping people set up their own successful virtual assistant business. Lilach recently attended an Award Ceremony at Downing Street for best Mumpreneur. asklilach.co.uk

Monday, May 11, 2009

Have You Started Marketing On The Internet Already?

By Timothy Crane

Take a moment to think about how you would really answer this question. If given enough thought, just about any business owner who utilizes the Internet for any purpose will likely find that whether or not they intentionally organized an Internet marketing campaign, they may already be marketing their products and services on the Internet.

This article will examine some subtle ways business owners may already be marketing their business on the Internet.

Do you have a website for your business? Business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their products or services online just by virtue of the fact that they have a website online. Having a live website means there is the potential for curious Internet users to access your website.

You may not be actively promoting your website but you may still find that your website generates interest in your products despite the lack of promotional endeavors; this is a form of passive marketing.

Do you participate in message boards and include a link to your website in your signature? Again business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their website online.

Savvy business owners realize the importance of participation in industry related message boards to create an interest in their products and services, establish themselves as knowledgeable about the industry and offer a link to their own website, even if it is in the signature line of their posts.

However, even business owners who do not realize this may already be inadvertently enjoying the benefits of Internet marketing which result from message board participation just by doing something they enjoy and may be doing as a form of leisure activity.

Do you include keywords which are relevant to your business in the content of your website? Business owners who answer yes to this question are also already marketing on the Internet by optimizing their website for these keywords.

These search engine optimization (SEO) affects the websites whether or not they were even aware of the concept of keyword density and how it can help to SEO a website.

Business owners will likely use certain words often depending on the type of products and services they offer just because it is natural and logical to do so.

This tendency, however, can result in search engines boosting your website rankings for these particular keywords. The concept of SEO is much more involved and complex than simply using keywords frequently, but business owners can gain some benefit just by naturally applying relevant keywords to their website.

Do you solicit feedback from your customers online? This is yet another example of how business owners may be accidentally marketing their business on the Internet.

Most business owners realize the importance of soliciting feedback from customers for business purposes, and business owners who offer products online might solicit feedback in the form of online surveys.

Although the business owners may be doing this simply for a business purpose, the fact that it is done online makes it fall into the category of Internet marketing.

We have already discussed several ways in which business owners may already be marketing online, but what about business owners who want to have an increased online presence?

Business owners who may already be marketing online accidentally may wish to launch a full scale Internet marketing campaign. The best way to do this is to hire a consultant with experience in Internet marketing to assist you in creating a campaign which is effective for your target audience.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

For more information about Internet Marketing and how you can learn to be a super affiliate like the pros, go watch this video on one of the best programs out there, Just Click Here theimsuccessformula.info

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Overcoming Writers Block To Get Started Writing Articles And Ebooks Again

By Connie Ragen Green

Sometimes you sit down to write and nothing comes to mind. We may consider this to be writer's block, but I consider it to be lack of planning. If you plan what you will be writing about before you start to write, the entire process becomes much simpler.

This really comes down to setting goals you intend to achieve, as well as time management. Writing is a pleasurable experience for many people, and it is also a way to earn money and build a business for yourself. Take the time to write down your goals for writing, whether you are writing articles, blog posts, short reports, or any other type of writing. Make a schedule for yourself as well, so that you know when you are scheduled to write.

I keep a small notebook with me at all times. I have one in my bag, one in my car, and one downstairs at my house. When I have an idea for an article or a blog post, I quickly write down a few sentences so that I will not have to try to remember the idea later. Every evening, when I clean up my work area, which is in my master bedroom at my home, I leave my writing idea list next to my computer. That way it is ready and waiting for me when I get up the next morning.

Making a daily schedule has also made it much easier for me to write regularly and be more productive. I usually write one or two articles, as well as post to my blog, before I do anything else in the morning. I plan my writing schedule, and also my other appointments, at least one week in advance. I think of this as my rocks, pebbles, sand example. My top priority is my family. That is my main rock. Next is my business, which is writing online and technology, so that is also a rock for me. Spending time volunteering in my community, as well as helping others, is a pebble for me. Everything else is just sand, meaning that it may or may not fit in with what I am doing in my life that is considered a priority.

As you can see by now, it is all just a matter of planning out what you want to achieve by setting goals and sticking to them. If you are willing to do these simple things to organize and prioritize your life, you will never again suffer from what we commonly refer to as writer's block.

Article Source: http://www.articlehighlight.com
(my own article directory)

Connie Ragen Green teaches you how to write articles and eBooks to build an online business, as well as how to use the technology needed. Visit Ebook Writing and Marketing Secrets to find out more.