Backlinks - 3 Dozen Ways to Get Them - For Beginners and Pros Alike

In this post, we'll bring some understanding regarding backlinks and provide lots of great ways to establish them (many of which are FREE).

Understanding Backlinks

By definition, backlinks are simply links from other sites that direct people back to your website. Sounds fairly straight-forward, right? Well, not all backlinks are created equal. I'll explain what I mean, but first let's look at how they came into being so we REALLY understand their purpose for business.

It all started with the inventors of Google and a concept called page ranking; these were really smart guys, one of which was Larry Page (very appropro last name, don't ya think?). In March of 1996, they came up with a way to grab information on the web then use statistical formulas or algorithms to measure the popularity of a website in order to assign it a ranking score.

In this magic formula of winning the popularity contest, both quantity AND quality matter. In other words, the number of links pointing to your site is important. But, also links coming from high-ranked sites to yours is like striking gold for increasing your traffic because of how the search engines notice your site AND give it the thumbs-up. Let me explain.

Pages are ranked with a score from 0 to 10. Sites such as Google and Yahoo are 10s, of course. Sites like Ezines and HubPages are ranked around 5. Most blog sites rank, on average, between 1 and 3. Sites that have higher page rank are deemed as more important and credible to the "webcrawlers." So, you see, getting some "breadcrumbs" sprinkled to your site from one of the big enchiladas is a very good thing - appetizing for search engines (very smart but very picky eaters). At the end of the day, lots of high quality backlinks to your site increases your availability or easy access on the web, thus SEO (search engine optimization).

Some Great Ways To Build Backlinks

1. You can buy links from places like TextLinkAds.com

2. Make a few freebies available and call-to-action that takes them to your site.

3. Provide a short multiple-choice quiz (keep it to 1 or 2 questions).

4. Get a Twitter account with your websites listed there; very important to design a background different from the standard ones Twitter provides.

5. Use methods of automating your Twitter, like Twibs, TweetDeck and HootSuite.

6. Start a debate with someone on Twitter who has thousands of followers - be very careful to remain polite and professional throughout the process.

7. Get your business on Google Places.

8. Reveal the top-ten blogs of the week on your site.

9. Provide a huge list of resources.

10. Place classified ads - two free sites are Craigslist and BackPage.com.

11. Submit your blogs and articles to directories.

12. Write reviews on services, products, large companies and well-known people.

13. Retweet content that belongs to experts in your niche..

14. Send website owners compliments or testimonials (be genuine).

15. Do reviews regarding your niche on Amazon.

16. Link your sites to each other (also direct with or without the www in your URL and vice versa).

17. Get your own YouTube channel and post your videos there with descriptions.

18. Post your videos on sites like MetaCafe, DailyMotion, Vimeo and Viddler.

19. Add content to you blog on a regular basis (at least twice a week).

20. Create a Fanpage on Facebook separate from your personal profile (very important).

21. Post helpful comments on other people's Fanpages and blogs.

22. Write a newsletter that goes out on a regular basis.

23. Write very inexpensive eBooks about your niche and promote them on Amazon.

24. There are freelance websites where you can hire people to LIKE, DIGG, BOOKMARK or COMMENT on your stuff.

25. Make audio versions of your blogs and articles. Then post the podcasts on iTunes and also podcast directories.

26. Put your profile with all your links on sites like VisibleMe.com and LookUpPage.com

27. Ask people to bookmark your blog on their social media platform.

28. Make use of the various WordPress widgets and plugins on your blog site.

29. Go to Zimbio.com to register your blog and post your videos and articles.

30. Offer to be a guest blogger on other sites; it gives them good content and gives you backlinks.

31. Use RSS feeds on all your content.

32. Begin interaction with top gurus in your niche; eventually they may make comments on your content which can be golden for increasing your page ranking.

33. Become an active member of Yahoo Answers where you can give solutions to questions within your niche.

34. Become a member of The Backlinks Forum and make sure to put a link to your websites within your signature.

35. Be sure all your websites are listed in your profile for your social media sites, blog sites and forums.

36. Use syndicated news releases - VERY pricy though. That's why I put this one at the very end of the list.

I hope you found this helpful. Happy backlinking to you!!

Get Maximum Exposure With Corporate Video Production

Today every business is looking forward to making its website interesting and eye-catching. To achieve this purpose they are adding animated videos to it. These videos are also known as corporate videos. They are made to popularize a product and introduce viewers to the company.

A corporate video production simplifies communication with viewers, who wants everything delivered to them at the click of a mouse. Such videos can be made with real as well as artificial characters. Videos made with artificial characters have several advantages associated with them. To make animated video with artificial characters following points are to be considered:

The characters must be chosen considering the target audience: To choose a character it is important to determine the target audience in the first place. It's the target audience only which gives a clue about the kind of character that would suit the video. For instance, a video for body building supplement would look more appealing with the characters of human beings than of animals.

The characters must have particular traits: The characters must have a trait to attract and hold the attention of viewers for long. A character having a trait gives a feeling of something away from the league which makes viewers glued to them. This also makes them curious to know what is happening next with the character with every passing scene.

The characters must create an image into the minds of viewers: Characters must be able to create an image of business into the minds of viewers. This is required in order to let viewers identify the business with the character.

The characters must be sewed in a story: This means that the characters must be made to sit fittingly into a story. In other words, they should be made to act as actors in a story. This is done to give a wholesome effect to video.

The characters must be able to give a viral effect to the video: The characters used in a video must be able to generate special emotions in viewers. Such emotions could be of any feeling, such as that of sadness, happiness and excitement etc. This is done to let viewers share the video with more and more people. By uploading videos with such characters on networking sites, traffic to them can be increased.

Since a corporate video production can enhance the image of a business, it is important to get it done by experts.

This news article is brought to you by ELECTRICAL - where latest news are our top priority.

Ninja Marketing Tips - How Dare You Leave a Negative Review?

Business owners never make mistakes. Customer service is always stellar and the employees are the best in the whole world. Yep, and I have some beach front property here in Arizona for sale!

Businesses, for the most part, diligently work to provide the best customer service experience possible. Notice I said "for the most part". Some days, no matter how good your intentions are, customers may have a less than pleasant experience. Maybe you just got off the phone with a supplier telling you the shipment you were promised for an urgent job today won't be in for another week. Maybe half your staff called in sick so you're stuck answering the phones, scheduling appointments, ordering supplies, and keeping the jobs running. So when a customer calls with their "frivolous" complaint, you sound less than sympathetic.

Today's customers are empowered by the Internet. A satisfied customer will tell a few people about their positive interaction with your business. An unhappy customer, on the other hand, will tell everybody they know, plus they will Facebook it, tweet it, post a video on YouTube and find every reviews site they can to tell the world your business sucks. How you handle that negative review is critical to your reputation, both online and off.

The first step in the process is establishing a company policy for negative reviews. Will you answer them or ignore them? (I always recommend answering them.) Who is responsible for monitoring review sites? Who's responsible for responding to customer reviews, good or bad?

Here are five steps you can take to help negate the impact of the poor review:

1. Keep an Online Vigil - You have no chance of turning a negative situation into a positive if you don't know it's there. If someone posts a bad review on your Facebook page and you don't see it for a month, it's too late. Use monitoring tools like Google alerts, Nutshell Mail or Social Mention.

2. Engage Brain Before Opening Mouth - Remember, your customer is emotional. They feel they've been wronged or cheated so it's up to you to soothe those emotions. The last thing you want is to respond with emotion. That's a guaranteed grease fire waiting to happen.

3. Just The Facts M'aam - Read their review carefully, looking for the facts hidden behind the emotions. Who did they deal with? What are the specifics of their complaint? Talk to your employee that dealt with the customer. Remember, they will be responding with emotion as well so don't make it an inquisition. Step outside your owner/manager body and try to see the situation from the customers perspective.

4. Carefully Craft Your Response - Be apologetic and sincere in your answer. Defending your company's actions will only fuel their arguments. Have someone else read over your response to make sure the tone is what it should be. Does it sound condescending or sincere? Does it sound like you're calling them an idiot?

If possible, offer them a discount or some other concessions. Offer to discuss their issues off line and give them phone number where they can reach you (or someone in authority) easily. The last thing you want is for them to call and they get put on hold, get shuffled around the office or leave a message and don't get a prompt callback.

5. Overshadow The Negatives - Negative reviews are inevitable. And negative reviews don't hurt if you have enough positive reviews to offset it. In fact a negative review when mixed in with several positive reviews shows that your reviews are genuine. Be proactive and encourage your good customers to write reviews in places like Google+ Local, Facebook, Yelp and some of the other local customer review sites. Then when a prospective customer looks at the reviews, they will see that one negative among the dozens of positive reviews as a flake, "You know you can't please everyone".

Ultimately, there's going to be that one customer that you just can't satisfy (or shut up). Remember though, this conversation is not taking place behind closed doors. There are hundreds, potentially thousands, of prospective customers watching. And those are the ones you're after. When they see you trying your best to correct a bad experience, they feel reassured that, if they do business with you, you will bring the same level of customer satisfaction to them.

How do you handle those irate customer reviews?

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7 Top Reasons Why You Should Become an Affiliate Marketer

1. Affiliate Marketing can work for anyone.

No matter your age, where you live or your background, you can become an affiliate. You simply need internet access and basic computer skills. You don't need to be a web development guru or an expert writer.

Most affiliates start on a level playing field, and learn by taking action. Many merchants who rely on affiliates for their marketing will provide advertising banners, emails and even articles you can use in your campaigns.

2. You have a wide choice of programs and products.

There are literally thousands of markets and people you can promote to. Each one has needs and wants, problems and desires. You just need to select one that appeals to you, and go to work.

Your biggest problem may be that there's too much choice, and you'll have trouble making a decision what to market. This doesn't mean you should just choose one product.

3. You're not tied to any one particular product.

Once you've selected a particular market - let's say weight loss, for example - you don't need to stick to just one product to promote.

Unlike most MLM business opportunities, you are able to choose a variety of products and services in your chosen niche. Within the weight loss niche, you could promote diet books, exercise programs, nutritionals and exercise equipment.

The key is to try several, and see which ones perform best for you.

4. It costs very little to get started.

You can get started with absolutely no investment, but that's likely not the best way to go. Every real business requires some initial monetary investment.

Start by investing in a domain name and web hosting. Domain names run about $10, and you can get web hosting for $10 per month. Set up a blog. This will be your sales and marketing hub, where you'll write articles, reviews and even videos.

Actually joining affiliate programs is free, and there are many ways to promote products for free.

5. All the 'grunt work' is done for you.

The merchant you are affiliated with handles all the delivery, payment processing and customer service for you. All your time is invested in the marketing and promotion aspect of your business.

6. You can set up several hubs.

There's no need to focus on just one topic or market. Once you have one up and running, and making you money, choose a second topic to focus on. All successful affiliate marketers promote a variety of products, to an array of markets. Not all will be equally successful, so setting up multiple hubs and marketing sites is just good business.

7. There is little or no risk involved.

By marketing someone else's products, you never need to spend time and money doing the thorough market research that's necessary in creating a product. That time consuming, expensive and risky job is done for you.

Where you will spend money is when you want to save time - placing paid advertising in addition to free, and outsourcing tasks that you don't like or feel you can't do well.

Affiliate marketing is a huge business, both online and off-line. It is here to stay, and there's a lot of money to be made. More and more people are turning to the internet to research products and buy, so why not take advantage of this growing trend and global marketplace?

What Does It Mean To "Buy Janitorial Leads"?

Janitorial companies who are just starting up might be new to the idea of generating commercial cleaning leads. So first, here is a quick summary of what lead generation does, why it's necessary, and how companies get it done.

• Attracts interest - It draws the attention of companies who are interested in a janitorial service.
• Determines their needs - Logically, they wouldn't be interested in a particular service if they didn't have a need for it.
• It indicates opportunities - It gives a tangible and measurable form to your sales chances.
• Gain insight on what to offer - Knowing the needs also implies that you'll know how to address them.
• It's either outsourced or done in-house - The costs and requirements needed for even a decent campaign ranges from the necessary tools to the necessary starting information. Cost-efficiency and results usually affect the final decision between the two types.

Now with regards to the last item on the list, some companies make the mistake of assuming that leads can just simply be 'bought'. The truth is you don't buy leads in the same way you buy any other B2B product. You're actually buying an entire process.

You see, like you, generating leads is more of a service than a product. When people say they're 'selling leads', they might very well be just saying that they're selling contact data. And in case you've forgotten, those aren't always sufficient enough to be called qualified leads.

But then again, perhaps this is because so many sales personnel have varying differences on defining what a lead is. Perhaps even the above list doesn't necessarily reflect what they're looking for.

For now though, it's still very important to remember that leads are generated by a process. Below is the process in its entirety:

• Contacting a prospect - Some people would prefer cold calling. Others would try email marketing. Either way, the point is just simply to check for interest and nothing more. It's now common knowledge that attempting sales from a random encounter is an increasingly ineffective (and irritating) model.
• Qualifying them - If they've shown an interest and are willing to talk more, that starts the long qualification process. Needs are discussed. Problems regarding the cleanliness and maintenance of the work place are brought up. Ultimately, the goal is to direct a prospect to a sales representative (for example, they might set an appointment).
• Presenting the qualified lead - Once the lead is qualified, information about them is relayed to sales and it's now up to them to pursue the opportunity.

Further details about the process might be specified by sales as well. But the fact is, they need to concern themselves with the process and not presume they can just focus on the results. They're not exclusive. If you want something is made in a certain way, you need to know the process of actually making it. In the case of janitorial service leads, you can't simply just say you want to 'buy' them. You'll have better luck trying to buy (and understand) the process which creates them.

Insights About the Future of Direct Selling Companies

Direct selling has been well-entrenched in global market for some time. The success of companies can even be described as phenomenal. Notwithstanding recent developments in the world economy, observers have a lot of observations about the future of direct sellers. These may well be the basis for people who consider joining the industry or entrepreneurs who dream of putting up their own enterprise.

It is widely believed that economic slumps can be good for this sector. In fact, becomes more lucrative as gifted individuals express their desires to become distributors. People all over the world have been looking for ways to earn as a result of the unemployment scare so the rise in the number of determined sellers will overshadow the drop in sales to create more proceeds.

For so long, has been a healthy business. The emergence of product sales via the internet or online shopping poses a big challenge to companies. So, these organizations are shifting strategies by putting in the element of face-to-face relationships in internet marketing and getting the younger generation involved since this is the age group that is so attached to online pursuits. The focus nowadays of direct sellers is to incorporate the online features to the concept of face-to-face marketing.

Another major issue is the effective management of well distributed organizations.

Dealers are self-employed and have very minimal direct contact with the companies whose products they circulate and sell. Training is not adequate so most of the time; the selling points of field distributors are very different from the company's point of view. Secondly, it is hard to keep people interested all the time. Thus, it is up to the company to come up with strategies that will energize potential customers. Moreover, faces almost the same challenges as big corporate organizations which have to contend with huge work forces.

Successful direct sellers usually knock on the doors of strong social networks such as those with religious or cultural orientation. These direct sales distributors normally depend on social networks that can provide them with a considerable client base. The future of is still very profitable.

There can even be a situation where the enterprise can grow twice the size that it is today. Consumers are now inclined to do their shopping through online methods, supermarkets and hypermarkets but given the employment of innovative techniques, direct selling companies can make headway in the years to come. By and large, the future of depends partly on the progress of network marketing. This is not a new approach anymore in the delivery of products and services to the marketplace. It has been existent for so many decades. The advantage of this concept is that there is no need for start-up time, no need for a business plan or manufacture any commodity. You only need to be obsessive about the product and sell this to the end user to make money.

This news article is brought to you by ATTRACTION - where latest news are our top priority.

Get High Returns On Your Investments Using Marketing Video

With commercial market filled with all kinds of products, every customer today, before purchasing a product, wants to know whether it would benefit him or not. He also wants to know whether he can trust the company of which product he is purchasing. Businesses also at the same time look forward to satisfy their customers on these points. Marketing videos are proving to be a boon for businesses in this regard. Technology has today made marketing videos turn from a boring, non interactive audio video presentation to hi-tech, interactive presentations. Neither are they same as they used to be a couple of years ago nor are they viewed in the same fashion or with the same age-old mentality.

A study by 'Eye View Digital', an online website, shows that using video on landing pages can increase conversion by 80%. This shows that marketing videos, in one or the other form, have today caught everyone's attention. And this is happening for all the good reasons. First and foremost, they are no longer there just to push a product on people; instead they are doing more than advertising a product. In other words, they are giving a wholesome experience to their viewers, not letting them feel the burden of getting informed through a commercial.

Businesses are exploiting the power of marketing videos to the best of their commercial advantage. Let's see some of the advantages associated with a marketing video:

1. They are easier to create.

2. They are accessible to one and all.

3. A marketing video of one or two minutes duration can convey the message of a full-fledged website.

4. They can be played both on and off-line.

5. They can be watched for fun as well.

6. By uploading them on networking sites such as Vimeo and YouTube etc., they can be made to go viral.

7. They can launch a product as soon as they are manufactured, thus saving enormous business hours of a company.

8. They simplify the movement of ideas.

9. They are quick to grab everyone's attention.

10. They can also give a demonstration of a product by showing its view from all the angles, plus an aerial view of a product can also be shown. For example, if a property is to be sold, showing its aerial view can really convince a costumer in going for it.

11. They target a specific set of audience.

12. They can animate a thing to the minutest detail, like a strand of hair can be shown with the number of split ends it has.

13. Being in the form of a story, they never make viewers hit the 'stop' button while they are watching them. Plus, according to 'Com Score', site visitors who view video stay two minutes longer on average on a website. This can further assist businesses in getting their messages stay longer in viewers mind.

Marketing videos have today made inroads in all the commercial sectors, be it education, entertainment, shopping or any activity for that matter. Being a mix of entertainment and infotainment they have made everyone fall in awe with them.

Mobile Promotions

What is a mobile promotion? When you talk about marketing to a broad audience that is interested in what your company has to offer, you have to think about the best mediums for reaching that audience.

Mobile technology has advanced significantly in the past few years and is even starting to surpass the Internet in the number of real users. When you start to develop your new marketing strategy, it is important to consider all active and efficient mediums for reaching your audience. Mobile promotions is rapidly becoming the most efficient marketing outlet available to corporations all over the world.

How Do Mobile Promotions Work?

The concept behind this marketing approach is actually very simple. Mobile marketing works in much the same way that email marketing works. An Internet marketing company reaches out to people who text and asks them to sign up to receive marketing messages from qualified organizations. A "qualified organization" is one that offers a product or service in-line with what the consumer opted-in for.

For example, if a consumer agreed to receive the newest deals on athletic shoes, then sending that person pain medication marketing messages is a violation of the agreement. If you send people the information they are looking for, then they will read it.

Why use Mobile Promotions?

There are over 5 billion mobile devices active in the world and they are all destinations for effective mobile text messages. The Internet is starting to show that it is not tethered to a desktop computer or a networking cable. Billions of people all over the world access the Internet through their mobile devices and all of those people also receive texts every day.

It is estimated that there are millions of texts sent every minute around the world. This indicates that people are not only comfortable sending and receiving texts, but they prefer it over email.

How Do I Reach My Customers with Mobile Promotions?

A good Internet marketing firm is going to segment its mobile marketing lists based on your company needs. If you need your texts to go to everyone who opted-in to receive text messages about auto parts sales, then that is the audience you will reach. But you may also find value in texting messages to people who wanted information on customizing vehicles and restoring old vehicles as well.

You determine your target audience and your Internet marketing firm will supply you with a list of prospects eager to receive your messages. You will reach tens of thousands of people instantly as opposed to having your message sit in an email inbox for days.

Do Mobile Promotions Work?

Approximately 97 percent of every text message that is sent is opened by the recipient. This percentage is higher than email marketing and significantly higher than standard mailings. If you want to reach your target audience, then sending out text messages is absolutely the way to do it.

A small business owner should utilize technology to his advantage. By signing up for a mobile marketing program, you will reach thousands of new clients every day and significantly increase your business. For more information on a Mobile Media Platform for easy, powerful, cost effective and cutting edge mobile promotions.

This news article is brought to you by TRAVEL-AND-LEISURE - where latest news are our top priority.

Proven Trade Show Ideas To Help Any Business Command Convention Attention

It's no surprise that marketing conventions are an uber-popular promotional endeavor for businesses in every operational arena. Today's industry events offer endless prospects to announce, entice, engage and, ultimately, close. However, despite such an extensive potential return on investment, sometimes getting noticed at marketing conventions can prove an elusive exercise. Occasionally, no matter how eye-catching your custom displays, or how visually informative your popup displays and exhibits, sometimes it's simply hard to stand out in the competitive crowd and grab the roaming eye of the consumers that are wandering through the venue.

Simple Trade Show Ideas Can Help Your Business Stand Out In The Crowd

Fortunately, while getting your custom displays noticed is tough, it doesn't have to be an impossible feat. Companies looking to stand head and shoulders above the other exhibitors can employ some viable strategies and tactics beyond their booths and popup displays that can quickly transform their exhibit from a wallflower to a noticeable presence. If you're looking for some great ideas to help get your company noticed, read on. Even incorporating a few of the following tips can help you outwit the promotional efforts of the opposition and showcase your business as the industry innovator that it is!

Creative And Effective Trade Show Ideas That Will Get Your Team Noticed

When looking for trade show ideas that give you an attention-grabbing edge over the competition, consider trying some (or all!) of the following:

Entertainment:
Want to break up the monotony of booth after booth after booth? Give your prospective customers an entertainment break to draw them into your custom displays. Magicians, musicians, jugglers and even caricature artists are all great trade show ideas designed to help shine a spotlight on your organization. Other fun options can include karaoke contests, comedians, etc.

Services:
Give the masses some free services to encourage visitors. Massages, mani/pedi's and even tarot card readings are an excellent way to add a little excitement to the convention and have the attendees lining up outside of your custom displays. Another great service to offer? Free shoe shines to guests looking to take a break and rejuvenate for a few moments. No matter what services you provide, rest assured that your guests will get to relax and you'll have a captive audience to pitch to!

Educational:
Have an industry celebrity of sorts on staff? Host a seminar or discussion onsite at your custom displays with that person as the guest speaker. Everyone loves an opportunity to learn something new and hosting the assembly will further enhance your reputation as an "in the know" vendor.

Giveaways:
Giveaways and handouts, when strategized appropriately and wielded wisely, can play a major role in getting some convention attention. Remember, think outside the box and try to think of an item that will be functional as well as desirable/trendy. What's the hottest technology gadget that everyone is clamoring for? Is there an industry relevant item that would create a stir? Or, do you have free samples and wares from your own merchandise line that you could use to generate some buzz? Get creative, get the word out on what visitors will receive and watch as you become the booth to be at during the function!

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Why Custom Presentation Folders Are a Valuable Asset to Your Company

I think you'll be surprised at just how many different ways there are in which you can use custom presentation folders. If your company isn't currently using these, and you're wondering why you should go to the trouble and expense of having custom presentation folders made for your business, take a moment to read through these different ideas and learn how versatile a tool they can be.

The most obvious use for custom presentation folders is within the sales or marketing field. Simply assemble an informative and useful collection of papers and leaflets and put them neatly inside your beautifully designed folder. This gives a professional impression to your potential customer in an instant, and ensures your marketing material is easy for them to find later on once the initial sales meeting is over.

Real estate agents use custom presentation folders to great effect when sending details of a property to a potential buyer. Not only does it show that the real estate company itself is extremely professional as a business but it also ensures that the buyer can easily locate and access the relevant information when it's needed.

Perhaps your business is planning to launch a new product or service and you're working on drumming up some media interest? There is no better way to catch the attention of journalists than to send them the relevant information contained within a folder.

You're probably beginning to see the essential advantage of custom presentation folders by now. You are able to mix and match different literature, along with photographs, price lists and other relevant information, into a package which is absolutely suitable for the occasion. You can change the mix of documentation as many times as you like, yet everything is still neatly presented within your folder. Your company's name and logo are on the cover, and the whole package is clearly identifiable as coming from you.

Companies who provide staff training will find custom presentation folders immensely useful. Each delegate who attends the training can be supplied with all the relevant handouts and follow-up information, conveniently presented within a folder. This ensures that everything stays together, and that it's kept in good condition for future use and reference. It's very frustrating for an individual to attend an important training course only to lose the reference material soon afterwards!

Choose your printing company with care and make sure you obtain the very best value for money as well as excellent quality.

This news article is brought to you by MOVIE CRITIC NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.

Picture Perfect Product Management

Just imagine if you were a product manager who was in charge of film for cameras. Your world used to be great: everyone needed film and so you could improve your product, roll it out, and customers would snap it up (sorry for the pun). However, then along came digital cameras and almost overnight the market for your product vanished. Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy because of this. However, Fujifilm is still going strong. What did their product managers do that nobody else did?

Fujifilm's Big Problem

The year 2000 was a great year to be in the business of supplying analog film to the world's photographers. This was the year that worldwide demand for photographic film hit its peak. I mean we all needed the stuff: we'd been taught that when we went on vacation or had special family events we needed to take a lot of photographs. We'd go to the store and buy our film from one of two main companies: Kodak or Fujifilm.

Well fast forward to today and as you can well imagine, the world has pretty much flipped upside down when it comes to photography film. The cameras that we used to use now sit up on a shelf somewhere in the house. We've all either switched to using the digital camera that is built into our cell phone or we've gone out and bought a new stand-alone digital camera.

What this means is that we no longer have a need for analog film. Poof - the market for this product that had been in demand for over 100 years went away almost overnight. At Kodak, they didn't know what to do and that's why they've fielded for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This never looks good on your product manager resume.

This all leads to one critical question. What's a film company product manager to do?

How Fujifilm's Product Managers Reacted

Over at Fujifilm, they handled things a bit differently than Kodak did. Clearly the Fujifilm product managers knew about the product development definition -start with understanding what's coming your way. One of the most important things that Fujifilm's product managers did right was to take the long view. Yes, they saw that the digital revolution was going to cause the need for analog film to go away, but they decided that switching to digital photography was not enough.

Instead, what they did was to take a step back and ask themselves the question "what does Fujifilm do well?" The answer to this question turned out to be that Fujifilm was a very good chemical company.

The product managers then took that information and went looking for other industries that Fuifilm could create products for. What they discovered might surprise you.

The Fujifilm product managers discovered that the company's chemical expertise was needed in the development of films used in the creation of LCD panels for computers, TVs, and cell phones. It also turns out that the world of cosmetics had a need for Fujifilm's ability to prevent photos from fading over time. Finally, the world of healthcare could use Fujifilm's expertise to develop ways for the human body to do a better job of absorbing chemicals.

The result of switching the products that they make and what markets they serve has allowed Fujifilm to not only survive, but to also thrive. Fujifilm used to make 20% of their money from analog film. These days it's down to just 1%. Now that's a nice development.

What All Of This Means For You

It is entirely possible that at some point in time during our product management career we will encounter a situation where the market for our product dries up and goes away. Although this may have not have been on our product manager job description, we do need to know how to deal with it. As product managers we need to make some tough decisions when this happens.

Over at Fujifilm the arrival of digital cameras meant that their primary market, the photographic film market, was going to go away. Instead of just focusing on trying to come up with a digital version of what they were already making, the Fuji product managers took a close look at what the company did well. What they discovered is that Fuji could use its product knowledge to branch into other industries including LCD displays, medicine, and cosmetics.

When the market for your product starts to go away, remember what Fujifilm did. Take the time to study what your company does well and see if there are any skills or technologies that can be applied to different markets. Finding other ways to create popular products will allow you to capture many happy memories.

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Keeping Your Business's Expansion Steady

Building a successful business is a challenging ordeal all the way through - some people might tell you that it's difficult to get started, others will assure you that the real challenge starts once you've really hit it big, but the truth is that the whole procedure is riddled with challenges all the way through. It's important to know how to handle those problems in a responsible and thoughtful way, as this will ensure that you'll be able to keep up with the growth of your operations.

The most common problem people seem to encounter is coping with the sudden surge in their progress. At some point, sooner or later your business is going to bloom dramatically - it might be just random luck that you've struck it big with a specific product, but you never know if that expansion is going to happen over a prolonged period of time, or literally overnight. This makes it important to be prepared for when that moment happens, and know exactly what you need to do to avoid going under because you're unable to handle all the extra challenges that have suddenly come up.

Remember that keeping yourself well connected is very important - even if you're not using those connections at the moment, you never know when you might need a certain service later on. If a supplier offers you good rates but they only work with larger shipments than the ones you're ordering regularly, don't just throw away their business card - keep it for moments like this one exactly. Because when you suddenly need to fill in an extra supply channel that also happens to be quite wide, you can't just go around looking for the first company to come under your sights and hire them - you'll need to make an informed decision, ideally knowing in advance who you'll work with.

Don't go crazy on expanding your workforce - this is another common issue faced by people who're trying to handle with the expansion of their businesses. It might seem right now that you suddenly need tons of extra people to handle all the additional workload, but think straight for a second - is this perhaps some temporary state? Maybe the recent hit you made on the market is going to die down in a week or two, leaving you with people who suddenly don't have any purpose in your company? Only hire as many extra helping hands as you truly need, and ideally try to take on some extra work yourself to help out everyone around you.

The main point here is - don't go over your head. You might get inspired to try out all sorts of creative things once you've gotten a taste of success, but keep your head straight and keep thinking realistically. Save your income and invest it properly, and keep the expansion of your company steady and smooth. Sooner or later you'll stabilize and you'll start handling the new situation just as easily as you coped with the previous state of your company!

This article is sponsored by medical case study.

Know the Most Popular Printing Methods

With advancement in technology, a number of printing services have developed and a whole set of printing methods has emerged. Each method is suited for a different commercial purpose and it is therefore important to know the various methods in order to understand which type is best suited for a particular project.

Following is a brief discussion on the popular printing methods used in the commercial market today:

Digital printing:

This method of printing is new and is extremely effective as it rules out the use of plates and films and can be used instead, digital technology where the file to be printed is transmitted to the press from the computer. Digital printing is effective because of its working speed and this makes it a convenient choice in most offices where projects have time constraints and deadlines to be met.

Electrostatic Printing:

Here, the printing process is similar to that in the photocopying process where colour is made to stick to the drum and is then transmitted to the paper by fusion with heat. This method of printing is effective too as the process is quick and it also works out cheaper for short print runs.

Offset Lithography:

This method of printing is by far most popular. The process involved here is the offsetting of ink from a metal plate to rubber cylinders and then its transmission to paper. Offset Lithography works out to be economical for projects where a large number of prints are needed.

Letterpress:

This is oldest method of printing, developed by Gutenberg and is still quite popular in the present day's market. Here, the image and non-image area are on different levels, the printed area being raised from the base surface (as in the rubber stamp).

Engraving:

This method of printing is popularly used in the printing of expensive or fine stationery as in the case of company letterheads. It is used for sharp images and print texture is such that the image appears to be indented.

Thermography:

Thermography produces prints with raised images formed by the adherence of a special dust or powder to wet ink. As the name suggests, heat is used to fuse the two together to obtain a raised printed surface.

Screen Printing:

This is a popular method used for professional printing on goods that are not flat, like mugs, clothing, etc. It is also used in the printing of large-scale signage and billboards.

Advertising Your Auto Repair Shop to Increase Car Counts? Here's Why Your Ads Don't Work!

I hear it all the time. Service shop owners recounting the money they spend on running ads or doing 'val-paks' or flyers and then just sit and wonder if their ad even got seen. They wonder about that because the typical response is NOTHING. That's right. If you run ads and don't get a response, you're not alone. Here's what you need to look at.

You must stand out. Do the test yourself. Open the yellow page directory and look at your ad as compared to everyone else in your category. Look the same? I know they do. In fact, if you changed names and numbers, I bet you couldn't even tell the difference. So how would you expect your customer to 'pick' you?

It's not about features; Your ads have to provide benefits; Without even looking at it, I am going to use my 'psychic' powers and tell you what your current ad says. I know that it includes statements very similar (if not identical) to; Family Owned for 25 years; 12 Service Bays; Established since 1977; We service Imports and Domestics; Friendly Service; and maybe even a real 'rip-your-eye-balls-out-fancy-statement' like "Excellence in Service". Was I right? I am pretty sure I am. So now, can you tell me what 'benefits' those statements are to me as a customer? What solution are you providing to my problem? Basically, NONE.

Your ads suffer from what I call advertising incest. You created an ad (and maybe even with the help of the yellow page salesman who is really only interested in selling you the ad space) that followed the same outline as everyone else's ad. But what you weren't thinking about is all those other service shops did the exact same thing when they started. Everyone is advertising the exact same 'features' (not benefits) and now your ad is doing the same.

You must include a strong call to action and a REASON: The reason, of course has to be a benefit to me, the customer or prospect. The call to action has to be clear. There's no room to 'pussy foot' around here. It's got to be strong and to the point. Call me now! E-Mail Me Now! Text 'YourName' to 54321 NOW for coupon. The better your offer, the better your response. Remember, it's a lot like fishing; good bait = lots of fish; bad bait = You Starve.

Eliminate these problems from your current advertising and you will start to see your response increase and your car counts go up.

In short, your adverting MUST include:

• Benefits to me as a customer; it's not about YOU
• Provide a solution to a real problem
• Create a Call to Action and make several different ways for prospects to contact you; that can be phone, fax, e-mail, texting, website address, 24 help line; 24 hour message line; QR codes; Make it easy to contact you.
• Provide non-threatening ways for prospects to contact you and get more information. People only purchase from those they know, trust and like. Let them get to know you.
• Quit trying to sell from your ad; How many of those fancy 10% discount coupons have you ever received back? Yeah, I figured. Your ad isn't about getting your customer to buy when YOU want them to. They never will.
• Most important; make your ad a way to collect leads; not sell. Get customer information so that you can continue to market to them. They will purchase when they're ready, not necessarily when YOU want them to.

Following these strategies will make your auto repair shop more effective while you develop your list of prospects or leads. That way, you can continue to market to them so they purchase when they're ready, not necessarily when YOU want them to.

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Video Marketing - 5 Tips for Creating Inexpensive Marketing Videos

Every day, more than four billion people watch videos on YouTube - and they're not all looking for puppies and kittens playing together, either. Increasingly people are turning to videos for business-related information, however many companies still shy away from video because they believe it's cost-prohibitive.

The good news is inexpensive video equipment such as Flip cameras and iPhones makes shooting video easy and affordable. Plus, with a little extra memory and a software program, even today's run-of-the-mill computer can become a powerful and intuitive video-editing machine. This presents an opportunity for businesses who venture into video to gain a captive and largely untapped audience. Here are five tips for companies interested in breaking into video content marketing:

1. Start Simple. If you're not ready to put someone in front of a camera, you can still create videos. Many online video editing sites create professional-looking video slideshows quickly using just photos, text and music.

2. Think Fast. Videos don't have to be lengthy. A series of short, one- or two-minute quick tips often works just as well (or better) than a ten-minute video.

3. Reuse and Recycle. When you market with video, there's no need to start from square one. Do you have an old blog post or article with information that is still important and relevant? Great! Aim a camera on a tripod at a neutral background and stick an employee with a decent on-camera presence (you don't need to be Diane Sawyer) in front of it. Hit "record" and have the speaker deliver the information in an easy, conversational way. Voila, your first video.

4. Look for Opportunities. If someone at your company is speaking at a meeting or conference, why not take advantage of that opportunity? Record the presentation, then edit it down to the most useful information (inserting a simple dissolve or wipe transition between clips makes it easy). With the resulting video, you've created two marketing opportunities for the price of one!

5. Have Fun. If you're producing in-house video inexpensively, it's a good idea not to take yourself too seriously. Just keep it casual and conversational, the same way you would a business talk - if you make a mistake in your delivery, just keep on rolling.

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Marketing Is a Lot Different Today In the Information Age

Most new entrepreneurs think they know a whole lot about marketing, but really they don't. Oh sure, they might be able to garner lots of friends on Facebook, social networks, or use trickery tactics like SEO strategies to beat out more legitimate companies online, but how much of that can they really convert to sales, aka; hits don't equal revenue conundrum. Okay so, let's talk because I come from the old school.

You see, when I started my company there was no internet, no fax machines, and portable phones were only for the top executives in corporations or the military, so, you had to do it all in the real world, where it really counts. Now then, recently I read an interesting book, it was written back in 2000, but it foretold much of what we see today, namely that "everything" had changed "forever" and it would never be the same again when it came to marketing.

I'd like to recommend this book to you because I think it is of value to all the old timers, and all the new kids that think they know everything, but don't seem to be making much money from their marketing efforts. The name of the book is;

"The End of Marketing As We Know It," by Sergio Zyman, Harper Business Press, NY, 2000, 272 pages, ISBN: 978-08873-09830-0.

This author also has real world experience, he was the head of marketing for a major soft drink company, until he started his own marketing firm. He saw the changes with the future of "new marketing" in the information age. He reminds the reader that "popularity online" and hits, or click-throughs is not "making money" because it's the conversion ratios that matter, that's the scoreboard. The clicks or hits are just sparks, so it remains the marketer's job to use those sparks to start a fire.

He admits the value in brand building online; that is getting people to want to buy what you are selling. Still, he points to the science of marketing, the metrics, the math, and the reality of achieving sales goals, not merely attaining traffic. He suggests that marketers online "fish where the fish are" and to target your potential clients online, that clicks are worthless, unless they lead to sales. Perhaps he was ahead of his time. He basically describes the rational for Big Data marketing mining, and how that changes the game completely.

You see, sometimes it pays to understand the cross-over of trends and how to unite the virtual world with the real one, that is if you want to make money and not just get lots of hits and play a popularity game online. Indeed, perhaps the philosophy here, and his arguments are of value even to the know-it-all so-called online marketing gurus. Please consider all this and think on it. I hope I didn't offend you, but if I did, realize you aren't my market, and I don't want or need your hits or clicks, see that point?

Pub Marketing Using SMS

Pub marketing has become much more important in recent years due to the economic situation that we find ourselves in. Because of this, the pub trade has been heavily affected by the fact that people have less money to spend on luxury items and that they are going out to socialise on fewer occasions.

So, how do we get the message across to our customers to make them more aware of the fact that you are still there? You could use traditional marketing methods such as advertising in your local newspaper, handing out flyers in the street, or having posters in your establishment.

Let's quickly go through each of these:

Newspaper Advertising: This method has been proven to work to a small degree, however the simple fact of the matter is that most of us now when we're reading print media have become 'immune' to adverts and so tend to skip over them. Newspaper advertising is also slow moving, ie, you place the advert in the publication today, and it may not be printed for another 5 days. This is not the medium you need if you have a promotion or event you want people to know about tomorrow.

Street Flyers: You could spend a few hundred pounds to get a few thousand flyers printed off with drink promotions that you normally have running in order to hand them out in the street to passing people on a Friday night. The problem with this method is that roughly ninety to ninety-five per cent of people out walking in the street already know where they are going and will just discard the flyer and ignore it. So for the environmentally publican, knowing that they have essentially littered their local area with hundreds or thousand flyers does not always sit easy on the mind. Also, with the remaining five to ten percent of people who do not know where they are aiming for on a night out, you are only likely to capture a small amount of those to walk through your doors. So you have to decide, is it worth paying out to have these printed for a small handful of extra customers?

In-house Posters: These are great for when you already have the people inside your pub, but how will it get them into there in the first place?

An alternative marketing method for pubs is mobile marketing using SMS. This is an old technology used in a new way to get your message out to people and is very cost effective compared to other methods. The reason for this is that under UK law it is illegal to send out unsolicited text messages to people who have not opted in to receive them from you, so those that get them want to hear what offers, promotions and events you're running.

SMS marketing is also hugely responsive. If you suddenly book a band to play that evening, or you are having a particularly quiet night you can type up your message and have it in the palm of hundreds of people in seconds. There is no waiting for a newspaper to be published, no discarding of flyers you've had printed, it literally is instant marketing.

SMS messages also have a ninety-six per cent read rate, which dwarfs the average fifty-five per cent for street flyers, and the approximate ten percent of newspaper advertising.

So what's the advice? We don't suggest that you drop the other forms of advertising mentioned above in favour of SMS messages, however we do strongly suggest that you use mobile marketing in conjunction with other methods. How ever you decide to go about it, as we mentioned Pub Marketing is more important now than ever.

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