CPAlead Campaigns

jeudi 31 décembre 2009

Pointers in Choosing A Warehouse

By Farrah Davies

With the massive growth in urban population, living area of city apartments and residences is reducing at a very high pace. On the other hand, with higher buying power and growing consumerism, we all desire to buy new articles for our home. These two opposite forces have led to a scenario where people are falling short of space to keep their items, and this has led to a fast growth in the storage industry.

You should not be hasty in your search for a warehouse and be careful before choosing one. There are all kinds of storage companies out there, and you must opt for the one that has the proper facilities in place to make sure that your valuable articles will be cared for properly. Here are few important things that you will need to consider while choosing a warehouse.

Security must be your primary concern for warehouse selection. The warehouse must have updated security systems in place to protect your articles from burglars. A good warehouse would usually feature door alarms, electronic access doors, and CCTV cameras.

Your goods need to be secured not only from thieves but also from fire. Warehouses are at risk of catching fires and so it is important that the facility is equipped with all essential measures for fire protection to safeguard your valuables. The warehouse must have alarms that would start ringing at the slightest sign of a fire, and the storage areas must be made up of fireproof materials.

Your items will also require protection from the weather. Weather conditions, especially moisture, can harm fragile items having excellent aesthetic and historical value, like paintings and antique furniture. If you are storing pharmaceuticals or hi tech items then you might also require protection from heat. To deal with these problems, the storage company must provide climate control technology, which can maintain the conditions inside the storage at a proper level to avoid any harm to your items.

Your valuables also require to be protected from all types of pests. Pests are difficult to find and in a very short span they can fully damage goods like wooden furniture. Thus the warehouse should have sufficient pest control measures like use of pesticides and maintaining hygiene.

Finally, the employees of the warehouse should be cooperative and willing to help. In most cases they will be engaged in loading, transportation, and unloading of the goods, and if your goods get destroyed in this process then it becomes irrelevant how great the storage facility is. Therefore, the staff should be well trained in these processes and should earnestly care for your goods.

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Cause Marketing - A New Solution - Buy1GIVE1 (Buy One Give One)

By David Anttony

Buy One Give One (B1G1) is the home of transaction-based giving.

STOP. Take a breath. And imagine you were part of a world where every single transaction made a key difference.

Imagine, for a moment, you bought a TV, and automatically a cataract-blind child received the gift of sight. Automatically. Or imagine if today you purchased a cup of coffee and someone in Africa got access to clean, pure water as a direct result. Automatically again.

It's all happening right now. Already Buy1GIVE1 (B1G1) has become a true global giving 'village', bringing together businesses, their customers and worthy causes in a way that's never been done before.

It's happening globally, every second, every day and in every way with a staggering 556 projects already underway and making a difference.

That's because in the Buy1GIVE1 world, every single sales transaction, be it buying a cup of coffee in Cape Town or renting a car in Reno (and everything in between) gives forward in a well-defined, resonant and measurable way.

In this present economy, when both corporations and charities have seen a decrease in profits and donations, cause-related marketing seems to really be catching on. Cause-related marketing is a business scheme involving a partnership between a company with a product to sell and a charity with a cause to advance. Unlike "corporate philanthropy," which simply includes a company making a tax-deductible charitable contribution, cause-related marketing benefits both the company (by helping to increase sales, and thus, profits), and the charity (by bringing in donations and calling attention to the cause.)

You buy a book, a tree gets planted. You dine out, a child gets fed. Buy One Give One - simple. The list goes on forever and the giving simply happens automatically, every second, every day and in every way.

And it is beautifully simple. Buy1GIVE1 is now becoming a global movement as more and more businesses jump on board and enjoy the incredible benefits of transaction-based giving.

In Buy1GIVE1, they made sure that in many cases, the consumers are not only involved in CSR initiatives on a day-to-day basis. Buy1-Give1 gives solutions to that and it does it every second, every day and in every way.

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Connection: The Secret To Happiness

By Masami Sato

What is the reason for our remaining alive? For what have we come here? Day after day we are being asked about the sense and purpose of our lives. And many of us keep on searching for answers. Will we be able to achieve happiness? That is also a question that forces us every day to find out its answer. What happens if the answer to those queries is quite uncomplicated? What if it is all about ONE thing? Bonding. The secret of happiness is explained perfectly in the stimulating voice of Masami Sato in the excerpt of her book, ONE.

What are we searching for?

There are many things we do in our life.

But have we ever thought about why we do what we do? What are we really looking for?

The world throngs with millions of people of all races, religions, and belief systems, doing myriad things. People look different from each other and behave differently. We have widely varying interests and outlook on life. We communicate in different ways, because we use different languages. We have different hopes and emotions.

Nevertheless, if there was ONE thing that ALL of us are searching for, what could that be?

While I travelled all over the world, I did ask people one simple question, "What would you like to achieve in your life? What do you really want?"

At first, it looked as if people were in search of different things, as they gave casual answers like "A nice partner", "Good job", "My own house", "A loving family", "A perfect mate", "More money", "Financial Freedom", "Peace of mind", or "Meaning of life". There were other similar answers as well.

I actually noticed that some of these things are temporal desires and some are more permanent desires. Temporal desire means we want it because we do not have it yet or we don't think we have it yet. On the other hand, permanent desire is not about attaining things we do not have. It is about the 'feeling' we seek so this does not end no matter what we get or achieve at each moment of our life.

If one could just remove all earthly desires from our list and look at only permanent desires, it would be obvious that we just want to continue feeling positive sensations like excitement, happiness, inspiration, motivation, munificence, affection, joy etc. - put in other words, we want to continue being happy.

Delightfulness

Contentment is a state of emotion that all of us are yearning to be in. Each of us may define it differently. We may also value it differently. Each of us may be familiar with different levels of intensity of contentment. Still we definitely have something in common when contentment comes to us. And when we realize this secret about contentment, we hold the key to greater contentment, and to make those around us know the same feelings as well.

The life that we are living is a mystery. We all may love it in one way or another. We may also disapprove of it in different ways. We may ask questions about it. We may value it immensely. Or we may just have it, in a nonchalant manner. But what exactly is the purpose of our life? What if the very truth of our existence is about to be revealed? What if this truth really brings us happiness and satisfaction when we discover it?

What if the essence of the aim of our lives, and its joys, is as simple as this:

It is all about relationship.

Relationship is everything

Everything is about connecting. Everything is part of everything else. If we look at our own life, it says it all. Then we will start to see the real purpose of our life.

Why do we do anything, ANYTHING at all, in life as humans?

It is just because we want to connect to others. We make friends to build a relationship. We get married to establish a relationship in a deeper and more permanent manner. We create a family to further strengthen that relationship. We go out to meet more people to connect with them, not only to get benefits out of those relationships, but also to become more connected to the world.

We get ourselves good clothes or go to a beauty parlour to bond better with our physical appearance or aesthetical sense. We choose to try out different types of food to bond better with our sense of savour and aroma. We dine out to get on better with people we would be sharing the meal with. We buy mobiles and computers to bond better with the entire world and its people. We read books and newspapers to remain connected to what is happening around and what others are going through. We study things and learn things to bond better with knowledge that others value.

Every thing that we do is to satisfy the need of keeping alive relationships. It is our relationship to our own body that makes it imperative that we eat and sleep. Because of our relationship to our senses, we are asked to do things to satisfy the demands that body makes. If we ignore the demands that body makes, we have to bear the resultant aches and distress. And above our mundane needs, we yearn for another relationship - a relationship to our very existence - a relationship to our purpose. And without that connection, it is vacant. Just like the blankness so many of us feel when we have no relationship even to ourselves. That is just not the way our lives are supposed to be lived.

Connection is powerful, and yet it's fragile and tender

When the bonds in a relationship lose strength, we go in for a separation, divorce, disagreements, judgement, and bitterness. It never feels good to lose the bonding. Still, it possible to be in love with someone today, and totally disconnected and bitter towards him tomorrow. And this change of feelings can happen just by the flicker of an eyelid. And the eyes might be yours or theirs!

When the relationship is not there.

When we do not feel the connection, we start seeing problems. We start seeing differences and barriers. We start judging and criticising others. We magnify, dwell on and give energy to those things we perceive as problems. When that happens, we could even turn it all inwards and give ourselves pain and criticism. We cannot feel totally happy when we're feeling disconnected from even one thing.

Connection: the Secret to Happiness

What if we are looking at the whole idea from the other end? When we do it, we realize this simple reality: we cannot feel miserable when the bonds are strong. It is just not possible!

Try to feel moody when we feel the security of our bonding to the people around us and laughing and enjoying with our whole heart. Even if we have our own fair share of difficulties in life, we would still be able to break into a laugh and enjoy and feel good when the bonds are strong. At the same time, we would be unable to enjoy things when those bonds are absent.

Bonding: Our Life

Relationship is the core of everything. That is what life is. Relationship.

Everything is a mere collection of smaller parts. Everything connects together to form a greater unit; like our bodies are collections of smaller parts, organs, cells, atoms and molecules.

Our acts and the choices we make are the manifestations of our need for bonding. We are designed to persistently search ways to bond to each other and to a larger rationale.

Connection and Religion

Some of us choose to be part of different religions to feel more connected. The connection they seek could be to God. It could be to the people with the same belief. When we share the same belief, it creates a stronger sense of bonding within that group of people. More giving happens naturally among people who are feeling connected to each other.

Bonding and Business

Many people begin an enterprise to feel better bonded to themselves by being in control of their fate. But often in the entrepreneurial world, we end up being more and more segregated especially when we start viewing other ventures as contenders, staff as instruments and customers as a money flow. But the basic point of why we got into the venture was to feel the power of that bonding. So, why do we need to fashion that disconnection at all? May be in the perfect world, all business ventures worked differently, but hand in hand.

Bonding and Wars

Some of us even raise arguments or wars to feel some sense of 'triumph' or what is a heightened sense of safety and importance. But strangely, this ricochets. The minute we 'win' the fight, we are in fact weakening the relationship. We now require more sureness to defend ourselves from being assaulted by others. We thus end up being more unsure and frightened. We cannot take it lightly as it really happens to almost all of us in one form or another.

It could be the disagreements we have with the people around us. It may be the wrong assessment we make when we feel that something or someone is not right. When we make an attempt to be the only one to succeed, we can never succeed in the real way - we feel not connected. We can really enjoy the success when we succeed along with others. Then we will feel the strength of the relationship.

No matter how differently we express our needs, everything we do is to fulfil the mere desire we have to feel and be connected.

The real sense of connection comes only through our heart. We can connect with anybody when we are truly caring for them and feeling connected with them. If we know this, creating the desired state is actually simple, easy and fun. Then we would naturally experience more happiness and joy.

Life is a sport. We feel things and do things in a grand game but in reality the aim of any game is the pleasure we get out of it. It is not about doing something or having something. When the sports finally end, the winners are only the ones who have derived pleasure from the game. Not the ones who had more at the final tally. The upshots and end results of the sports in which we participate do not affect our actual life. But if we lost all our friends to participate in a game just because we wanted to win in that round, would it lead us to a lasting victory?

It is easy to make out this in the background of competing in sports, but we often do not realize it in the sports and games of real life. We forget so fast that life is also a form of sports.

We have no idea when the play started and when it would come to an end, we know that it began some day in the past and it will be finished some day. When the curtain falls on the stage of the play, we can just say, "Wow, it was really good. Let's act in it once again!"

In this game called life, the aim of the game is to 'connect'. We can keep connecting until we all become one. It is the only way to continuously feel connected to our purpose-sense of happiness and joy. We cannot feel disconnected to anything or deny and judge even one thing if we are to achieve the state of total connection.

Life is as simple as that. There is just ONE secret.

And the secret is to establish a relationship.

To become ONE.

To find pleasure.

About the Author:

Easy Ways To Make Money With Event Photography

By Peter Wong

A great way to make money with photography is to focus on events. You will be surprised about how many people want events covered and photographed.

How to do it

You must be careful what events to cover if you want to make money. Only where people want to retain memories will it be worth your while.

One idea is to go to kids sports events. Get permission from the coach to click pics for the parents watching and then start clicking away. If you turn up with a great big telephoto lens like the ones used for pro coverage of events, you will be taken seriously. Make sure you get all the children doing great action shots and then hand out flyers to all the kids' parents watching with your web address. If you can write down the parents email address so you can email them the URL of you site then upload the pics to your web site that day and email everyone. If you have a simple shopping cart set up you can make money in a few hours as people pop in to see the pics and buy them for $20 or more a pop.

You can do a similar thing with weddings. Take all the normal shots as part of the wedding coverage but then get your URL printed on the wedding invites and all the other wedding materials and also get an email list of all the wedding guests, offer the couple a nice 20% discount for doing this and then take lots of extra pics at the wedding of the guests doing all the things they do. Upload all the pics to your site and send the emails. You will then make a lot more money than the 20% discount it cost you because then 20 or 30 people will be also buying your pics at $20 or more a shot straight from your site. You can also charge a higher price for high resolution pics.

The key is to just find a corner of the market where you can take the pics and then sell them easily online.

Dog shows, fashion shows, horse shows, car shows, livestock competitions, rock shows, - the list goes on. Keep your eye out in the events section of your local paper to see what is happening. Always ask for permission to shoot pics and if you need to offer the people 10% of the income if feel you need to so you can get easy access.

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Intellectual Property Backgrounder Tips

By Christopher Lee

We may think that recording intellectual property (IP) ownership rights are fairly recent event it is not. Even the Romans stamped bricks to show their sign of ownership. Trademark law is quite ancient dating back to the year 1266 in England. The old law known as the "bakers marking law" used to show the maker of a loaf of bread. Each baker would have their own registered mark.

Trademark law is now well established internationally. Almost every single established company now has their own mark that uniquely defines their brand. Most people think that you have to legally register a mark to be able to use it but the opposite is true. You register a mark so that others cannot use it! When you register a trademark you gain the unique right to be the only one to use the mark or to control who can use it.

A trademark is a particular mark that allows customers to distinguish you without seeing your product. It is a unique part of your brand. Tests have shown that you can exhibit just part of a noted trademark and people know which brand it belongs to. This demonstrates the power of a good image and how the brain works at recalling such things. This is why it is key to legally protect important marks and words.

In most countries if you create something yourself you have the sole rights to use this. However if an idea is used by many people it very quickly becomes common property and cannot be registered. It is always best to legally register marks and ideas. Registration legally defines the date of ownership beyond any sense of doubt. In some countries common law gives some trade protection but at the end of the day you have more security if you engage trademark lawyers to protect important IP.

These days you can self-register a trademark but there are inherent dangers of doing this of course. Trademark attorneys of course know how to register and how to protect possession if the rights are misused. They know the full story of registration and protection. If you self-register you may get a cheap registration but you may have left a loop-hole for someone to abuse your rights later on.

Registration of trademarks can be done in one or more countries. Presently there is no such thing as a global trademark. You have to register in all the countries where you want protection.

Registration has become easier over the recent years with the introduction of systems like the Madrid System of International Registration of Marks through the World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva, Switzerland but international registration is still a boring and fairly pricy process.

Of course the benefits of registering a trademark outweigh the costs and challenges. If you are serious about your company you should be looking into at registration today.

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Factors To Take Into Account When Constructing A Modern Office

By Gary Ruiz

Office designs have come a long way since the times when they were well known just as good looking luxurious designs that served no utilitarian objective. It is now an accepted fact that good office design makes the staff highly productive and motivates them to remain in the firm for the long term. Besides the office design also reflects the corporate culture of the company.

Flexibility, transparency and sustainability are the key elements that characterize a modern office, so you have to consider these when building a new office. To achieve these objectives you need to make judicious selections of office system furniture and the entire office interior design, for which you should take into account some important factors.

Firstly, it is necessary to understand the type of work that will be carried out in the office. This along with the floor area available will help you appropriately decide on the interior design. Planning the layout must also include an estimate of how many employees will be working in the office at present and in the years to come.

There should be area for cafeterias and conference rooms besides sufficient space for office desks, chairs and other office system furniture. Recreational areas, which can contain things like pool tables or chessboards, are also very essential as the employees can use them to relax after work. Besides, the office should be designed in a manner that ensures maximum space utilization without being too cluttered.

An ideal office interior design should be minimalist and use refined colour schemes, without any loud and gaudy elements that cause distraction to work. It must also be well lit, with ample sources of natural light.

Contemporary office system furniture is smart and more customized, which helps in improving the mood of the employees and develops a positive impression among the customers. However, while picking office chairs and office desks, always give a lot of importance to ergonomics so that the employees can stay healthy.

You can choose 'green' furniture if you seek to present an image of an environmentally responsible firm before clients. It is made from recycled products and natural fabrics, which will help you lower your firm's overall carbon footprint. In addition, you can choose low-energy lights and other electrical devices that will help you lower your energy usage.

When designing your office, it is critical that you appoint an expert and experienced office interior designer who can ensure that your office becomes comfortable and safe to work in, and at the same time be elegant to look at.

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mercredi 30 décembre 2009

Resources of Affiliate Marketing

By Jossef Sal

Many of us would love to venture out on our own and work for ourselves. However, two major factors tend to get in the way. The fist being money and the second being risk. These two factors should not be taken lightly. Even small businesses need a substantial amount of capital to get them started. The risk factor is even scarier. Up to 90% of all small businesses fail within the first year.

Affiliate marketing takes the risk away. It can also be started with next to 0 money. Affiliate marketing can be quite a lucrative venture. If you have a natural knack for sales or marketing and are self motivated and prepared to work hard then an affiliate marketing scheme could be a wise move for you.

Almost daily, you see advertised, courses and seminars that claim to hold the secret of instant wealth. By attending this course you will have all of the tools you need to get your business off the ground and become a millionaire. Those who want to start their own affiliate marketing business often attend these thinking that they will help their business thrive.

Courses and seminars more often then not, disappoint. First, these courses and seminars are usually quite expensive. You have the course or seminar fee. Plus any travel and hotel costs. Most of these are held in heavy tourist destinations around the country. Second, the person giving the seminar or course is usually on some kind of a promotional tour. While they do give out information at the course or seminar, their true goal is to sell you their latest book or software. The truth be told, everything you learned from that seminar was probably written in their book. You could have saved thousands if you had just bough their book and read it rather than shelling out for this course.

While it is true that you should educate yourself in affiliate marketing, the best resources are not courses. However, books are. By simply reading up on affiliate marketing, you can gain wonderful insights and save loads of money. By simply looking on retail sites such as Amazon or EBay, you can get hundred of titles on the subject. There are loads of step by step guides available on how to get your affiliate marketing business going and how to build it up.

Another great resource for affiliate marketing is the internet. Simply by typing affiliate marketing into any major search engine, loads of information comes up. There are plenty of free courses online that you can take on the subject if you are determined. Read through the information available to you for nothing. Chances are a course or a seminar won't teach you anymore than what you can learn online for free.

Magazines and news letters are fantastic resources for affiliate marketing. Newsletters are generally free and contain good, valuable information about particular programs. You'll hear account from people who are working in affiliate marketing. Their advice is worth having being that they are doing now what you want to be doing in the near future.

Finally, one of the advantages of joining an affiliate marketing program is the support that you receive. Any legitimate company should want you to succeed. The more profit you make, they better for them. They should have their own advice and support network that is available to you. This could be in the form of an agent whom you can contact or advertising materials. They may offer a wide variety of things to help you build your business. They can be one of the most important resources for you to rely on.

If you are considering a career in affiliate marketing, then you should find out what you are getting yourself into. Don't waste money on expensive seminars and courses. Look for books, newsletters, online information and the companies themselves. Some of the best information is available to you for free.

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Will Your Restaurant Skills Help You Make It?

By Jose L Riesco

Running a business can be fun, but it's a huge challenge. If you choose to go into the restaurant industry, you are going to face a challenge bigger than most. Just look at those statistics that show us how many restaurant ventures fail before the business is even 36 months old. You will need dedicated restaurants skills and must consider your position before you begin. Remember that you are relying on return visitors and will you be able to provide them with a totally enjoyable, first class, entertaining experience?

Think about your restaurant skills before you progress too far. Note that there are many, many resources available, with educational courses, reference books, consultants, advisors and online sites all ready to help. With a big effort, it can be done.

Staffing is at the top of your list of challenges and this will certainly test your restaurant skills as you juggle all the issues associated with the management of people. However, if you go out of your way to choose the right folks from the start, you will be ahead of the game. Personality is very important for the front of house, while experience and ability are important for everyone. Once you are sure you have the right people, don't micromanage them.

Diners are looking for visual stimulation as well as a pleasant menu. Your environment should be conducive and your theme should be fun and enticing. Don't sacrifice your working conditions to be clever, however as your staff must be motivated and happy and able to do this job successfully to give you that special "something."

While you should never micromanage staff, you do need to ensure that they are constantly trained and on board with your vision for the future of the business. Training will become one of your requisite restaurant skills and communication is vitally important.

Successful marketing comes second to people management when it comes to your business success. Assuming you have a great-looking presentation and a top class menu, you have to be able to communicate to the outside world or you will be sunk. The good news is that social media and marketing are becoming very strong methods available to you and you don't need to rely on those expensive direct advertising methods as much.

You probably won't be 100% proficient with all your restaurant skills when you open the doors and you don't need to panic if this is the case. Fundamentals must absolutely be under your belt, but as with everything else you will grow as you learn.

A restaurant is not a static object, it is a living and breathing thing and you must keep up with all your industry developments to help you move forward. With a lot of internal strength and a positive approach and commitment, you will be one of those who succeeds.

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How To Increase Business Through Trade Shows

By Alex Hochman

It is a tough economy right now for a lot of businesses. A lot of businesses are struggling or even going out of business. Because of that businesses need to think of new ways they can survive and make more sales.With that in mind businesses must do some things that they do not usually do.

And trade shows are one of the those ways that businesses do not usually go to to promote their businesses.We will be looking at some of the ways on how to promote a business through trade shows in this article.

Most businesses do not have any idea that trade shows can potentially increase their sales. Especially for business that have grown stale. But to have an impact they need to make sure they have a good trade show display booth.That is what you will be counting on in trade shows for your business to pick up some sales.What I'm trying to say is that even if you do participate in trade shows but you are unprepared with your promotion and your booth is lousy then your business will still stay the same and nothing good will happen.For it to grow and increase sales you must need a professional look.

Next thing you need to do to increase sales through it is to go the extra mile and use trade show pop up displays.This will not just like be a typical display booth.But the key to increasing your business in trade shows is by attracting a lot of people to go to your booth.By giving something that is different and attractive in your pop-up display booth would attract a lot of people.

Finally you will need great trade show banner stands.A trade show will be full of people looking for something that they need and will be needing in the future. The key to getting people to your booth is to grab their attention.You will do just that if you can produce a banner that can arouse people's curiosity.If you can do a banner like then you can attract many people event hose far away from your booth.

So that was one of the ways in increasing the sales of your business. Using trade shows isn't used enough so you will have a leg up on your competition.

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The Importance of Periodic Channel Program Evaluation - Passing Muster

By Veronica Carrillo

Traditional methods of marketing and advertising are dying. Why do I say that? Answer the following questions and what conclusion do? You draw. Do you use the yellow pages? Do you watch television commercials? Do you listen to advertisements on the radio? Do you read "junk mail" advertisements? Do you read newspaper and magazine advertisements? Did you, like most people, answer "No" to most, if not all, of those questions? If you did answer "No" then you should be reaching the same conclusion as I. If "No" is the answer; that raises the question of where are you and others going for your information and of course the primary answer is the Internet.

Connecting with your local Chamber of Commerce is the best place to begin. Almost every city in North America has a Chamber or something similar. Most of the local businesses will become a member so they can meet other small business owners and learn new ways to reach more potential customers.

It is very important what type of business gifts you choose. You must know that the kind of gift you send out it reflects the type of business you run. So, make sure that you don't ever use any poor quality presents, because that is considered as a big mistake.The business gifts are ideal to display at business conventions and also at advertising exhibits. So, choose a corporate gift which will make potential customers stop and take notice of your company.

This begs the question: why do businesses even advertise in the yellow pages, on television, and the radio? To some extent the answer is: advertising using those media is expected. If customers and prospects do not hear or see these advertisements from the companies that have traditionally advertised in this manner; they will begin to question the staying power of the business. Conversely if the customers and prospects are not accustomed to seeing the business use the traditional advertising; they think nothing of it.

On the other hand customers and prospects do not want to be interrupted by the commercials. It is a dilemma that businesses must figure out. The oldest form of marketing is Word of Mouth or relationship marketing. The effectiveness of these "advertisements" was typically successful because you were simultaneously receiving an endorsement. As markets grew and as businesses expanded; new techniques were created to reach new prospects. With the advent of newspaper or print advertisements, television commercials, and direct mail to name a few; ways to spend your advertising dollars exploded. Although businesses were successful in the goal of reaching more customers the effectiveness of the process declined drastically. Businesses were typically told that a return of 1/2 of 1% to 2% was a great response. When you consider how much time, effort, and cost was expended in attracting these new customers the return was truly very small. With the advent of today's new Internet technologies, commonly referred to as Web2.0* applications; technology has brought back the days and effectiveness of Word of Mouth and relationship marketing. Not only has it come back; the ability to have more control and manage it has improved dramatically. Businesses even have the ability to drive the effort. To be successful today's businesses need to take advantage of this technology to make their products and services known and to be a viable competitor.

If we take a look on the other side, the customer who recieves the promotional gifts he/she cherishes the memory of the occasion. And also, within a short span of time that particular person becomes one of the most-trusted clientele of the company. There are numerous varieties of business presents that work wonders in the corporate arena.

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Learn Speed Ready Specially Aimed for College and Universities

By Dr Jay Polmar

BE DYNAMIC THROUGH SPEED READING is an amazing course that you teach to yourself. It comes with audios, software, and course manuals to teach you to build reading speed, comprehension, concentration and focus. And also stimulate long-term memory.

Another factor is photographic or tape-recorder memories. You have the potential to remember everything you have ever seen or heard, even if you weren't paying attention to what was said. Your brain/mind, like a computer, stores all memories.

As you start to learn the various methods used in the BE DYNAMIC THROUGH SPEED READING, you'll notice some intentional redundancy, repetition! It is techniques repeated over and over, with visualization and various other added methods that will help you achieve the results you desire and be the best you can possibly be.

All of this will make you a better student, employee, communicator, and decision maker in your life. And only one of your benefits will be that you will cut reading time on reports, memos, correspondence, newspapers, novels, non-fiction, magazine, etc. You will save time, and the saying goes ..."time is money".

If you didn't know this, let me clue you in to the reality that writers get paid by the word in articles and by % of gross sales (royalties) in book publishing; usually the thicker the book the higher the price and the higher the royalty. Writers are unnecessary verbose. What this means is there are many words within sentences that are just there as fillers; what you have to learn to do, through the Be Dynamic Through Speed Reading program, is only read the words that are essential.

Dr. Jay Polmar taught the "Be Dynamic Through Speed Reading" program to share these valuable tools with students to help them get the most out of their reading experience. In the past two years he has worked with other educators to bring students the Perfect Learning System (www.perfectlearningsystems.com) which includes Be Dynamic, mind mapping comprehension and memory supports, plus special speed reading software developed to match the Perfect Learning System.

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Don't Lose Your EPAct 2005 Tax Deductions

By Robert Holdsworth

Many businesses have implemented energy efficiency measures in their facilities over the past several years to help decrease operating expenses and aid the local and global environment. What a lot of these companies do not know is that sizeable federal tax deductions are available to them and also that time may be running out.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) provides generous, immediate tax deductions to businesses for making energy efficiency improvements to their buildings. The federal tax incentives center mainly on efficiency improvements to lighting, HVAC and building envelopes and can be as large as $1.80 per square foot.

The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 extended Section 179D and EPAct 2005 so the act will not expire until December 31, 2013. However, that does not mean that time may not be running out for some companies.

For businesses that implemented energy efficiency projects in 2006 it is probable they filed their tax returns before April 15, 2007. If they were unaware of the deductions at that time, they are now at risk of losing those tax deductions forever since the IRS only allows a three year period to amend tax returns.

That means if you have not yet amended your 2006 tax return you have only a few months left to do so!

As an electrical contractor working with commercial and industrial customers you certainly have been thinking about ways to increase your sales and likely how to better utilize your current book of business to that end. You have also most likely been approached by your current customers asking what they can do to reduce their energy costs.

Have you thought about a strategic partnership with an experienced engineering firm that specializes solely in turnkey, energy cost reduction projects on a national level? One that can bring whole facility energy solutions to the table for you and your customers? A company that can provide a fast payback and increase cash flow for your customer?

Bringing in such a company will grow your business as you will be the one who is sub-contracted by the engineering firm to provide the installation services under their management and direction. You can use this approach over and over again with all of your customers and doing so will not only increase your revenues exponentially, it will also transform your customers' impression of you from simply another vendor to that of a valued consultant.

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mardi 29 décembre 2009

Saints Come From 21 Down To Beat Dolphins

By Ross Everett

With an offense that can strike as quickly as the New Orleans Saints', they're never out of a game. The Miami Dolphins found that out the hard way on Sunday as the Saints came roaring back from a 21 point deficit to win going away 46-34. Drew Brees threw for 298 yards and a touchdowns, though gave up three interceptions as New Orleans remained undefeated at 6-0 despite trailing in a game for the first time this season. Miami dropped to 2-4 on the year.

Adding insult to injury for NFL betting enthusiasts who backed Miami as +6 home underdogs, the Saints continued their rampage against the pointspread with a late game interception return for a touchdown to cover. New Orleans is 6-0 against the number this season, while Miami dropped to 2-4 against the spread. The 80 combined points sailed OVER the posted total of 47'.

After the game, Brees said that his team never lost confidence:

"There was no doubt on our sideline we would come back and win. They had given us their best shot, and we had played about as bad as we could play. All we had to do was string together a few drives and gain the momentum back. We knew it was going to happen, and it did."

Following a rushing touchdown that gave his team their first lead of the game in the fourth quarter, Brees dunked the football over the goal post crossbar:

"There are times in the game when a team just needs an emotional lift. I felt like I had to do something to get everybody hyped. The first thing that came to mind was to dunk it."

Saints' linebacker Scott Shanle suggested that the game could portent good things to come:

"It can be a season-defining win. This was a test we hadn't faced yet, and we couldn't be happier with the way we responded."

A dejected Ricky Williams explained how his team had lost:

"This was our game to win. We fought and we fought. They just fought harder at the end."

Dolphins' QB Vonte Davis said the defense was aware that with Brees in the game even a 21 point lead was tenuous at best:

"With Drew Brees, it's like the score is 0-0. We knew they would come back and that it would be a tough game."

The Saints will now host the Atlanta Falcons next Monday night. New Orleans is a -9 home favorite with the total set at 53'. They'll then face two struggling teams, taking on the Carolina Panthers at home the following Sunday and playing against the Rams at St. Louis on November 15. The Dolphins will play on the road against the New York Jets this Sunday, with Miami a +3' road underdog and the total set at 40'.

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UFC 94 Flashback: GSP Defends Welterweight Title

By Ross Everett

BJ Penn entered his main event battle against welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre looking to become the first man in UFC history to simultaneously hold titles in two weight classes. GSP never gave him the chance to make history, as he stopped Penn after four increasingly dominant rounds to retain his belt with a TKO victory and make a compelling case for being the pound for pound best fighter in mixed martial arts.

Both fighters had considerable fan support, with vocal, flag waving delegations from the Hawaiian Islands and Canada in evidence. During ring introductions, both men received enthusiastic cheers tempered with a few boos. After the opening horn sounded, however, the Penn backers had little to cheer about while the champions supports broke out in G-S-P chants on several occasions. The first round was fairly evenly contested, with St. Pierre trying to get a first hand feel for Penns often unorthodox"but highly successful"takedown defense. GSP made several takedown attempts, but had them repeatedly stuffed by Penns incredible balance and flexibility.

Boxing guru Freddy Roach recently praised Penn as the best technical puncher in MMA, but he had no opportunity to bring this weapon to bear as he had trouble finding the range from the outset. GSP mixed up his look perfectly, either staying just outside Penns range using his 6 reach advantage effectively or more often smothering his opponent on takedown attempts. St. Pierre was unable to complete any takedowns during the first round, but easily dictated the pace and style of the bout.

GSP began to assert his dominance in round two"with Penn starting to fatigue he was no longer able to fend off St. Pierres single leg takedown attempts by balancing on one leg. GSP got a takedown early in the frame and began to mount a ground and pound assault while moving around in Penns legendary guard almost at will moving from half guard to side control with frightening ease.

The eventual outcome was foretold between rounds two and three, as the obviously exhausted Penn required a pep talk from his entourage that his fatigue was all in his head. Across the cage, GSP calmly sipped water and listened intently to trainer Greg Jacksons instructions looking for all the world that he could go 12 rounds if necessary.

Round three was similar to the previous one, with GSP taking his opponent to the mat with a decreasing level of resistance and mauling him with punches and elbows once he got there. His complete control over the BJJ black belt Penn was incredible. That may be the most exceptional thing about Georges St. Pierre"his willingness to attack his opponents strengths and success at doing so.

The fourth round was a wall to wall rout for the Canadian welterweight champion, who started by effectively trading strikes with Penn before taking him down once again and resuming his highly successful ground based attack. Penn survived the round on instinct alone, moving around just enough to keep the referee from stopping the proceedings. After the horn sounded to end the fourth round, however, it was evident that Penn had nothing physically or emotionally left. As he leaned headfirst against the cage in exhaustion, an impromptu conference amongst his handlers on whether or not to continue became moot when the fight was stopped by Dean on advice from the ringside physician. There was no argument whatsoever from Penn or his entourage.

Displaying his characteristic class, GSP delayed his celebration until he had crossed the cage and kneeled by his vanquished foe to honor his competitive spirit.

Earlier in the evening, Lyoto Machida kept his undefeated professional MMA record intact with a first round TKO victory over Thiago Silva. Machida may be the best in the world at fighting while backing up, and Silva found his aggressive style working against him. Machida took his opponent down and knocked his opponent down twice"all counters as Silva was coming forward and Machida backing away. As the first round entered its final seconds, it appeared that Silva started to ease up in anticipation of the horn. Machida used this opportunity for another takedown, and then nailed his surprised opponent with a powerful punch that ended the fight.

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Appeal To Your Customers Inner Child

By Kris Ann

When you are thinking about promotional items why not consider using items with a twist? Promotional puzzles and games are not just for the little ones and you may just find that by using a promotional toy you actually get a lot more attention with your current promotion.

Your promotional puzzled will be enjoyed by your customers and will create an excited buzz about your business. Have the puzzles imprinted with your marketing message, business slogan or your logo. Before handing them out to the customers take the puzzle apart so that they will need to put it back together in order to read your message. Your customers will find themselves doing the puzzle over and over again just to take a break from their regular work day. Puzzles are also available in many sizes from key chains to large toy, therefore you can find one suitable for your customers and your budget.

The recipients of your promotional puzzles will be so excited about their gift that they will even take it back to the office for others to play with. Although puzzles are a great choice, you are not limited to this one item. There are a wide variety of promotional toys that your business can imprint on and utilize as a marketing tool.

These items are great to keep lying around the office and when passed on to customers and children in the community. Everyone will be talking about your promotional items and they will be on display in all different places around your community. The cool sleek design will ensure that these items will get much exposure through the years, whether displayed on a desk top or tossed in a toy box; you know that you have provided people with something that will be used and noticed for years to come.

Game enthusiasts will delight in solving your puzzle and it will serve as a unique source of entertainment and advertising for your customers and your business. Not all promotions have to be stuffy and business like as a matter or fact the best promotions are those that really catch the eye and draw attention to their uniqueness. So for your next promotion think outside the box and shoot for a promotional product that offers a twist to your business advertising. You will find that the more unique your promotional items are the more attention they draw for your business.

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Is Windows 7 Really Better Than Vista?

By Julie Johnson

Honestly, could it be any worse than Vista was or whatever name they decided to call it in the end. No matter how they changed the name the concept just didn't work well. Maybe it did in theory but the actualization of it lost a little something. And with scarcely a month under its belt, what are users saying about this latest product in the Microsoft lineup? Well, some of the bugs are still being squashed but being that it is coming on the heels of Windows Vista; it has got to look pretty darn good to those who are trading in that for Windows 7.

Before the official launch of Windows 7, Microsoft did a test with a sample set of users to make sure they were not going to receive the same negative backlash they received with Vista. The users were comprised of individuals who used Windows for personal use only (61% of the testers), individuals who used Windows both personally and professionally (25 % of the testers) and individuals who used Windows strictly professionally (14% of the testers). The individuals who were tested also represented users who were installing Windows 7 on a PC that already had Vista, and users where Windows 7 was the only operating system ever installed on that PC.

Overall the response was positive showing a very small percentage of users who experienced difficulty with the installation, and this is to be expected when you install just about any new operating system. Most felt that the installation went smoothly with the predominant area of problems being in the areas of driver compatibility and areas of other software incompatibility. Of course, with these issues some users did experience a crash of their system and a few did have the blue screen of death occur. This was a very small percentage and should not be of concern for most who are switching to the Windows 7 operating system.

As for the rest of testing, after the installation was complete, the results for Windows 7 were outstanding. When Microsoft tested Windows Vista almost half of the testers said they were not satisfied with the operating system, which foreshadowed the feelings that the PC community would have for Vista. For Windows 7 only 5% of the testers said they were not satisfied with the operating system.

Windows 7 is a great operating system, and if you are currently using Windows Vista you will probably want to upgrade to 7 as soon as possible. Windows 7 of course has some bugs, which is to be expected, but Microsoft is pushing updated out as soon as they are available. There is no question that Windows 7 is a far superior operating system to Windows Vista, and it is probably the best system that Microsoft has ever released.

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Cris Cyborg Mauls Gina Carano In Strikeforce Main Event

By Ross Everett

Gina Carano put womens MMA on the map, but Cris Cyborg Santos may have become the sports first dominant female champion by virtue of her overwhelming TKO victory in the main event of Saturdays STRIKEFORCE event. Cyborg simply was too physically strong and her punches too powerful for Carano, who fought valiantly before succumbing to a barrage of ground and pound punches at the end of the first round.

Before a near capacity crowd at San Joses HP Pavilion, Carano and Cyborg made history as the first women to headline a major US mixed martial arts event. The crowd went nuts for Carano, who was accompanied into the arena by Randy Couture who trained her for the matchup.

Despite the fight being scheduled for five rounds of five minutes each, the women set a frantic pace from the opening horn. Cyborgs size and strength advantage was apparent from the outset, as she landed an immediate flurry of punches before taking Carano to the canvas. Carano landed in top position, but quickly found herself in trouble as Cyborg worked for a kneebar and then a heel hook.

Cyborg once again took her opponent to the mat and after an unsuccessful armbar attempt mounted Carano and began a brutal punching assault that eventually forced the stoppage at 4:59 of the first round.

Despite Cyborgs triumph the most dominating performance of the evening belonged to former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. In his first fight at 205, Mousasi destroyed STRIKEFORCE light heavyweight champion Renato Babalu Sobral via TKO at the 1:00 mark of the first round.

Earlier in a card full of decisive finishes, Gilbert Melendez became STRIKEFORCE interim lightweight champion with a third round TKO victory over the double tough Mitsuhiro Ishida. Though Melendez dominated the fight, Ishida gained the respect of fans with his toughness and heart. Melendez will now face Josh Thompson to unify the belts once Thompson is medically cleared to resume fighting.

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MMA Flashback: Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title Changes Hands As Sobral Tops Southworth

By Ross Everett

Renato Babalu Sobral defeated Bobby Southworth by TKO to become Strikeforce light heavyweight champion at the 'Destruction' card. Despite leaving with the belt around his waist, it wont be the centerpiece of Babalu's highlight reel with the way it transpired.

A -350 wagering favorite despite his challenger status, Sobral was expected to use his world class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu skills and vast experience against superior competition to dominate the tough but limited Southworth. It didnt happen that way, as Southworth easily got the better of things in the first round. Southworths style isnt exactly one that provides Wanderlei Silva type excitement--he looks to use his strength and conditioning to control his opponent en route to a decision victory. While the result makes him something of a MMA equivalent to boxing's John Ruiz, it does afford him the best chance of victory.

The first round displayed Southworth's style in microcosm, with much of the frame spent pushing Babalu up against the cage or on the ground inside his guard not really doing much. Sobral had one effective strike the entire round--during a clinch against the cage wall the challenger rocked Southworth with a hard elbow strike that not only busted his nose but opened a huge cut over his right eye.

Upon seeing the gusher of blood Referee John McCarthy brought the ringside physician over to take a look. The doctor took some time to examine the cut, but eventually the round resumed following the consultation with only a few seconds remaining. As Southworth's corner futilely worked on the gaping wound during the break the doctor once again took a look and recommended to McCarthy that the fight be stopped. As a result, Sobral was awarded the TKO victory and the championship belt.

The other half of the co-main event was decided in much more decisive fashion as Scott Smith knocked out well traveled veteran Terry Martin in a mere :24 seconds. Unfortunately, Martin didn't adequately close the distance against a fighter dubbed 'Hands of Steel' and was caught with a perfectly placed punch that knocked him out cold.

In the semifinal event, Duane 'Bang' Ludwig defeated Yves Edwards by unanimous decision in a very closely contested bout. Edwards was originally slated to face lightweight champion Josh Thomson until a toe injury necessitated his withdrawal. Ludwig took the fight on two weeks notice, and after a takedown clinic by Edwards in the first began to control the fight with his superior standup skills. Edwards' superiority on the ground in the first two frames wasnt enough to sway the judges who obviously favored Ludwig's more effective striking.

Earlier in the evening, Kim Couture made short work of overmatched Lina Kvokov as she TKOd her foe in 1:44 of the first round. Couture, the wife of UFC legend Randy Couture, gained even more notoriety for the courage she displayed in her professional debut last June. After having her jaw broken early in the first round, she refused to throw in the towel and went the distance despite a horrific injury. She had a much easier time here"despite the fact that both fighters entered with 0-1 records Couture was significantly more polished as she put Kvokov on the defensive from the outset with her sharp punching combinations. Kvokov kept displaying the rookie mistake of trying to turn away from Couture's blows which prompted commentator Bas Rutten to question if she wanted to continue the fight. She recovered momentarily and survived the initial onslaught. The reprieve was only temporary, however, as Couture launched another barrage of punches prompting the referee to step in and wave off the non-competitive affair.

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lundi 28 décembre 2009

Why Is It Important To Split Test

By Justin Harrison

Most of the people wonder what this split test is about, when they do business online. When some one does their business in online, it is waste of time to do this without taking this split test. It is necessary for the people to know about the split test and its importance in developing your business. The reasons for this are to know the details that we get about the products, landing pages and relevance to the ads. You can also get an overall feedback on the product.

Since the term split testing isn't so self-explanatory, let's try to analyze its actual meaning and relevance to the business with the help of a simple example. Considering that you own a local retail showroom that sells electronic items such as microwave ovens, you can adopt vivid kinds of sales and marketing strategies, such as impressing the customers with your live demo of the product, educating them about its benefits, and there are other venues to do the same.

When you do the same sale over the internet, asking queries about the product is not possible. Over the internet it is not possible to know the people views on the product, where as manual sale can do.

Sure thing, rewording the info about your product may be a good idea, but that may not be the only thing that you can really do. It is even possible to test the landing page of your website, check how the ads are doing, and tweak with other things to improve the overall effectiveness of your online marketing campaign. It could even mean that you check up the overall CPC of your advertising program, and dig into the details of the advertising campaign, which is performing at the best, and the one which is possibly performing a little lower.

The split testing is all about testing two splits separately, both of which, vary from each other in minor ways. It essentially means that end up comparing even the minutest details, and learn to incorporate the changes that are beneficial. Split testing essentially concentrates on the lesser-noticeable aspects of an online business, which are otherwise hard to get noticed by anyone, resulting in a considerable loss in revenues.

This is the main point of performing split testing, and its mainly all about finding the small areas of improvisation in your business, to approach the ideal way to create a killer online store that generates massive level of revenues. Remember, there's no master recipe for a successful online campaign, it all differs with the minor tweaks that make a large difference.

Having said this, those who can capitalize on split testing, inherently end up building powerful web pages that are far superior than their competitors and generate greater revenues, by merely concentrating on those tiny areas of improvements that always go unnoticed.

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Winning The First Impression With Name Card

By Robert Chan

A name card is without question an effective promotional item, but you must not forget that the card has to be well designed so that it stands out as unique yet professional, and thus fosters a good recall.

Various add-ons in the kind of images, corporate logo and eye-catching graphics should be tastefully added to a name card to make it attractive. In order to ensure that the person uses your name card, it is important to lay down as much information in the name card as possible. These issues should be taken care of by an expert printer who has hands-on experience in name card printing.

Getting name card printing done is just the beginning and you should also create hype for your organization by offering the name cards to a large number of people for building an impressive professional network. They can be given away at conventions, seminars, workshops, and at other such touch points between you and your potential customers or partners.

A name card can also be designed to be multifunctional. A name card can be used as a discount coupon which entitles the possessor to receive a freebie. This use can contribute towards increasing the demand of your products or services. Such a name card generates a favourable response from the person and the lure of a freebie increases the likelihood of a sale. Another way of making the name card multi-utility is by giving instructions regarding the use of a popular product of the company. Interesting information about the kind of products the business offers, can also be included during name card printing.

The key thing to remember is that you should distribute your name card liberally in order to develop new business contacts all the time.

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Using Flyers As A Promotion Tool

By Derek Bach

As if tight budgets were not enough, smaller businesses now have to do an even tougher tightrope walk due to the onset of global recession. With a scarcity of funds and resources, the small companies should invest carefully so that maximum benefit is generated from their initiatives. One of the ways of doing this, without compromising on competitiveness, is by using cost-effective promotional strategies, which is where flyer printing comes into the picture.

If you own a small organization like an eating joint, a clothes store or a hardware store, you will understand how much it hurts to see your investments diminish on expensive promotional methods. Moreover, such methods are often not even suitable for a local organization.

Flyer printing is an inexpensive advertising option, and a proper use of this method can work miracles for the success of your business. The sheer attractiveness of flyers makes them ideal for promoting products and services, and aids in quick brand recall among the target audience.

Before you print flyers, you must give careful thought to several aspects. The paper selected should be the right thickness. The final layout and contents of the flyer should be examined with care before it goes into print to avoid errors of any kind. Your organization loses impression of reliability if your flyer displays glaring errors in spellings, grammar or the message. Colours and tones should be balanced in a flyer and should neither be too pale nor too blinding. The images printed on the flyer should be picked with care and should have enough resolution to come out nicely in the print.

There is no question that in the current economic scenario, smaller organizations need to avoid expensive advertising plans and switch over to something as simple and beneficial as flyer printing. It is a smart marketing strategy. You can utilize your funds much more effectively by undertaking this marketing option, and the savings will come in handy to get through the recession.

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Printing Posters And Flyers: The Advisable Way To Promote Your Business At Low Price

By Aaron Kato

Other than the old and time-tested means of publicity like TV, web ads and newspapers, a firm can enhance its visibility by printing poster and flyers for marketing purposes.

This way of addressing potential customers is quite effective due to its straightforward and personalised nature. Here are a few important benefits of promoting your company using posters and flyers.

Greater exposure - The printed advertisement might be seen by more consumers but very few of them will be motivated to come to your shop. However, circulating flyers or putting up posters in the location in which your firm is located will boost sales noticeably as your visibility in the area grows.

Quick impact - In contrast to the conventional promotional methods, flyers and posters can be created and printed in just a couple of days and their influence is very quick, which can also be tracked without difficulty. You will notice that there is a significant rise in the number of consumers who are visiting your store because of a poster that they noticed or a flyer that was given to them.

Low expenditure - It is less expensive to print poster and flyers and their designing is quite simple as well. It is usually more than sufficient if the end result is attractive and has all the necessary information for prospective buyers. In addition, any good printing company will accommodate your thoughts in poster and flyer printing, and you would not have to spend money on getting them designed from specialists. It is also simpler and cheaper to pull back a flyer or poster campaign if it is not successful than to give up other kinds of campaigns.

Customisation - Marketing strategies involving flyers and posters can be tailored according to your requirements. For example, if guerrilla marketing strategies are what you have in mind, you can select surprising sites to put up big posters that create a strong impact on people. Likewise, temporary discounts can be publicized without difficulty by giving away flyers that could also act as rebate coupons. You can also decide to print different kinds of flyers or posters for the same campaign, which is usually not easy to achieve in traditional media.

Thus, by opting for poster and flyer printing, you can give a fast and effective boost to your business, without having to undergo a lot of trouble. Availing these services is easy as well, and any good printing company in your area will be able to offer a vast range of services and design options.

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Why Giving Corporate Gifts Is Still Not A Bad Idea In Slow Economy

By Shirley Jones

Healthy businesses always rely on good relationships with their customers to continue performing well. If the customers are contented and continue to return for services, the company's chances of successfully enduring bad economy improve greatly. One hit strategy for staying in the good books of your customers is through corporate gifts. These gifts keep the clients happy and do not hurt the company's expenditure account also.

While selecting a corporate gift, the receiver should always be a prime consideration, as the sole purpose of the gift is to please the recipient. The gifts are generally given for promoting a new product or service, or at times simply given on a regular basis, to keep the customers happy.

The gifts could be as varied as coffee mugs and showpieces to more expensive ones like a bottle of high quality wine. An intelligent way to remind customers about the company is to stamp a logo on the gift item.

Consider a gift that gives when you are thinking about corporate gifts. More and more people are converting to different ways of thinking and want others to gain. Buy1GIVE1, KIVA and Change The Present are organisations that can offer gift value to your customers and staff. Check Buy1GIVE1 out at www.b1g1.com.

As the gift speaks for the company, the quality of the gift must be in accordance with the standard and quality the company delivers. An inferior gift will only be an exercise in futility as it won't be able to convey the gratefulness that the company wants to show to its clients. In times like these when companies are confronting economic problems and are looking out for cost effective solutions, it is better to avoid making a poor impression on your customers.

Corporate gifts demonstrate qualities that make them an effective and great marketing tool. If used intelligently, they can help a business keep customer relationships alive through the storm of recession.

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Brochure Printing - Effective Methods

By Jerry Banks

Brochures play a large role in the packaging of a business. They lend credibility to a business by introducing and explaining its products or services, company line and other unique selling points in a strong way. Brochure design and printing is very important as they can be a critical component of a successful promotion campaign. This article will give you some key tips on brochure printing & design.

The design process of a brochure must ensure that the final outcome looks professional, provides details in an intelligible and concise fashion, and is appealing to the target audience. It should use text and pictures in the correct combination, while the colours should also be used carefully. All the elements like fonts, borders, images etc. should blend perfectly. The brochure should not have a messy feel, instead it should be clean and stylish, and at the same time simple and structured.

The brochure printing related issues should also be paid heed to at the time of designing. It is normally a wise decision to take a test print out to see how the final brochure would look like before you send it for large volume printing.

Budgetary considerations for brochure printing should not be neglected at the time of brochure designing. Black and white printing costs lesser than color, hence if you are on a small budget you may wish to go for the former. If you are not restricted financially and are looking for attractive, colorful brochures, then you should remember that such brochures come out much better on thick, glossy papers. If the brochure is to be printed on both sides of the paper, then the paper chosen for such a product must be strong enough for fine quality printing.

Asking for discounts from the printing company is always a good tactic if the brochures are to be printed in large volumes. However, to maintain the reputation of the company, and to project a positive image to potential customers, quality must invariably be top on the priority list, even if it slightly raises the costs.

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dimanche 27 décembre 2009

Is Your Company Going Public? Watch Your Stock Climb With The Right Publicity

By James Scott

As a publicist that has been in the game for around 11 years I laugh when I turn on the television to see an author on a talk show telling the audience about their book or flip on the radio in my car and hear the morning DJ interviewing a self proclaimed expert of some new weight loss program where you can lose 500 pounds in 48 hours.

I don't laugh because of the content but because I know how much they had to pay a publicist to get that interview. I know that all the questions are predetermined and that the publicist who convinced this individual that TV and radio were the only way to get in front of the public is living in the'70's and can't seem to adjust to the new concepts of massive publicity for pennies and the young, hip publicists that have transformed the process of ga

I don't mean to offend any publicists out there but I'm going to tell the public a little secret. If you are seeking massive explosions of publicity for your business, book, musical act or future celebrity, there is a process that will blast your 'brand' to 10,000,000's overnight. There is a process that will put your brand in front of your target market in hours, not weeks. There is no waiting on approval from a television network or radio channel.

That secret process is a combination on online video distribution, press releases, article marketing, social book marketing, blogs and a few other online media distribution combination that will take your brand campaign from 0 mph to 100mph overnight. When you are interviewing publicists or brand recognition marketing specialist keep this in mind, any publicist can get you on TV or the radio with a couple calls since both of these media genres are constantly in need of content and truth be told, the results you'll get are very minimal from these to publicity mediums.

The priority topic of your interview should be quizzing them on their online media campaigns and viral media expertise. Don't spend a dime until they've convinced you that their online strategies are on the cutting edge and cost effective. Online marketing strategies can literally have the internet screaming your name in hours.

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Steelers End Vikings Undefeated Run

By Ross Everett

Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings are undefeated no more. The Pittsburgh Steelers' used a couple of big plays from their defense in the fourth quarter to break open a close game and defeat the Vikings by a final score of 27-17. Favre put up decent yardage in the loss, throwing for 334 yards but had no touchdowns and an interception. The defending Superbowl Champion Steelers improved to 5-2, while the Vikings are now 6-1.

NFL pointspread players who backed the Steelers as -6 home favorites were rewarded with the cover. Pittsburgh had only covered one of their first six games heading into the contest, and the win improved their record against the number to 2-5. Minnesota dropped to 4-3 against the spread with the setback.

The Steelers largely shut down Minnesota's rushing game, holding Adrian Peterson to 69 yards. Pittsburgh safety Ryan Clark underscored his team's dominance against the run:

"That's the biggest point of the game. You have the best running back in the world and you don't give it to him. They're saying they can't beat us running, and that's a major statement when you have the guy they have back there."

Favre gave a mealy mouthed justification for the loss in his postgame interview:

"There were a lot of what ifs, a lot of reasons we didn't win. The red zone was one of them. They're physical, and they were as good as we thought they'd be. ... When I came here and looked at our schedule and saw the Steelers game, I went, 'Oh-h-h.' "

Favre has only thrown three interceptions in a Vikings' uniform, but #3 was a costly one as it was returned by Steelers' Keyaron Fox for a touchdown to put the game out of reach as Minnesota was driving for a potential game tying field goal. Afterwards, Fox recalled the play:

"Brett tried to force it in there and the running back bobbled it and slipped out of his hands and it fell into my lap. I had just run across the field after Peterson and I was winded, so it felt like it was 100-plus yards."

The Vikings now face another big game next week as they head to Favre's old stomping grounds in Green Bay for a battle with the Packers. It'll be Favre's first appearance at his old home in an enemy uniform. The Vikings are a +3 road underdog with the total set at 48. The Vikings will then have a bye weekend before hosting the lowly Detroit Lions on November 15. Pittsburgh will enjoy a bye week this week before returning to action on Monday, November 9th facing the Denver Broncos on the road.

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How To Find a Consultant To Take Your Company Public

By James Scott

So many companies dream of going public to raise massive amounts of capital, as set up for an exit strategy, to make acquisitions with stock and for many other reasons. While your intentions may be pure and with genuine motives, you're entering shark infested waters of boiler rooms, crooked attorneys and underbelly consultants who have made careers off of taking well intentioned executives just like you for a 24 month rollercoaster ride while they take every penny you have as your company shrivels up like week old road kill.

Just and honest consultants in the 'public offering' industry are as rare as the illusive white elephant. This industry exists in a cesspool surrounded by rose gardens; from afar it looks amazing and an image of a dreamland but get up and close and the sludge and odor are enough to make you run and hide. So what do you look for in a consultant? The best consulting firms are the 'boutique firms' with minimal overhead that keep a low profile and are made up of 3 or 4 'partner' consultants.

These firms typically have the experience of working with the large consulting groups but for one reason or another have decided to leave and go out on their own. The great thing is, these small groups typically have massive contacts and process your entire public offering in-house. Offering a complete turn-key solution that is managed in-house offers a huge advantage because there is accountability and you can actually build a relationship with the people that are making your dream of a public offering come true.

These 'boutique' consultants will usually stay onboard as growth consultants for the life of the company in exchange for modest fees and a pre-IPO or pre-OTCBB equity position. The large firms will hack you out at the knees and gouge you with fees while they take massive amounts of equity in your company which takes away your bartering chip when you need to offer more stock to the public to raise capital.

The small firms will also work one on one with you to show you how to use your stock to grow through acquisition and other nifty ways to use stock to grow. Seek out the boutique consulting firm and save the attorney for spot audits. Hold on to your cash. Why pay outrageous fees to lawyers when you can pay 60% less with a small consulting firm that will add all the bells and whistles for free and actually get your stock trading, usually in half the time?

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MMA Flashback: Shinya Aoki Tops JZ Calvan

By Ross Everett

After a controversial no contest in their first matchup, there was no doubt as to the winner of the DREAM 2 rematch between Shina Aoki and JZ Calvan. Aoki controlled the fight from the opening bell and used a wide repertoire of submission attempts to keep his opponent off balance and on the defensive. Perhaps the most impressive element of the one sided victory was Aokis dominance of the ground game, which many observers considered to be JZs edge in the contest.

Aoki scored early with a takedown and controlled Calvan on the ground, working a heel lock attempt before taking his opponents back and attempting a rear naked choke. In the second, Aoki put on a submission clinic and demonstrated his ungodly flexibility as he spun from an armbar to a triangle choke and back again. Calvan was able to counter or escape, but looked completely out of sync as he generated almost no offense whatsoever over the 15 minutes.

Aoki was very emotional in his postfight speech to the crowd, while JZC just looked disgusted with himself for losing such a one sided contest.

With the victory Aoki advances to the semifinals of the lightweight GP tournament. Thats the plan at least, as Aoki made some statements in the Japanese press leading up to the fight that win or lose there would be no way hed be ready for the next round with only half the preparation time as the rest of the field.

The rest of the card was devoted to the opening round of the middleweight GP tournament. Taiei Kin defeated Minowa-man Ikuhisa Minowa in a very closely contested and entertaining fight.

Korean judoka Yoon Dong-Sik also advanced with a unanimous decision victory over Shungo Oyama. Most of the damage in this fight came from Yoons ground and pound from full mount, and he controlled the tempo from the outset. Two one sided contests followed, with Zeleg Galesic submitting Magomed Sultanakhmadov via arm bar in a minute and a half of the first round. That was followed by the MMA debut of former Pac 10 wrestling standout Ian Murphy, who had a worst case scenario draw against BJJ specialist Ronaldo Jacare.

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Offering Memorandum Basics: A Must Read If You Are Raising Capital

By James Scott

Are you a business owner raising capital with a Regulation D Rule exemption (504, 505 or 506) also referred to as a Private Placement Memorandum, PPM or Offering Memorandum? If you are using this mechanism to raise capital then you'll, no doubt, have to have a solid comprehension of the most distinct and important part of the Private Placement Memorandum referred to as the 'Offering Circular'.

When your consultant or attorney is asking you for details on everything from business location to management, from dividends to risk details, you need to make sure that this information is complete and accurate. You'll need to audit the documents after they are completed. A solid Offering Circular has kept countless companies from being sued by investors that didn't get the investment return they were anticipating.

While the business plan is meant to grab the initial attention of the investor or funding source, the Offering Memorandum is meant to spell out the down and dirty details of the venture so that you are protected from lawsuits down the road, while simultaneously exposing the various ins and outs of your venture to give a 'reality check' to the investor before they hand over the cash.

The offering circular needs to be powerful yet very compact without the redundancies of using space to say the same things over and over again to pull the investors attention from the negative to the potential profit margins or management's impressive pedigree. With all this said, yes it's true the offering circular is one of the parts of a PPM spells out the technical aspects of the enterprise with a focus on inherent risk of investing but this can be done in a balanced way to also demonstrate the positive aspects of your venture by giving solid descriptions of your management team and, in place, distribution centers and contracts in place ready for capitalization.

When authoring the offering circular demonstrate the risks with a well balanced demonstration of the system in place to overcome these risks and dominate your market niche.

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