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Online Radiology Technology, Career Schools

2011-08-29T05:00:00.001-07:00

Many medical treatments could not be diagnosed without the vital capacity to see inside a patient. The use of technology and medical knowledge necessary to perform this function requires a formal education. Getting an education is possible by entering an online school career radiological technology. Students can enroll in online degree programs to become a radiology technologist.

Online Schools prepare students for the workplace by providing professional specialized training in the use of industrial technologies and medical technologies.

Diagnostic imaging technology to produce images of a certain part of the patient's body.

Students learn by working directly with patients, explaining procedures, positioning patients to X-rays, and to protect the patient's exposure to unnecessary radiation.

Technologists perform complex X-ray using different types of imaging equipment. They work with computed tomography, commonly known as a scanner to create a three dimensional image of a target area. Using magnetic resonance imaging creates the image the same type as the CT, except that it uses non-ionizing radio frequency to generate image contrast.

Students can also learn to use the mammography equipment, history, medical records, and maintain equipment.

Online schools provide students with a thorough knowledge of all these fields to produce well-rounded professional.

Students may enroll in programs at the certificate, associate, bachelor's and master's level. Many students pursue or an associate or bachelor's degree. These two grade levels are the most common desired educational pathways. Earn a master's degree is less common, but many professionals are already working to win this race two years for the top positions in their careers. Certification programs are very similar to associate degree programs, but generally focus on preparing students for certification exams.

Physical education to earn a distance learning program can be for students completing the courses and learn to use specialized equipment. Curriculum also focuses on the care of patients and medical imaging.

A course of patient care instructs students on the procedures and techniques used to treat patients in the office. Subjects such as psychology and medical terminology, a better understanding of how to communicate and work with patients.

During an imaging provided by an online school focuses on different diseases and injuries that affect the human body. Anatomy instruction helps students learn about the human body to aid in the diagnosis of a patient with respect to the completion of radiography.

The skills acquired through an associate degree program include preventing harmful radiation, patient positioning and the operational team.

Continue to promote a deeper understanding of the technology of radiology.

Students focus on a four-year college program of study in advanced technologies and science. Some advanced concepts can include how the equipment works and surgical procedures. Science courses in anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and give students a more comprehensive understanding of medicine. Online Career Schools radiological education process more centralized and concentrated.

Cloud Technology Explained

2011-08-29T04:53:00.001-07:00

The cloud computing service for games OnLive is a huge breakthrough for publishers and players. Even seven years in the making, the online gaming service has recently launched and announced at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The term "cloud" is a reference to technology or information service that is hosted on another location and then delivered over the Internet. While many companies to include the e-mail and even PayPal are considered based on the cloud, OnLive it takes to a whole new level.Cloud technology explained

OnLive cloud service is a browser plug-in that allows a person to play online and in real time. This means that the equipment is expensive and complicated servers have been removed. Instead, OnLive servers located in five data centers, management of all the heavy work. The end user simply accesses the Internet and immediately have the ability to play online with your TV, PC or Macintosh.Cloud technology explained

The technology that enables cloud computing OnLive is so successful is a method of compression algorithm. Normal speed of rapid movement of data over the Internet has improved. In fact, this new technology OnLive cloud capable of transmitting 60 frames per second in standard-definition graphics, 1.5 Mbps, and as much as 720 m using a 5 Mbps connection, OnLive cloud technology is a very short delay of one millisecond between what the player sees and what happens is OnLive server.Cloud technology explained

However, technology as part of the cloud OnLive goes further. For players who do not want to be caught sitting at a computer as a form of play, a small hardware device known as MicroConsole be used. This console has USB ports and an HDMI output, which acts as a thin client computer games and Internet. The other option is that the player uses an integrated web browser, which provides independent features.

All these benefits of cloud computing OnLive is really amazing, but then considering that the end user has the option to play games in real time, all this becomes even more spectacular. With OnLive, a player can choose to play individually or standalone game, or get involved with other players around the world of interactive games. A special feature called Brag Clips even allows players to save 10 second clips of different game outcomes, which can then be shared or bragged on.Cloud technology explained

Annual mean cloud computing OnLive for online gaming is not available until later in the year, but expectations are high. Reasonable prices, no waiting time for games to download or install, and high-speed, high-definition games in real time, it is easy to see why OnLive cloud makes the effect on the world of online gaming. The best part is that the founder of OnLive, Steve Perlman is even more development on the horizon, things that are useful for game publishers, creators and players.Cloud technology explained

How To Change Domain Registrar

2011-08-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

There comes a time when you decide whether to start a website or transfer a website from one host to another. On both occasions, you need new accommodation you need to transfer files to the new site. You should also tell your domain name at the point - you must change your domain name servers or DNS.

Domain Name System or DNS name server, the data are defined by the hosting provider. It can be found both in their own control panel, or a FAQ page webhosts. If you can not find work productivity DNS information, please contact your host.

Also, if you bought your domain name, by default, the DNS of your domain point to the registration page is parked. If you are not using a domain, and you decide not to change the default DNS, the record is really make money from clicks of visitors to your domain.

The domain name server or DNS is used as background for a domain, contributes to solving domains into IP addresses.

The following steps describe the general process of changing DNS for your domain:

First Login to your account Registrar

2. Accessing the management interface for your domain.

Jump to 3rd change the Name Server function.

Enter the fourth new DNS information and record.a

It is also important to note that some registrars can not give an obvious way to get both the DNS name and IP addresses of the DNS of your domains. Check your registrar FAQ on the use of DNS evolution of advanced features, or contact your registrar directly.

Which Schools Ultrasound Technician Are The Best Options?

2011-08-29T04:49:00.001-07:00

Continuation of a career to become an ultrasound technician can be reached only if you choose an ultrasound technician schools is the best. Many schools, colleges and universities offer training programs in ultrasound sonography, it is important to take the necessary precautions when choosing a school to offer the best ultrasound technician training course for success as ultrasound sonographers. Only one of the most frequent search for the best school, make sure that the university is included in the list of approved educational institutions certified by the Commission of Accreditation of Allied Health programs. Here are some reputable schools ultrasound sonography.

The George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, DC, is one of the ultrasound technician schools that provide certificates and degrees in ultrasound ultrasound. For holders of a degree and who wish to pursue a major in the ultrasound scan, the university offers a certification program in ultrasound. For students, the program of Bachelor of ultrasound should be chosen because it is the program in order to achieve considering the credentials of the ARDMS. ARDMS certification exam was reached after a year of graduation will be the tool for graduates to become in demand in the professional field.

The University of Missouri School of Health Enterprise is the only American institution to offer tuition for the control of the Health Sciences (MHS) in medical diagnostic ultrasound (DMU). It also offers a Bachelor of Health Sciences. The specific requirements for those wishing to register medical diagnostic ultrasound is that it must be physically able to maintain prolonged arm positions and programs, press and hold under procedures requiring ultrasound machines. Audible and visual Doppler technology requires both vision and hearing specific standards properly diagnose what is wrong with the patient.

Florida St. Vincent School of Medical Sciences is accredited to offer one to two years of formal training programs for ultrasound technicians already in the field of health care or those certified as a radiology technologist. Other requirements to register for the completion of courses at the university in anatomy, medical terminology, algebra, physiology and physics. Specializations are available vascular ultrasound physics and instrumentation, obstetrics, gynecology, vascular physics.

At Hillsborough Community College is an opportunity for students who want economic quit smoking in one of the accredited schools ultrasound technician. It offers programs that were funded by federal and state financial aid programs. The school offers instruction in mathematics, physics and anatomy and to specialize in gynecology ultrasound, abdominal ultrasound, psychology and obstetrics. There is a mini-internship program offered by the school, but students may choose to participate in the job.

Central Florida Institute has offices in Tampa Bay and Orlando area. It is a non-profit organization that offers a combined degree, which can be completed in two years or less than two weeks. Some of the curricula, the training program are connected to neurosonography, obstetric ultrasound techniques, and abdominal gynecological techniques. The only requirement for students wishing to enroll is to get drug test first. When a drug test, the Institute takes applicants through the interview preparation CV writing and career management.

For schools ultrasound technician online reputation, there are those that offer online programs clinic. Some schools offer online degree programs for Kaplan University, Southern University and Rasmussen College. These schools offer degrees in medicine, in preparation for them to obtain certificates in the field of ultrasound and ultrasound investigations.

A number of other reputable schools that offer bachelor degrees, associate degrees and programs, which can only be achieved in one year or less. You only need to choose the bet, all schools ultrasound technician, and do research in the field of accreditation and other important aspects of the universities must have to achieve an adequate level of training and competence in the performance of an ultrasound technician.

Structured Settlement Payments and Getting Your Facts Straight

2011-05-21T10:39:00.001-07:00

A structured settlement is a financial arrangement wherein someone receives payment on a structured basis. This arrangement was created to the mutual benefit of both the one receiving and the one paying the settlement. These payments are also set up to reduce the financial burden placed on the insurance companies if they had to pay the full amount upfront. If you were awarded $1,000,000 for example and the insurance company was forced to pay this all at once it would pose a large burden. Settlements are arranged so the insurance company can pay you over time. As a reward for accepting these structured payments you will end up receiving a greater sum of money because you earn interest in the money yet to be paid. In this way the settlement is designed to help the liability holder pay off the compensation over an agreeable period of time, be aware of this if you want to purchase structured settlements.

Now that you know how the structured settlement benefits the liability holder it is also important to know how it benefits the one receiving the settlement as well. If you are the one who has won the settlement you can structure the income in a variety of ways to meet your current and future needs. This is done because any time there is a lawsuit the amount the offended party is seeking is usually ridiculously high. This is done to incentivize the defendant to see that it will cost more in legal fees and if they were to lose and have to pay the huge amount it may be better to offer a settlement.

So an amount is agreed upon from the defendants accountants and the offer is made to the plaintiff. Here is where some negotiating may take place on the specified amount but once the value is agreed upon the lawsuit is dropped and a settlement is arranged. Often times you will hear of big corporations who were being sued and then they ‘settled out of court.’ This just means they offered the one suing them a sum of money in exchange for dropping the lawsuit.

If you are offered a settlement you can choose to receive a large amount upfront or receive payments over time. By choosing payments over time you will receive more money in the end but it comes to you on a scheduled plan, say $3,000 per month for 20 years. This may seem like a great option but often times you can make more if you wisely invest the larger upfront payment. But now that you have the facts you will be able to make a better decision when you structure your settlement.

Structured settlement factoring transaction

2011-05-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

A structured settlement factoring transaction describes the selling of future structured settlement payments (or, more accurately, rights to receive the future structured settlement payments). People who receive structured settlement payments may decide at some point that they need more money in the short term than the periodic payment provides over time. An example would be the payment of personal injury damages over time instead of in a lump sum at settlement. The reasons are varied but can include unforeseen medical expenses for oneself or a dependent, the need for improved housing or transportation, education expenses and the like. To meet this need, the structured settlement recipient can sell (or, less commonly, encumber) all or part of their future periodic payments for a present lump sum.
History

Structured settlements experienced an explosion in use beginning in the 1980s.[1] The growth is most likely attributable to the favorable federal income tax treatment such settlements receive as a result of the 1982 amendment of the tax code to add § 130.[2] [3] Internal Revenue Code § 130 provides, inter alia, substantial tax incentives to insurance companies that establish “qualified” structured settlements.[4] There are other advantages for the original tort defendant (or casualty insurer) in settling for payments over time, in that they benefit from the time value of money (most demonstrable in the fact that an annuity can be purchased to fund the payment of future periodic payments, and the cost of such annuity is far less than the sum total of all payments to be made over time). Finally, the tort plaintiff also benefits in several ways from a structured settlement, notably in the ability to receive the periodic payments from an annuity that gains investment value over the life of the payments, and the settling plaintiff receives the total payments, including that “inside build-up” value, tax-free.[5]

However, a substantial downside to structured settlements comes from their inherent inflexibility.[6] To take advantage of the tax benefits allotted to defendants who choose to settle cases using structured settlements, the periodic payments must be set up to meet basic requirements [set forth in IRC 130(c)]. Among other things, the payments must be fixed and determinable, and cannot be accelerated, deferred, increased or decreased by the recipient.[7] For many structured settlement recipients, the periodic payment stream is their only asset. Therefore, over time and as recipients’ personal situations change in ways unpredicted at the settlement table, demand for liquidity options rises. To offset the liquidity issue, most structured settlement recipients, as a part of their total settlement, will receive an immediate sum to be invested to meet the needs not best addressed through the use of a structured settlement. Beginning in the late 1980s, a few small financial institutions started to meet this demand and offer new flexibility for structured settlement payees.[8] In April 2009, financial writer Suze Orman wrote in a syndicated column [1] that selling future structured settlement payments "is tempting but it's typically not smart."
Process
Pre-2002

Congress enacted law to provide special tax breaks for payments received by tort victims in structured settlements, and for the companies that funded them. The payments were tax free, whereas if the tort victim had been given a lump sum and invested it themselves, the payments from those investments would be taxable.

Companies liked structured settlements because it allowed them to avoid taxes to a certain extent, and plaintiffs liked them because it allowed them to receive tax-free payments of what became, over time, a much larger amount of money than the original amount paid out by the settling party. Such settlements were also considered an especially good idea for minors, as they held the money safe for adulthood and ensured that youth would not find the money wasted or ill-spent. “Despite the best intentions of plaintiffs, lump sum settlement awards are often quickly dissipated because of excessive spending, poor financial management, or a combination of both. Statistics showed that twenty-five to thirty percent of all cash awards are exhausted within two months, and ninety percent are exhausted within five years.” Andrada, “Structured Settlements – The Assignability Problem,” 9 S. Cal. Interdis. L.J. 465, 468 (Spring 2000).

An explanation of IRS Code section 130 was given during discussions of possible taxation of companies that bought future payments under those structured settlements. “By enacting the PPSA, Congress expressed its support of structured settlements, and sought to shield victims and their families from pressures to prematurely dissipate their recoveries.” 145 Cong. Rec. S52281-01 (daily ed. May 13, 1999) (statement of Sen. Chaffee).

Congress was willing to afford such tax advantages based on the belief that the loss in income taxes would be more than made up by lower expenditures on public assistance programs for those who suffered significant injuries. A strict requirement for a structured settlement to qualify for this tax break was that the tort victim was barred from accessing their periodic payments before they came due. It was for this reason that the annuity had to be owned by another who had control over it. The tort victim could not be seen to have “constructive receipt” of the annuity funds prior to their periodic payments. If the tort victim could cash in the annuity at any time, it was possible that the IRS might find constructive receipt.

“Congress conditioned the favorable rules on a requirement that the periodic payments cannot be accelerated, deferred, increased or decreased by the injured person. Both the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee Reports stated that the periodic payments as personal injury damages are still excludable from income only if the recipient is not in constructive receipt of or does not have the current economic benefit of the sum required to produce the periodic payments.”

Testimony of Tax Legislative Counsel Joseph M. Mikrut to the Subcommittee on Oversight of the Committee of Ways and Means, March 18, 1999. “These factoring transactions directly undermine the policy objective underlying the structured settlement tax regime, that of protecting the long term financial needs of injuries persons . . . “ (Id.)

Mr. Mikrut was testifying in favor of imposing a punitive tax on factoring companies that engaged in pursuit of structured settlement payments. Despite the use of non-assignment clauses in annuity contracts to secure the tax advantages for tort victims. companies cropped up that tried to advantage of these individuals in ”factoring” transactions, purchasing their periodic payments in return for a deeply discounted lump sump payment. Congress felt that factoring company purchases of structured settlement payments “so directly subvert the Congressional policy underlying structured settlements and raise such serious concerns for the injured victims,” that bills were proposed in both the Senate and the House to penalize companies which engage in such transactions. (Id.)

Before the enactment of IRC 5891, which became effective on July 1, 2002, some states regulated the transfer of structured settlement payment rights, while others did not. Most states that regulated transfers at this time followed a general pattern, substantially similar to the present day process which is mandated in IRC 5891 (see below for more details of the post-2002 process). However, the majority of the transfers processed from 1988 to 2002 were not court ordered.[9] After negotiating the terms of the transaction (including the payments to be sold and the price to be paid for those payments), a formal purchase contract was executed, effecting an assignment of the subject payments upon closing. Part of this assignment process also included the grant of a security interest in the structured settlement payments, to secure performance of the seller’s obligations. Filing a public lien based on that security agreement created notice of this assignment and interest. The insurance company issuing the structured settlement annuity checks was typically not given actual notice of the transfer, due to antagonism by the insurance industry against factoring and transfer companies. Many annuity issuers were concerned that factoring transactions, which were not contemplated when Congress enacted IRC 130, might upset the tax treatment of qualified assignments. HR 2884 (discussed below) resolved this question for annuity issuers.

Yahoo Domains: Your A-Z Guide to Picking & Registering a Domain

2011-05-03T06:38:00.000-07:00

Choosing the right domain name and domain name provider is the first step to creating your new website. Yahoo! Domains is one of the leading domain registrars in the world and has the backing of Yahoo!, a leading internet company. In fact, Yahoo! hosts its domains and websites on the very same servers as Yahoo.com, making it the most reliable domain and hosting provider in the industry. In addition, Yahoo! provides domain names for as little as $3.95 per year(for new customers)and $12.95 for existing customers, with no set up fees. Other, domain providers charge as much as $35 per year and do not provide as many features or functionality as Yahoo! For example, Yahoo! Domains is one of the few companies that provides 24/7 toll free phone and email support.

Ratings and Recommendations

The biggest strength of Yahoo Domains is that it is backed by the reputation and security of Yahoo, one of the largest internet companies in the world. You do not have to worry about Yahoo going out of business and losing your domain, like you might with other lesser known domain providers.
Also, Yahoo Domains, unlike many domain providers, offers phone/email service. Yahoo Domains has very few weaknesses especially if you can take advantage of the $3.95 domain name offer (used to be $1.99).
If you are looking for a cheap,reliable, and secure domain registration company then we highly recommend Yahoo! Domains. However, Yahoo! Domains is not recommended if you need to purchase multiple domain names or you require advanced hosting features like virtual or dedicated servers.

Yahoo Domains Rating

Price Value	A ($3.95 for first time users)
Reliability	A+
Security	A
Customer Support	B
Web Hosting Offers	B
User Feedback	B
Overall Grade	A-

Quick Domain How To's, Tips, & Advice

Buy Yahoo Web Hosting, get your Yahoo Domain Name for Free
Many people do not realize that you need to purchase web hosting services after you buy a domain name. We recommend that you purchase Yahoo! Web Hosting and get the domain for free, so you can start building your site immediately. We have provided below the lowest possible price on the internet for Yahoo! Web Hosting.

What is a Domain Name?
A domain name can be thought of as the “address” for your website. Most domains consist of the primary name, plus a top level domain name extension such as .com, .org, or .net . For example, for Yahoo.com the name is “Yahoo” plus the top level domain name extension of .com.
For more background on domains please visit this page.
Picking and Registering a Domain
The most difficult aspect in choosing a domain name is finding a name that you like that is not already in use. The basic rules are simple (maximum length of 63 letters, no special characters such as %, &, *) but most of the obvious and attractive names have already been taken. We recommend that you go to Yahoo Domains Home Page and use their domain availability tool.
For more advice on picking a domain name please visit this page.
Domains, Web Hosting, and E-commerce
Many people do not realize that buying a domain name is only the first step in getting your website up and running. All providers also require that you also purchase a web hosting package with your domain name or provide the hosting services yourself.
90% of all web sites are hosted by shared hosting providers such as Yahoo! Web Hosting, Godaddy, or Ipowerweb. We suggest Yahoo! Web Hosting if you are considering purchasing a web hosting service. Not only do you get a free domain name (from Yahoo! Domains) when you buy a Yahoo! Web Hosting plan, but you also get 24/7 toll free phone support from one of the most trusted companies on the internet. Click here for more information about Yahoo! Web Hosting.
Furthermore, if you want to sell your goods or services online, you will either need to buy online shopping cart software like Miva or Paypal our purchase an e-commerce hosting service like Yahoo’s Merchant Solutions. We recommend Yahoo Merchant Solution because it is a turn key e-commerce solution that includes a free domain, set up consulting, and 24/7 service from an established company like Yahoo. Click here to visit Yahoo Merchant Solutions for more info.
Yahoo! Small Business
Yahoo! Domains, Yahoo! Web Hosting, and Yahoo! Merchant Solutions are all a part of Yahoo! Small Business. Yahoo! Small Business provides a suite of online services that helps you get online, advertise online, and sell online.
Yahoo Domains is the cornerstone of the Yahoo Small Business suite of domain,hosting, and e-commerce related products. Yahoo Domains has partnered with Melbourne IT, who provides the backend technology for Yahoo’s domain name registrations service.
Click here for more information about Yahoo! Small Business.

Laser Hair Removal Washington DC

2011-05-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

Laser hair removal in Washington DC is quickly becoming one of the most popular cosmetic procedures for both men and women. If you are sick and tired of shaving, waxing, or tweezing unwanted hair on a daily or weekly basis, and are looking for a more permanent solution, we have exactly what you need. Many men and women are turning to the latest trend in hair removal - the laser. For those interested in our revolutionary non-invasive procedure, here are all the facts that you need to know before you go under the light. This procedure has been hyped around the globe as the permanent solution to unwanted hair removal and has shown great promise in delivering on that claim. However, before investing your valuable time and hard earned money into Laser Hair Removal treatments, we suggest you do a little research.

The effect of removing unwanted hair by laser was first discovered by dermatologists in the late 1960s. Dermatologists discovered that during treatment for skin conditions with lasers, the removal of hair in the treatment area happened to be a side effect and because of this, lasers have been studied extensively for years for their hair removal effectiveness. Many different types of lasers have since been approved by the FDA and now professional treatments for Laser Hair Removal in Washington DC are available to all interested residents.

Today, Laser Hair Removal in Washington DC is one of the fastest growing non-invasive cosmetic procedures on the market. Last year alone, over one million individuals underwent laser treatments around the globe. At our Washington DC clinic, all of the technicians are trained and certified on the latest laser hair removal equipment; this guarantees professional Laser Hair Removal treatments each and every time you visit. To learn more about our approach to this extraordinary treatment, come in for a free and confidential consultation. We’ll give you all the information you need and get you set up for a series of Laser Hair Removal treatments at our Washington DC clinic that will leave you with nothing but hair free skin!

For more detail visit Laser Hair Removal Washington DC site

Five Important Actions to Take after a Truck Accident

2011-05-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

If you have been involved in an accident with a commercial truck - it’s critical you take the following actions:

Seek medical help immediately if you are injured. You have the right to a physician of your choice. Keep records of all treatment received, medications prescribed, and medical recommendations given by the doctor.
Document the accident
- Take photos of the scene, if possible
- Interview witnesses and get their contact information
- Write down everything you remember from the accident
- Get a copy of the accident report
Report the accident to your insurance company Only provide the contact information for the other drivers involved.
Don’t agree to sign anything or provide a statement to an insurance company. This could possibly forfeit your rights to seek further damages once the full impact of your injuries is known.
Call for help. You need an experienced Chicago truck accident lawyer that can help you determine the best course of action. We can determine if you have a case and how much compensation you may be eligible to receive.

Interstate trucking industry is heavily regulated to protect public safety - we can help you seek the compensation you deserve. Our law office understands the complicated laws that apply to all types of truck accident cases:

Truck driver error or negligence — Fatigue, drug use to stay awake, driving too fast for the conditions, traffic violations, misjudging distances, crossing the center line, improper lane change, or pulling out in the path of other motorists
Improperly maintained truck — Worn brakes or tires, burnt out lights, overweight or unbalanced loads
Trucking company negligence — pressure to speed and/or drive without mandated rest, inadequate training, negligent hiring of truckers with bad records
Road conditions — poorly maintained roads, messy and confusing construction, unclear signage, improperly designed roads. NOTE: Claims against government entities have strict filing deadlines, usually as short as six months
For more detail visit Chicago personal injury attorney site

Five Important Actions to Take After a Car Accident

2011-05-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

Chicago personal injury attorne
A car accident happens so quickly. Certainly it’s not something you can prepare for - but it’s critical to take these steps afterwards to protect yourself.

Seek medical help immediately if you are injured. You have the right to a physician of your choice. Keep records of all treatment received, medications prescribed, and medical recommendations given by the doctor.
Document the accident
- If possible, take photos of the scene (damaged vehicles, any property involved (guard rails, signs, buildings, etc), skid marks, debris and injuries).
- Interview witnesses and get their contact information
- Write down everything you remember from the accident. Show the position of the cars after the accident. Step off exact distances of skid marks and other important distances.
- Get a copy of the accident report
Report the accident to your insurance company Only provide the contact information for the other drivers involved.
Don’t agree to sign anything or provide a statement to an insurance company. This could possibly forfeit your rights to seek further damages once the full impact of your injuries is known.
Call for help. The law office of Robert Martwick can determine if you have a case and how much compensation you may be eligible to receive. Don’t accept an unfair settlement from the insurance companies - you may be entitled to more.

This is a very stressful time and we can help you determine the best course of action. We’ll fight relentlessly so you can collect the money you deserve to cover costs associated with your injury and treatment, future medical care, pain and suffering and lost earning capacity. Our law office understands the ins and outs of all types of car accident cases:

Another driver - drunk driver, hit and run
Defective product (for example defective seatbelts, tires or brakes)
Road conditions - poorly maintained roads, messy and confusing construction, unclear signage, improperly designed roads. NOTE: Claims against government entities have strict filing deadlines, usually as short as six months.

A car accident injury shouldn’t ruin your chance to lead a full life. The choice is yours to seek the compensation you deserve for your auto injury and send a clear message about the importance of safety for all.

For more detail visit Chicago personal injury attorney site

2010-01-21T04:30:00.000-08:00

One of the Levi's Marketing Strategy:

Consumer research told Levis that customers found shopping for dress pents gave remarks as: slacks dept were dirty, finding the right size was difficult, and getting alternation was frustrating. Customers wanted Cash and Carry, off-the-rack dress pents. So Levi's devised a carefully crafted strategy to overcome the typical male distaste for dress pents shopping. Slates were sold in scientifically tested selling areas consisting of mohogany-toned circular store displays that allows easy access to the various styles and sizes. Levi's also responded with off-the-rackpants that require little altering. whereas most dress pents come only in even waist sizes, forcing alternations for off-size men, slates also come in odd sizes. All slates are hemmed and cuffed and have double pleats in the front. For customers with larger waist sizes, the pleats are more kindly placed.

posted by Abd ur Rehman

Marketing Online - Men and Women Use the Internet Differently..

2010-01-21T03:54:00.000-08:00

When it comes to marketing online, you must understand your consumers. This means learning what they look for, and how they use the internet. This can help you grab their attention and get your marketing message in front of the right audience.

It's also important to realize that when it comes to online habits of men and women - they differ. I know, surprise! In the past there has been a lag with women when it came to the adoption of the internet, that is no longer the case. Truth is, studies show that women under the age of 65 are quicker to use the internet than men. As women we love to use the internet for research, where men prefer to use it as an entertainment tool. Do you see how this information can help?

When we review studies that have been done on the different ways that men and women use the internet, we can gain a greater deal of knowledge on how to position our products online.

Let's take a look at what a past study done by Pew Internet and American Life showed, while this study was done in 2005 I still believe much of the knowledge is applicable and can be used today.

Men are more likely to use the internet to:

Read the news
Buy travel services or make reservations
Check sports scores and gather sports information
Stay updated on political news
Participate in online auctions, such as ebay
Write content to publish online
Download music
Buy and sell stocks, bonds and mutual funds

A Forrester study done in 2007 also showed that on the average men tend to stay online longer and devote more time to online entertainment and researching technical gadgets.

Women use the internet to:

Get health information
Read spiritual and religious information
Gain access and participate in support group websites

A few other interesting statistics that were provided in a different study done by Burst Media in the beginning of 2009 stated the following:

62.3% of women use the internet as their primary source for information on the products they were considering purchasing.
51.7% of the women studied use the internet as the primary way to keep in touch with their families

As you can see men go online to be entertained and hunt down information, where women tend to go online to gather information that assists them in nurturing, themselves and those around them. Clearly while both men and women generally spend allotments of time online, gender stereotypes are prevalent in what they do with their time online.

Putting it to Use: Think about who your potential customer is online. Is the majority male or female? Can you see how this information can assist you in not only where but how to position your product or service in order to increase the conversions you gain online? How will you use this information in upcoming marketing campaigns?

http://marketing.about.com/od/internetmarketingstrategy/a/genderdifferences.htm

Four Small Business Marketing Steps You Need to Put Into Check

2010-01-21T03:53:00.000-08:00

I think the biggest mistake we make in marketing is making everything so difficult for consumers to understand that they don't get it. Literally. And if they don’t get it, they usually don’t feel compelled to act, buy, etc. ... you see where I’m going with this.

Marketing is about informing consumers about your products and services and telling them why they should pick you over your competitor - it really is that simple.

Are you doing that? If you are not it's time to really analyze your marketing strategy and evaluate the point you’re trying to get across.

I daily watch small businesses try to market like big companies, when in fact they've missed the core components that will get a person to buy their products or services. My first piece of advice is stop trying to compete with the "big dogs" - find your own niche and your own market and become one of the big dogs.

How do you do this? It's by moving a customer from the point of just attracting their attention to inspiring them to actually take action - which is making a purchase from you. There are four steps to doing this.

Step 1: Get their attention
You have competition, it doesn't have to be a lot of competition - but you have competition. It is up to you to get the attention of your consumers. Do you know how to do that? You speak to their need. You inform of them of the solution that you provide. If you don't provide a solution – it’s time to get back to the drawing board.

Step 2: Create a marketing message that speaks to them.
You know your solution, now you have to create a message that says "I’m your answer." Have you done that with your marketing message? If not, why do you think they will buy your products or services? If you don't inform them about your product who will? Craft your marketing message so it's easy to understand and a consumer doesn't want to walk out of a store without purchasing your product or service and taking advantage of it right away. Your marketing message has to speak about the solution as well as creating an urgency for the need. Have you done that? If not, again take it back to the drawing board!

Step 3: Evaluate different marketing methods
You have to evaluate the different marketing methods and really evaluate which ones will work for you. For example do you serve a market that is more drawn to the Yellow Pages or Twitter? Do they spend more time watching television or surfing the internet? Be aware of and informed about different marketing methods and which ones will work with your market. It's not a one size fits all deal.

Step 4: Use marketing methods that are visible to your consumer
The reason you need to evaluate the different marketing methods are so you can select the methods that are more visible to your potential purchaser. Why advertise in the Yellow Pages if your consumers are searching the yellow pages? Why spend money on television advertising if they are spending more time surfing the internet? When you select the right marketing methods, you create a placement that your potential consumers will see. When you select the wrong methods of marketing, you might as well throw your money out the window.
http://marketing.about.com/od/strategytutorials/a/smallbusinessmarketing.htm

Quantity vs. Quality and Exclusion by Two-Sided Platforms

2010-01-21T03:45:00.000-08:00

It is common for two-sided platforms to deny participation to some potential customers, who would otherwise be willing to pay the platforms' access and/or transaction fees. Videogame console manufacturers such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, for example, restrict access to a select set of game developers and exclude many others by including security chips in their consoles, even though the latter would also be willing to pay the per-game royalties levied by the manufacturers. Apple routinely excludes certain application developers from its highly popular iPhone store. Professor Andrei Hagiu builds a simple model formalizing profit-maximizing two-sided platforms' choice of exclusion policies, which is fundamentally determined by a tradeoff between quality and quantity.

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/topics/marketing.html

2010-01-20T12:18:00.000-08:00

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix principles (also known as the 4 p’s.) are used by business as tools to assist them in pursuing their objectives. The marketing mix principles are controllable variables, which have to be carefully managed and must meet the needs of the defined target group. The marketing mix is apart of the organisations planning process and consists of analysing the defined:

How will you design, package and add value to the product. Product strategies.
What pricing strategy is appropiate to use Price strategies.
Where will the firm locate? Place strategies.
How will the firm promote its product Promotion strategies.

read more on: http://www.learnmarketing.net

Introducing the marketing mix

Steps For Customer Satisfaction

2010-01-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

Image source:
www.elmer.co.za/customer-satisfaction

Product mix strategies

2010-01-20T12:13:00.000-08:00

Product mix strategies

• Company can add new product lines, thus widening the product mix. • Company can lengthen the existing product lines to become a more full line company. • It can add more product versions of each product and deepen its product mix. • The company can pursue more product line consistency, or less, depending upon whether it wants to have a strong reputation in a single field or in several fields.

The leadership question – Your feedback please!

2010-01-20T12:12:00.001-08:00

If you checked out the social media activity of 100 businesspeople, do you think you would find many leaders?

Leaders lead: They have the courage to offer their own unique opinions and views. They act like leaders, from the front.

Followers follow: They copy what others do and share what their leaders have the courage to say and do. They act like followers, hidden within a crowd.

Personally, I see VERY, very few businesspeople in social media with leader profiles. However, I see a LOT of businesspeople, who seem to follow the crowd and just say / do what’s safe

The reason for this post

I’m curious what type of message it sends out to prospective clients or customers, when businesspeople sit back and play follow the leader, rather than displaying leadership themselves.

Would that kind of profile impact YOUR decision to hire a consultant or coach? If so, would that impact be positive or negative? I would REALLY value your opinion, so what do you think?

Smart objectives

2010-01-20T12:10:00.000-08:00

image taken from: http://www.learnmarketing.net/

marketing research companies operating in Lahore

2010-01-20T12:05:00.000-08:00

hey guys i found out some of the major marketing research companies operating in Lahore. You can know more detail about their profiles by clicking the link given below.

http://www.phonebook.com.pk/Dynamic/Search.aspx?SearchType=cat&Class_ID=1033&City_ID=2&

Swot Analysis

2010-01-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2yfkNX1wso&feature=related

This is a link of Swot Analysis video where you have clearly explained how to do a swot analysis of a company. please do visit it, it is very helping and informative.

Price Discrimination

2010-01-20T12:03:00.000-08:00

Price discrimination is the practice of one retailer, wholesaler, or manufacturer charging different prices for the same items to different customer. This is a widespread practice that does not necessarily imply negative discrimination.

This video (link given below) explain it very well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NNGP9gWnSg&feature=related

Role of Marketing in Business

2010-01-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

Marketing is perhaps the most important activity in a business because it has a direct effect on profitability and sales. Larger businesses will dedicate specific staff and a department for the purpose of marketing. It is important to realize that marketing cannot be carried out in isolation from the rest of the business. For example:
The marketing section of a business needs to work closely with operations, research and development, finance and human resources to check their plans are possible. Operations will need to use sales forecasts produced by the marketing department to plan their production schedules. Sales forecasts will also be an important part of the budgets produced by the finance department, as well as the deployment of labor for the human resources department.A research and development department will need to work very closely with the marketing department to understand the needs of the customers and to test outputs of the R&D section.

4Ps can be described best as the 4Cs

2010-01-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

It is saying that 4Ps talks about the seller view of the market but not buyer view. From the buyer point of view in this age of customer relationship the 4Ps might be better decribed as 4Cs.

4Ps

Product

Price

Place

Promotion

4Cs

Customer Solution

Customer Cost

Convenience

Communication

While marketers see themselves as selling products, customers see themselves buying value or solution to their problems. And cutomers are interested in more than just the price; they are intereted in total cost of obtaining, using and disposing of a product. Customer wants the product and services to be as conveniently available as possible. Finally, they want two way communication.
Marketers would do well to think through 4Cs first and than built 4Ps on that platform.

New-Product Pricing Strategies – Penetration Strategy

2010-01-20T11:58:00.003-08:00

Set a low initial price so the brand to “penetrates” the market quickly.
Eventually raise prices when wide adoption and brand loyalty have been achieved.
Best used when:
Market is highly price sensitive.
High fixed cost structure.
Need to keep competition out or effects are only temporary

Product Sales V/S Product Awareness

2010-01-20T11:58:00.002-08:00

In a world where everything starts and ends with Business, success lies in how many products or services are sold. But products are not sold unless there is awareness of the product. So the question arises, what is more important? Methods of selling the product or Methods of creating product awareness?

Jonathan Zittrain: The Web as random acts of kindness | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Zittrain: The Web as random acts of kindness | Video on TED.com

Make Your Business More Successful through Telemarketing.

2010-01-20T11:57:00.000-08:00

Telemarketing is very important in every business nowadays, because it is an effective way to know the needs and wants of your customers and also a way on how to respond on them effectively. There are lots of telemarketing companies that come out now, and one of it is the Touchbusiness. Similar to other Telemarketing UK companies, Touchbusiness is known for its excellent and outstanding services providing beneficial advantages to their clients. Touchbusiness, a telemarketing UK Company provides business-to-business or B2B, outbound telemarketing, appointment setting, market research, telemarketing lead generation, and sales. Generating leads is an important service that you can acquire from a telemarketing company. It is a process where you can get leads from your customers in order to know their reactions or feedbacks about your product or business. Telemarketing lead generation may vary from one telemarketing company to another depending on the kind of service that they offer. Telemarketing companies such as Touchbusiness, are really beneficial in one’s business in providing vital information to make your business more successful.

source: http://www.custardpie.co.uk/

Components of marketing plan

2010-01-20T11:56:00.002-08:00

Components of marketing plan

Mission statement
Executive summary
Internal and external analysis
Objectives
Marketing strategies
Identify resources
Implementation plan
Marketing budget
Evaluation methods

Porter's Five Forces A MODEL FOR INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

2010-01-20T11:56:00.001-08:00

Michael Porter provided a framework that models an industry as being influenced by five forces. The strategic business manager seeking to develop an edge over rival firms can use this model to better understand the industry context in which the firm operates.

Image Source: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/porter.shtml

Stefana Broadbent: How the Internet enables intimacy | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:56:00.000-08:00

Stefana Broadbent: How the Internet enables intimacy | Video on TED.com

Product Life Cycle (PLC)

2010-01-20T11:55:00.001-08:00

A new product progresses through a sequence of stages which is called PLC. These changes have a great impact on marketing strategy. It has four stages.

Introduction:
In this stage, a firm developes a market for the product and its purchase.

Growth:
In this stage, the product increases its market share.

Maturity:
In this stage, sales growth slows down.

Decline:
In this stage, the product sales decline.

Steven Pinker chalks it up to the blank slate | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

Steven Pinker chalks it up to the blank slate | Video on TED.com

Stewart Brand proclaims 4 environmental 'heresies' | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:54:00.001-08:00

Stewart Brand proclaims 4 environmental 'heresies' | Video on TED.com

Billy Graham on technology and faith | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

Billy Graham on technology and faith | Video on TED.com

What steps should be taken to promote sales of a declining product?

2010-01-20T11:53:00.001-08:00

Every product have a life cycle and after a certain point the product becomes obslete or comes to the verge of being forced out of market which can be delayed for certain time span(b'coz its an irreversible phenomenon of market).first of all company should make harvesting calls to eliminte extraneous cost it can be done in terms of cutting down on sales force,storage or shift in feedback mechanism,et al.if company is equipped with surplus funds then it can revamp its product which can be done by either changing mode of packging or introduce it with new attitude.foremost,a committe should be formed in order figure out the required action plan which should consist of members coming from all departments and research personnel and this committe should be left alone to carry out their task and make necessary recommendations.

Paul Collier on the "bottom billion" | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

Paul Collier on the "bottom billion" | Video on TED.com

informative advertising...

2010-01-20T11:52:00.003-08:00

This is an Informative advertisement because in this add, we are given the precautions from a very dangerous disease Swine Flu. I have specially posted this so that students could take precautions and save their precious lives. Because swine flu is spreading like a virus now-a-days. Watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlUgT08uExg&feature=PlayList&p=736078A8AEDC13A0&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=80

Inspiring the Team to Achieve Goals

2010-01-20T11:52:00.002-08:00

In Business, Leadership is about inspiring followers to achieve Team or Organizational goals. You may be a Team Leader or Manager in a Business, and you may have built the respect of your Team. Your next challenge is to get them focused in the right direction, the direction that will achieve their organizational goals.

PROFITS ON BRAND IMAGE

2010-01-20T11:52:00.001-08:00

Comapnies like nestle, coca cola, etc are making profits mainly on brand image or maintaining standard aswel?
I think they are just utilizing thier name bkoz i have been using products of nestle from the past ten years and thier qualtiy has not been maintained now. They are just raising thier prices but not thier quality and same is the case with most of the other multi national companies aswell

Iqbal Quadir says mobiles fight poverty | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:51:00.003-08:00

Iqbal Quadir says mobiles fight poverty | Video on TED.com

Reminder Advertisement

2010-01-20T11:51:00.002-08:00

This is a reminder advertisement. It is also target oriented add especially for children. By watching this advertisement of cute small girl (her changed voice) the children will be captured and they will automatically want Pepsi. Watch this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LnJskwydvM

Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:51:00.000-08:00

Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child | Video on TED.com

Jacqueline Novogratz on escaping poverty | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:50:00.002-08:00

Jacqueline Novogratz on escaping poverty | Video on TED.com

Intensity of Rivalry according to Porter's model

2010-01-20T11:50:00.001-08:00

The intensity of rivalry between competitors in an industry will depend on:

- The structure of competition - for example, rivalry is more intense where there are many small or equally sized competitors; rivalry is less when an industry has a clear market leader

- The structure of industry costs - for example, industries with high fixed costs encourage competitors to fill unused capacity by price cutting

- Degree of differentiation - industries where products are commodities (e.g. steel, coal) have greater rivalry; industries where competitors can differentiate their products have less rivalry

- Switching costs - rivalry is reduced where buyers have high switching costs - i.e. there is a significant cost associated with the decision to buy a product from an alternative supplier

- Strategic objectives - when competitors are pursuing aggressive growth strategies, rivalry is more intense. Where competitors are "milking" profits in a mature industry, the degree of rivalry is less

- Exit barriers - when barriers to leaving an industry are high (e.g. the cost of closing down factories) - then competitors tend to exhibit greater rivalry.

What Top Brands Spend on Advertising

2010-01-20T11:49:00.000-08:00

Microsoft:
More than 20 percent of their annual revenue or $11.5 billion.

Coca-Cola:
More than $2.5 billion.

Yahoo:
More than 20 percent of their annual revenue or $1.3 billion.

eBay:
14 percent to 15 percent of its revenue, which was $871 million, much of that to advertise on Google.

Google:
More than $188 million.

Starbucks:
Almost $95 million.

Reference:
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/10/what-top-brands-spend-on-advertising.html

Pakistan's Competitve advantage

2010-01-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

Pakistan is being viewed as a country with minimal prospects of peace and prosperity. It is being viewed as country who is lagging so far behind in the global competitve market place. The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness report of 2006-2007 ranked Pakistan 91 out of 125 countries in the competitive list. It is overshadowed by India which finds itself ranked at a very respectable 43rd place, and is also lower ranked than Sri Lanka which is 79th. this article talks about what is pakistan's competitive advantage currently and what should it be.

read the full article on: http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/061112/dmag1.htm

Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:46:00.000-08:00

Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man | Video on TED.com

Tom Wujec on 3 ways the brain creates meaning | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

Tom Wujec on 3 ways the brain creates meaning | Video on TED.com

Wireless Advertisement or Mobile Advertisement

2010-01-20T11:44:00.001-08:00

Firstly let me define what wireless advertising is. It can be defined as any promotional or advertisement material placed onto a wireless device including laptop/notebook, PDA, or most commonly a cellular mobile phone. Advertisements are content targeted for relevancy. Click-through rates for Wireless Advertisements are surprisingly high compared to fixed Internet accessing, owing perhaps to the small screen size and intimacy of the user experience. It is much more cost effective than mobile marketing.

Benjamin Wallace on the price of happiness | Video on TED.com

2010-01-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

Benjamin Wallace on the price of happiness | Video on TED.com

Kiosk marketing

2010-01-20T11:37:00.000-08:00

A "Kiosk" is a small stand-alone unit that performs a specific function, generally without management intervention and are generally intended to provide information to those that use it. Kiosks are generally small, mobile and are designed to help the consumer find information. Kiosks can be as simple as an information center designed to hold brochures or as complicated as a computer terminal designed to collect and distribute information. An ATM is an example of a sophisticated interactive kiosk with high security.

Branding Mistakes

2010-01-20T11:36:00.001-08:00

One of the biggest mistakes in branding is the traditional and cliched idea of the USP. A clear unique Selling Proposition can go a long way in establishing a good brand image.

If you are selling detergent powder, you cant say "my powder washes the cleanest, is the most economical and the lowest priced" people would start suspecting such a detergent powder.

The trick is to be honest and put forth a clear value proposition that would appeal to the TA mind directly. Some of the tag lines that come to my mind are : I m loving it; Its Fun to be young; sab keh do etc.

Marketing Mix

2010-01-20T11:36:00.000-08:00

The marketing mix is probably the most famous marketing term. Its elements are the basic, tactical components of a marketing plan. Also known as the Four P's, themarketing mix elements are price, place, product, and promotion. Read on for more details on the marketing mix.

The concept is simple. Think about another common mix - a cake mix. All cakes contain eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. However, you can alter the final cake by altering the amounts of mix elements contained in it. So for a sweet cake add more sugar!

It is the same with the marketing mix. The offer you make to you customer can be altered by varying the mix elements. So for a high profile brand, increase the focus on promotion and desensitize the weight given to price. Another way to think about the marketing mix is to use the image of an artist's palette. The marketer mixes the prime colours (mix elements) in different quantities to deliver a particular final colour. Every hand painted picture is original in some way, as is every marketing mix. If you'd like to see the marketing mix applied to a real business - then take a look at our Ryanair marketing mix.

Some commentators will increase the marketing mix to the Five P's, to include people. Others will increase the mix to Seven P's, to include physical evidence(such as uniforms, facilities, or livery) and process (i.e. the whole customer experience e.g. a visit the Disney World). The term was coined by Neil H. Borden in his article The Concept of the Marketing Mix in 1965.

Price

There are many ways to price a product. Let's have a look at some of them and try to understand the best policy/strategy in various situations. More . . .

Place

Another element of Neil H.Borden's Marketing Mix is Place. Place is also known aschannel, distribution, or intermediary. It is the mechanism through which goods and/or services are moved from the manufacturer/ service provider to the user or consumer.More . . .

Product

For many a product is simply the tangible, phsysical entity that they may be buying or selling. You buy a new car and that's the product - simple! Or maybe not. When you buy a car, is the product more complex than you first thought? The Three Levels of a Product . . . More . . .
The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based upon the biological life cycle. For example, a seed is planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots out leaves and puts down roots as it becomes an adult (maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant begins to shrink and die out (decline). More . . .
The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) has obvious similarities with the Product Life Cycle (PLC). However, CLC focuses upon the creation of and delivery of lifetime value to the customer i.e. looks at the products or services that customers NEED throughout their lives. More . . .

Promotion

Another one of the 4P's is promotion. This includes all of the tools available to the marketer for 'marketing communication'. As with Neil H.Borden's marketing mix, marketing communications has its own 'promotions mix.' Think of it like a cake mix, the basic ingredients are always the same. However if you vary the amounts of one of the ingredients, the final outcome is different. More . . .

Physical Evidence

Physical Evidence is the material part of a service. Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues. There are many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following: More . . .

People

People are the most important element of any service or experience. Services tend to be produced and consumed at the same moment, and aspects of the customer experience are altered to meet the 'individual needs' of the person consuming it. More . . .

Process

Process is another element of the extended marketing mix, or 7P's.There are a number of perceptions of the concept of process within the business and marketing literature. Some see processes as a means to achieve an outcome, for example - to achieve a 30% market share a company implements a marketing planning process.

more on http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_marketing_mix.htm

Importance of idea Generation

2010-01-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

No matter an organization is made with certain aims and objectives depending on which goal,aims and objectives,infrastructures,strategies and plans are made. But after making all these things also, a regular inflow of new ideas are required or else the organization will not be able to run for a long time...Ideas are the source of growth for the organization...

Interesting stories behind some of the greatest logos in the world

2010-01-20T11:33:00.000-08:00

Interesting stories behind some of the greatest logos in the world

please visit the site http://jazarah.net/blog/interesting-stories-behind-some-of-the-greatest-logos-in-the-world/ as it has interesting information on how some businesses chose their logos. A logo is usually the first thing that gains a consumers attention and especially plays an important role in brand loyalty and brand identification.

Swot On EA games

2010-01-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

Strengths

Electronic Arts (EA) Games, is a global corporation which develops, markets, publishes and distributes video game software, online interactive games, and mobile games. They design games for a number of platforms including Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii; handheld game systems, including PlayStation Portable (PSP), Nintendo DS and Apple iPod; personal computers (PCs); and mobile phones. The company distributes games in over 35 countries worldwide.

EA Games has four segments under their label: EA Games, EA Sports, The Sims and EA Casual Entertainment.
The EA Games label has the largest percentage of research and development staff, and produces action-adventure, role playing, racing and combat games and the extraordinarily popular online role-playing games.
The EA Sports label produces sports-based video games, including the Madden NFL, (which in 2007 grossed $100 million in sales in their first week on the market), FIFA Soccer and Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchises. The sports division brings in 43% of EA's revenue.
The Sims label is a line extension of life simulation games, and an online interactive game with over four million regular users.
The EA Casual Entertainment label develops games that are intended to be quick to learn and play online, making them easily accessible for a wide audience. Pogo has 1.6 million subscribers.
In 2007, EA created a strategic alliance with Hasbro, which included crossover licensing. They were able to create digital versions of Hasbro's classic board games, including Monopoly, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Trivial Pursuit, Nerf, GI Joe, and Littlest Pet Shop. They have also created these digital games in a variety of platforms, including for mobile phones, handheld gaming devices and computers.
EA Games has a social responsibility platform that includes a grant program, software donation program, volunteer opportunities, and supporting non-profit organizations and schools by giving to organizations that provide services to underprivileged youth in the areas of math, computer science, music and art.

Weaknesses

In December 2008, Electronic Arts cut its worldwide workforce by approximately 10% and closed at least nine of its studios and publishing locations. They also laid off 6% of their staff, and let go of Kathy Vrabek, head of EA's Casual Entertainment division, just 18 months after she took the job.
Their software is dependent upon the platforms that are created by other companies, leading to limitations in design capabilities, graphics and game performance.
Game release times have to be tied into specific times of year, Christmas sales, sports seasons and major sporting events, any miscalculation of production and distribution further hurts sales, and makes their assets less profitable.
In 2008, EA, in a licensing deal with Hasbro, created a digital Scrabble game, which was a failure due in part to software problems.
EA's crown jewel Madden NFL franchise was the company's only title among the industry's top 10 best-selling games in 2007.

Opportunities

In 2008, EA acquired ThreeSF, Inc., a gaming-based social network; and they acquired J2MSoft Inc., a Korean-based developer of PC online games.
The computer gaming industry has begun to recognize that the U.S. Army needs simulation training and EA Games can provide the instruments to achieve their goals. Games are also being adopted for defense, medicine, architecture, education, city planning and government applications.
A line of interactive training tools featuring voice commands and instructional coaching.
Complete game-in-a-box containing all the equipment necessary for kids to practice and play a sport.
A line of sports toys that will utilize electronics to reward young athletes with cheers when they use proper techniques.
A basic line of high density-foam balls to help kids develop skills at an early age.
CEO Riccitiello believes EA may one day even go so far as to give away many of its games for free, making its money off action figures and other licensing deals the same way that George Lucas did with the Star Wars movie franchise.

Threats

Since 2004 sales have been steadily increasing, however, profits have been steadily decreasing until 2008, when they actually had a negative profit margin. They earned $3.8 billion in sales, but had a $454 million loss.
Sales and profits are dependent on the success and prolonged purchasing power of gaming consoles. If sales for a gaming console wane (such as a Playstation or Wii) software/game sales will slump.
Software piracy has become a serious problem, especially in countries, like South Korea where laws are not enforced; software is pirated and distributed without much fear of consequences, cutting into EA Games' profits.
In May 2009, EA Games was sued claiming they illegally used the names and likenesses of thousands of college football and basketball players in their software since the 1990's.
Due to their executive staff layoffs, restructuring, and lack of stability there has been speculation that they are a prime candidate for a takeover by other global entertainment companies.

2010-01-20T11:31:00.000-08:00

The marketing environment surrounds and impacts upon the organization. There are three key perspectives on the marketing environment, namely the 'macro-environment,' the 'micro-environment' and the 'internal environment'.

The micro-environment

This environment influences the organization directly. It includes suppliers that deal directly or indirectly, consumers and customers, and other local stakeholders. Micro tends to suggest small, but this can be misleading. In this context, micro describes the relationship between firms and the driving forces that control this relationship. It is a more local relationship, and the firm may exercise a degree of influence.

The macro-environment

This includes all factors that can influence and organization, but that are out of their direct control. A company does not generally influence any laws (although it is accepted that they could lobby or be part of a trade organization). It is continuously changing, and the company needs to be flexible to adapt. There may be aggressive competition and rivalry in a market. Globalization means that there is always the threat of substitute products and new entrants. The wider environment is also ever changing, and the marketer needs to compensate for changes in culture, politics, economics and technology.

The internal environment.

All factors that are internal to the organization are known as the 'internal environment'. They are generally audited by applying the 'Five Ms' which are Men, Money, Machinery,Materials and Markets. The internal environment is as important for managing change as the external. As marketers we call the process of managing internal change 'internal marketing.'

Essentially we use marketing approaches to aid communication and change management

see more on: http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_marketing_environment.htm

Mission Statement of Pizza Hut

2010-01-20T11:30:00.000-08:00

We take pride in making a perfect pizza and providing courteous and helpful service on time all the time. Every customer says, "I'll be back!"

Is Psychological pricing worth it?

2010-01-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

What I believe it is an effective strategy; it does have its ups and downs. It’s part art and part science, and there are several factors, which go into the development of an optimum price. Sometimes people can see right through this & others can't.

It can be powerful marketing tool. It can be a problem that many businesses are plagued with; how to properly price your product for optimal return. Many customers/ clients still believe that you get what you pay for. A business shouldn't over charge just to raise up the price. But it should be done within a good current market range.

Of all the strategic decisions faced by an organization, one of the many important ones is setting prices for the various product and service offerings. The reason why so many products fail or produce such poor returns online and offline is because business owners, corporations and marketers may not know the exact right price to charge before a launch, after a launch, or what price to set years later when there are many new competitors and the competition is stiff.

Knowing the right price you should charge means the difference between financial losses, mediocre sales, or huge increases in revenue. Internet Research data shows that charging the wrong price online can easily drop total revenues by 50%, or more, and cause e-commerce failures. Knowing this valuable information for your product or service can make an enormous difference in your gross profits.

Six steps for Effective Advertising

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* Identifying the target audience
* Establishing the advertising budget
* Defining the objectives of the advertising messages
* Creating the advertising messages
* Selecting the appropriate media
* Evaluating advertising effectiveness

These are six steps for effective advertising. To know more about advertising click the link below:

Source: http://74.125.153.132/search?q=cache:wDA-2SXHXPYJ:www.waukesha.uwc.edu/bus/cfischer/101/CH13.ppt+importance+of+taglines+in+promoting+products&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk

Vertical Marketing System

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A vertical marketing system (VMS) is one in which the main members of a distribution channel—producer, wholesaler, and retailer—work together as a unified group in order to meet consumer needs. In conventional marketing systems, producers, wholesalers, and retailers are separate businesses that are all trying to maximize their profits. When the effort of one channel member to maximize profits comes at the expense of other members, conflicts can arise that reduce profits for the entire channel. To address this problem, more and more companies are forming vertical marketing systems.

Vertical Marketing System

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secret of Marketing Process

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1. Don’t run out of money. It always takes longer and costs more than you expect to spread your idea. You can budget for it or you can fail.

2. You won’t get it right the first time. Your campaign will need to be reinvented, adjusted or scrapped. Count on it.

3. Convenient choices are not often the best choices. Just because an agency, an asset or a bizdev deal are easy to do doesn’t mean that they are your best choice.

4. Irrational, strongly held beliefs of close advisors should be ignored. It doesn’t matter if they don’t like your logo.

5. If it makes you nervous, it’s probably a good idea. If you’re sure you’re right, you probably aren’t.

6. Focusing obsessively on one niche, one feature and one market is almost always a better idea than trying to satisfy everyone.

7. At some point, you’re either going to have to stick to your convictions or do what the market tells you. It’s hard to do both.

8. Compromise in marketing is almost always a bad idea. Extreme A could work. Extreme B could work. The average of A and B will almost never work.

9. Test, measure and optimize. Figure out what's working and do it more.

10. Read and learn. There are a million clues, case studies, books and proven tactics out there. You can't profitably ignore them until you know them, and you don't have the time or the money to make the same mistake someone else made last week. It's cheaper and faster to read about it than it is to do it.

summary: these are the 10 secrets of the marketing process described by seth godin and i would say that i completely agree with all of the above points.

Process of Marketing process

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THE PROCESS OF MARKETING PROCESS
When I look at marketing organizations today, I generally see them as being strongest in tactics, moderately strong in strategy, and weak as a whisper when it comes to operational excellence.

Not surprising. We're not trained--the way for instance engineers are--to be process oriented. We're end-result types--our focus, strategically and tactically, is work product.

But we're also builders and architects--builders of web sites, architects of plans, builders of brochures, of booths, of press releases.. We spend the bulk of our time creating, but the bulk of our budget building. And as builders spending money, process is critical.

Getting people to agree to the value of process isn't tough. Building project plans and spreadsheets demonstrating why they should change their behavior--why they should include process as a natural component of how they make decisions--is simple. The hard part is getting people to adopt the point of view--to actually change the way they work. It's not a process change, it's a cultural change.

Which means the real question is not "is process important" or "what's a good process." The real question is: "how do we instill an organization-wide, individual respect and enthusiasm for process?"

IT'S THE MINDSET THAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED
I once really messed this up. It was a large organization (technical publications, training, marketing communications, production management, market development and so on). A lot of interaction, and the processes were poor. Work got done on time, but at the expense of resources. So I slammed my hand down on my desk one day and said "what we need is a process, goll dang it!" I hired a project manager, personally presented seminars to the staff on how projects would be tracked, with slides showing all the powerful features of the project planning software; showed how their individual tasks would be managed, explained how much company value would be gained from it--and so on. The result? No buy in. No enthusiasm. No eagerness to work within the framework imposed. No proactive interaction with the Project Manager. A disaster. Program dead in four months and I looked uncomfortably like one of those bosses.

Some of you already see the mistakes I made. Expressed in marketing terms (this is an instance where the Crossing the Chasm model is relevant), the challenge I faced was not the quality of the product. The challenge was introducing a disruptive innovation to an unprepared marketplace. I tried to impose process, when I should have been marketing it. And I marketed generic benefits, not targeted benefits.

So today, my approach is different. Getting marketing to become process-sensitive takes time--expressed not in weeks but in months. It must be accomplished using all of the marketing strategies and tactics that you already use to develop buy in from your customers. (I should add that my view of "employee-as-marketplace" is a topic that could consume many of these emails on its own.)

You know how to do this:

1.	Segment the marketplace--you're going to be approaching managers, individual contributors, external organizations and others.
2.	Prove the problem--people think their processes are already just fine.
3.	Target benefits--for managers it may be promotion; for contributors, more free time; for R&D, smoother communication.
4.	Bring in early adopters and evangelists--let people that are respected spread the word.
5.	Create incentives for adoption--establish rewards (not competitions) for strong process.
6.	Provide quality customer support--help them throughout the adoption period.
7.	Monitor, measure, modify--until it's stable and working properly.

THE BENEFITS
The goal here is not to create a run on pocket protectors--we're not trying to create an army of project managers. The goal is to create a culture where one of the considerations when planning or executing work is "what's the most efficient way to do this?" An environment where sensitivity to the building blocks of process--time, tasks and resources--figure in to how decisions are made and how work is performed.

The corporate benefits of strong process are well known But achieving company goals is not what stimulates individuals: achieving individual goals does that. And there are many, more-targeted and more-personal benefits for you and your staff. When you market process to your staff, focus on those. Better process means less headaches, more free time, higher visibility, strong skills for promotion, easier management, reduced duplication of effort, individual and team rewards . . . you can figure out what benefits appeal to each of your segments.

Developing love-of-process is itself a process. It takes strategy, tactics, time . . . and, yes, good process. But once it's in place, it stays in place--as your staff turns over it becomes not something new, but the way things are. And it creates a marketing organization that's more reliable, more responsible and more able to produce high quality work, on time, within budget on a regular basis.

2010-01-20T11:20:00.001-08:00

Dell Marketing Strategy

The Dell marketing strategy was simple and basic. Cut out the middleman and sell the product cheaper. Offer great customer service by giving the customer exactly what they want.

There you have it. That is how Dell is about to become the largest company in the world selling computers. They did it by building computers made to order for the customer. By handling all the sales (retail) themselves. If you want a Dell computer you can only get it from Dell. Their marketing strategy allowed them to pass the savings onto the customer.

Online Dell Marketing Strategies

Now, the ONLINE Dell marketing strategies are nothing different either. They do exactly what everybody else has to do.

Targeting: They have to know who is buying computers and where online these people are going
Tracking: They have to track advertising results and make adjustments
Relationships: They build relationships with the people they advertise with

The internet is a powerful force in the business world for selling products. What makes it so powerful?

Targeting Online Marketing

Understanding who your market is and where they hang out is so much easier to find out. It becomes very easy to target your customer when you know, for example: That every person who goes to a website called NewComputerProducts.com is very likely to be interested in buying a computer or peripheral. So your marketing plan should call for contacting that website and setting up advertising or getting them to review your computerInstant Targeted Advertising.

costumer survey and new product strategies are on

http://internet-marketing.business-internet-opportunity.com/dell-marketing-strategy.html

THE MARKETING SPIRAL

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SOURCES: www.darmano.typepad.com

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Product Life Cycle
When deciding upon your unique marketing communications mix, you should also consider the Product Life Cycle. Here are some general guideline as to how and when to emphasize different parts of the mix according to the stages of a typical product life cycle:

Introduction: Heavy use of advertising, public relations for awareness, sales promotion for trial
Growth: Advertising, public relations, branding and brand marketing, personal selling for distribution
Maturity: Advertising decreases, sales promotion, personal selling, reminder & persuasion
Decline: Advertising and public relations decrease, limited sales promotion, personal selling for distribution

Things that turn offs customers in a store

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1. Dirty Bathrooms

2. Messy Dressing Rooms

3. Loud Music

4. Handwritten Signs

5. Stained Floor or Ceiling Tiles

6. Burned-out or Poor Lighting

7. Offensive Odors

8. Crowded Aisles

9. Disorganized Checkout Counters

10. Lack of Shopping Carts/Baskets

Market penetration

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Market penetration is one of the four growth strategies of the Product-Market Growth Matrixdefined by Ansoff. Market penetration occurs when a company enters/penetrates a market with current products. The best way to achieve this is by gaining competitors' customers (part of their market share). Other ways include attracting non-users of your product or convincing current clients to use more of your product/service (by advertising etc). Ansoff developed the Product-Market Growth Matrix to help firms recognise if there was any advantage of entering a market.

Market penetration occurs when the product and market already exists

Other growth strategies include:

Product development (existing markets, new products): McDonalds is always within the fast-food industry, but frequently markets new burgers.
Market development (new markets, existing products): Lucozade was first marketed for sick children and then rebranded to target athletes.
Diversification (new markets, new products): Mohen A.S, Bion Products, Selectron Ltd, bk

The penetration that brands and products have can be recorded by companies such as ACNielsenand TNS who offer panel measurement services to calculate this and other consumer measures. In these cases penetration is given as a percentage of a country's households who have bought that particular brand or product at least once within a defined period of time.

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The Marketing Communications or Promotional Mix \

Your marketing plan will be executed by using the tactical elements of the Marketing Communications, or Promotions Mix.
The Marketing Communications Mix is the specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives.

Advertising - Any paid form of no personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
Personal selling - Personal presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships.
Sales promotion - Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
Public relations - Building good relationships with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good "corporate image", and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.
Direct marketing - Direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships.

Buyer decision process

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Buyer decision processes are the decision making processes undertaken by consumers in regard to a potential market transaction before, during, and after the purchase of a product or service.

More generally, decision making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives. Common examples include shopping and deciding what to eat. Decision making is said to be a psychological construct. This means that although we can never "see" a decision, we can infer from observable behaviour that a decision has been made. Therefore we conclude that a psychological event that we call "decision making" has occurred. It is a construction that imputes commitment to action. That is, based on observable actions, we assume that people have made a commitment to effect the action.

In general there are three ways of analysing consumer buying decisions. They are:

Economic models - These models are largely quantitative and are based on the assumptions of rationality and near perfect knowledge. The consumer is seen to maximize their utility. See consumer theory. Game theory can also be used in some circumstances.
Psychological models - These models concentrate on psychological and cognitive processes such as motivation and need recognition. They are qualitative rather than quantitative and build on sociological factors like cultural influences and family influences.
Consumer behaviour models - These are practical models used by marketers. They typically blend both economic and psychological models.

Nobel laureate Herbert Simon sees economic decision making as a vain attempt to be rational. He claims (in 1947 and 1957) that if a complete analysis is to be done, a decision will be immensely complex. He also says that peoples' information processing ability is very limited. The assumption of a perfectly rational economic actor is unrealistic. Often we are influenced by emotional and non-rational considerations. When we try to be rational we are at best only partially successful.

references and some content from Wikipedia

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Marketing myopia

Marketing myopia is a term used in marketing as well as the title of an important marketing paper written by Theodore Levitt.This paper was first published in 1960 in the Harvard Business Review a journal of which he was an editor.
Some commentators have suggested that its publication marked the beginning of the modern marketing movement. Its theme is that the vision of most organizations is too constricted by a narrow understanding of what business they are in. It exhorted CEOs to re-examine their corporate vision; and redefine their markets in terms of wider perspectives. It was successful in its impact because it was, as with all of Levitt's work, essentially practical and pragmatic. Organizations found that they had been missing opportunities which were plain to see once they adopted the wider view. The paper was influential. The oil companies (which represented one of his main examples in the paper) redefined their business as energy rather than just petroleum; although Royal Dutch Shell, which embarked upon an investment program in nuclear power, subsequently regretted this course of action.
One reason that short sightedness is so common is that people feel that they cannot accurately predict the future. While this is a legitimate concern, it is also possible to use a whole range of business prediction techniques currently available to estimate future circumstances as best as possible.

Consumer Behaviour

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Consumer behaviour is the study of when, why, how, and where people do or do not buy products.^[1] It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts to understand the buyer decision making process, both individually and in groups. It studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on the consumer from groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greater importance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management, personalisation, customisation and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized into social choice and welfare functions.

Importance of Brand logo

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A brand without a logo is like a sweet dish without sweet. Any brand that wants to grow should must have a logo. A logo is brand's presentation. Consumer recognize their brands with their logos more easily rather than the brand's name. Lets take example of mcdonald's. Even a 5 years old boy who sees mcdonald's logo from distance starts screaming for mcdonald's because he realizes that its the place where he can get his favourite Happy meal that gives him satisfaction. So a brand without a logo is like a guitar without strings.

Seven direct mail ideas

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1. Be sure to include a cover letter whenever you are sending printed literature to prospects or customers. Use the cover letter to acknowledge the request, give a few bullets of feature/benefit copy and specifically ask the reader to take the next action.

2. Always include "where to buy" information in your direct mail packages (email too) if you sell through field sales people, independent representatives, resellers or distributors. This can range from a lists or maps, to merging the appropriate information right into the cover letter. Be sure to include the sales contact's name, title, company, address, phone, fax, and email and website addresses.

3. If you are mailing multi-product brochures or catalogs to inquirers who asked about a specific product, mention the appropriate page numbers in the cover letter, or use a Post-Itâ Note or paper clip to mark the pages.

4. If your company's business-to-business sales are influenced by more than one contact a prospect company, consider including a question on all reply forms asking for the names of others at their company who would like to receive information on your products or services. Then add these people to your mailing list or database for future mailings.

5. If you mail a free newsletter or catalog to prospects or customers, include a built-in reply card or coupon that can be used by pass-along readers to request their own subscription.

6. Re-qualify your newsletter or catalog subscription list by periodically including a reply card or form requesting that readers confirm their interest in continuing to receive the newsletter. Be sure to ask readers to update their title, address, phone, fax and email address. Also include a few qualifying questions about their product interest, application, buying role, time frame, etc.

7. Consider asking the people on your mailing list which way they would prefer to receive future information and updates: Mail, fax or email? If you are prepared to deliver information by email or fax you can shorten the delivery time, and sometimes save a bundle on printing and postage.

http://www.salesvantage.com/article/99/Seven-Direct-Mail-Ideas

market segmentation

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Factors that segment prospects
Having determined the more general segmentation characteristics you can proceed to a more detailed analysis of the market. There are literally thousands of ways to segment a market, but the following are some of the more typical segmentation categories.
For businesses:
1. SIZE
2. TIME RELATED FACTORS
3.JOB POSITION
4. CLIMATE
5.LANGUAGE
6.STATUS IN THE INDUSTRY
7. ACCESSIBILITY
8. FUTURE POTENTIAL
9. ABILITY
10. NEED FOR CUSTOMIZATION

Target Marketing - Customer Segments

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Plan Before You Begin to Market

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The bottom line is that the difference between B2B and B2C marketing comes down to the buyers’ emotional perspective about the purchase. Consumers make buying decisions based on status, security, comfort and quality. Business buyers make buying decisions based on increasing profitability, reducing costs and enhancing productivity. If you are a B2B business offering products and services to other businesses, put your marketing dollars into marketing programs and materials that offer your target what they need to make a rational buying decision. Help them determine the value of the product and service you offer through quality materials, testimonials, and other activities that build credibility. If you are a B2C business, understand what motivates your buyer and the emotional aspect of the buying decision. Create compelling materials that build awareness for your brand, enhance their comfort in buying from you, and project quality service and best price. As you create your marketing plan for the coming year, remember what is important to your target audience and create your marketing programs to speak to them.

Porter's Generic strategies

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http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/answer_generic_strategies.htm

The B2B Buyer vs. the B2C Buyer

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The business buyer is sophisticated, understands your product or service better than you do, and wants or needs to buy products or services to help their company stay profitable, competitive, and successful. Marketing copy must talk to a sophisticated audience. Your typical reader has a high interest in – and understanding of – your product (or at least of the problem it solves). Therefore, writing marketing copy is more complex and requires research to ensure you deliver the necessary information to the buyer.

The B2C buyer is usually looking for the best price and will research the competition prior to shopping. Another factor that does come into play, however, is whether the buyer trusts the retail outlet, either the store front or on the Internet. Although you can find the products on the Internet at many different price points, many consumers will still buy from a trusted source. In that respect, B2C marketing needs to convince the person to buy and build trust and loyalty with their customers.

Both buyers are interested in quality customer service. B2B customer service comes into play prior to ever making that first sale and begins with a customer’s very first contact with your company, whether you call them or they call you. B2C customer service helps build customer loyalty where customers will be willing to pay a slightly higher price to know that they can return the product easily and can trust the source they are dealing with. In other words, customer service is critical and although may not be considered “marketing”, bad customer service can render all of your marketing efforts useless.

the content is taken from the site:

http://vista-consulting.com/marketing-b2b-vs-b2c/

The Do's and Don'ts of Direct Mail

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Do: Use direct mail as part of your regular marketing because it is one of the most cost effective ways to reach your target audience.

Do: Make your direct mail simple and easy to read. It can be as inexpensive to produce as running off a letter, or as elaborate as a 4-color gift box with a gimmick inside, but whatever you choose to send, get your message across quickly and concisely.

Do: Make sure your direct mail goes to a real recipient. That means, keep your client list up to date, and if purchasing a list, purchase the most recent list available from reliable sources.

Do: Increase your direct mail's effectiveness by following up with a telemarketing campaign. That way, you reach your audience twice with the same message.

Don't: Don't try to send direct mail by yourself if your time is valuable and you have too many pieces to send (almost always).You can easily spend a full day producing, printing, folding, stuffing, and stamping 250 to 500 letters, and then dropping them off at the Post Office (not quite in time for the last pickup).

Direct Mail houses have the equipment to do the job quickly and cost-effectively. So outsource your direct mail and spend your time completing a client job or making new contacts.

Ref: http://www.ballantine.com/dosanddonts.html

Types of Market

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Organizational Behavior of a company

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Organizational Behavior is a study which deals with group or individual dynamics between individuals in an organization. Learning and implementing this study in an organization will add credibility to the organization.
Organizational Behavior is a non-performance related set of practices which when implemented in organizations lend good credibility to the organization for its ethics. Imagine, an organization also gets the label of an ethical company along with the company already known for meeting the productivity expectations. It is this thought process that drives many business owners to experiment with the thought of implementing organizational behavior practices in their companies.

Benefits and drawbacks Of direct marketing

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Direct marketing is attractive to many marketers, because in many cases its positive effect (but not negative results) can be measured directly. For example, if a marketer sends out one million solicitations by mail, and ten thousand customers can be tracked as having responded to the promotion, the marketer can say with some confidence that the campaign led directly to the responses. The number of recipients who are offended by the junk mail/spam, however, is not easily measured. By contrast, measurement of other media must often be indirect, since there is no direct response from a consumer. Measurement of results, a fundamental element in successful direct marketing, is explored in greater detail elsewhere in this article. Yet since the start of the Internet-age the challenges of Chief Marketing Officers(CMOs) are tracking direct marketing responses and measuring results.

While many marketers like this form of marketing, some direct marketing efforts using particular media have been criticized for generating unwanted solicitations. For example, direct mail that is irrelevant to the recipient is considered junk mail, and unwanted email messages are considered spam. Some consumers are demanding an end to direct marketing for privacy and environmental reasons, which direct marketers are able to provide by using "opt out" lists, variable printing and more targeted mailing lists.

Many of the world's largest marketing and advertising agencies started off as direct marketing specialist agencies, namely Carlson Marketing, GyroHSR, Proximity and Iris Nation. Due to declining client budgets and the proliferation of audiences, many of these agencies have diversified and expanded to offer "integrated marketing" rather than simply selling DM services. The term “Integrated Marketing” is used by agencies to describe how they sell the complete marketing communications package, covering DM, digital, SP, PR, events and advertising

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

C2C marketing

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Consumer-to-consumer (C2C) (or citizen-to-citizen) electronic commerce involves the electronically-facilitated transactions between consumers through some third party. A common example is the online auction, in which a consumer posts an item for sale and other consumers bid to purchase it; the third party generally charges a flat fee or commission. The sites are only intermediaries, just there to match consumers. They do not have to check quality of the products being offered.

C2C are becoming more popular amongst students in universities because these are large communities in the same geographical region that are low on money. So they are looking for deals very often and these kinds of websites offer this. Universities themselves set up places for students to sell textbooks and other stuff to other students, you can even advertise that you are subletting your apartment.

examples include:

The Importance of Brand

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Branding is a very powerful component in business. The brand must have a logo to make branding easier and more possible. The consumers decide if they will buy a product or use a service based on how they view the brand. The brand itself tells us or let us imagine how good or bad the product is even if we never tasted it before! All that brand promotion and advertising really do tell us how great a brand can be (like Nike). Once a customer likes your brand he/she will definitely come back for repeated services or products. The qualities of the product or services are ensured through the customers minds from the brand image.

marketing environment

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diagraam illustates the factors which affect the marketing environment.

inner circle explains the "micro" factors n the outer boundary tells us about the "macro" factors

The Current "Art" of Pricing Is About to Become an Exact Science

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Many marketers spend a lot of time and money trying to find the perfect price -- and still can't be scientifically sure that their first answer is correct. That's true even with many large companies, and certainly the vast majority of smaller ones.

Whether you're large or small, here are some common pricing techniques you'll recognize...

evaluating product features and customer benefits
marking up your cost of production
undercutting competitors' prices
asking key customers
getting feedback from salespeople
considering typical customers' "disposable income"
soliciting advice from consultants, or business associates, whomever...

Sound familiar? Most companies mix this "data" together, and somehow magically come up with "the number."

But what does that number mean, really? How do they know it's the perfect price... the number that's going to maximize their profit?

The answer is... they don't.

For example, you could undercut your competitor's price. But how do you know their price was right? Or, what if you don't have direct competition?

Use a spreadsheet? What numbers do you plug in for customer response and resistance-to-price variations? Your results are only as sharp as that unknown customer perception. Why guess? After all...

Launching at half the price could double your profit. Or maybe, pricing a few dollars higher could add thousands straight to your bottom line.

refhttp://myps.sitesell.com/

Top 10 Largest Telecom Operators in World

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Top 10 Largest Telecom Operators in World

1. AT&T - the former SBC merged with AT&T creating the new AT&T (USA)
2. China Mobile - formerly China state-owned, now still state-controlled, one of two mobile phone monopolies in the entire China.
3. Vodafone - Britain's largest telecom operator.
4. Verizon Communications - US-based telecom company formed after a series of mergers.
5. Telefonica - Multinational company with stakes in Dpain, Latin America and Europe. Owns the O2 brand.
6. Deutsche Telekom - German telecom company, also owns t-mobile.
7. America Movil - Mexican operator controlled by the world's richest man - Carlos Slim.
8. NTT DoCoMo - One of Japan's telecom operators.
9. France Telecom - One of France's telecom companies.
10. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone - Japan's second largest telecom operator.

Pricing Strategy Article: Making Sure The Price Is Right

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Pricing is an often overlooked component of marketing's four p's. Here, the author discusses pricing as it relates to customer delivered value as well as considerations when lowering prices.

Introduction

Price, one of the Marketing Mix’s “Four Ps”, is an often-misunderstood weapon in the marketer’s arsenal. Too often, small- and medium-sized enterprises rely on Price to carry the weight for its “little brothers” - Product, Place, and Promotion - in the firm’s marketing battles. This is because of many firm’s misconception that they have little choice but to make sure their prices are comparable to those of the competition. Of course, a price that is way too high may simply make the product unaffordable. On the other hand, a low price provides little opportunity for new product development, expanded product placement, or creative promotional initiatives. As a result, once they start down the price spiral, firms often perceive the necessity to compete on price alone. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

The truth is that Product, Place, and Promotion are marketing weapons at least as valuable as Price. The trick is to learn how to use them well.

Refhttp://www.websitemarketingplan.com/directory/index.php?PID=75

Retail Marketing

2010-01-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

In today's CRM landscape the old analogy comparing the rifle and shotgun approaches to message and / or offer delivery is perhaps more appropriate than ever, as more retail organizations struggle to achieve one-to-one marketing-communications with customers and prospects.

Targeting allows a retail enterprise to channel its marketing budget where there is the greatest (and fastest) possibility of Return On Investment (ROI).

In terms of overall business strategy, your ability to identify and understand consumers helps you make accurate estimates about the potential for your products and services in a given market, as well as support and direct merchandise development strategies to both new and existing customers.

Whether your target is current customers or new prospects, in markets known or unknown, an effective targeting model reduces the risk of any new venture.

Blending Demographic, Behavioral, Expenditure and Media Preference data with retailer-specific data and applying data mining technologies produces Zip+4 and postal code level data assets that consistently outperform all other direct marketing techniques.

In addition, methodology that should be used must be dynamic to allow the sights to be reset frequently to keep targets in focus consistently.

Today's retail marketing managers must:

Understand the connections between the lifestyle and expenditure characteristics of customers, their propensity to purchase one product or brand over another, and leverage this understanding for competitive advantage.

Improve direct marketing response by ensuring they are targeting the right households at the right time, using the right media with the right message.

Leverage current consumer data to make better strategic decisions about products, marketing and locations.

Increase customer loyalty and retention with a scientific, data driven approach to analytical CRM.

Applying advanced analytics to current demographic, expenditure and lifestyle data produces the most accurate customer segments and profiles. With a clear picture of your different customer segments, you are in a position to develop merchandise and offers that meet the needs of existing customers and answer (or anticipate) the needs of targeted prospects.

Refhttp://www.dmsretail.com/retailmarketing.htm?gclid=CMvuvfvOs58CFQwwpAodhDMk1g

Ethical Values for Business Success

2010-01-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

Ethics is based on a set of moral and ethical values. These values must be absolute - that is, you must take them seriously enough to override any human rationalization, weakness, ego, or personal faults. When all else fails, you will always look back to these core values to guide you. Unfortunately, life is not that easy and there's always disagreement about what values should reign supreme.

Luckily, in the world of business ethics, your employer helps you. In a nutshell, their values are your values (in the context of work). Your freedom to choose your own ethical values is somewhat limited. Considering the rash of corporate scandals these days, the thought of following the corporation's values might not be too comforting. Problem: Whose or what values can you trust?

Look behind successful, honest businesses and you will see a set of values that have stood the test of time. Think about how these values are communicated in your organization and what you can do to support them.

Honesty. The old adage, "honesty is the best policy" is true today more than ever. It's not just lip service. Employee manuals from most scandalized corporations are likely to contain slogans touting its commitment to honesty. Claiming to be honest in an employee manual is passé. You're either honest or not. Even if you haven't got caught yet, most people know who is and who isn't.

Integrity. Integrity connotes strength and stability. It means taking the high road by practicing the highest ethical standards. Demonstrating integrity shows completeness and soundness in your character and in your organization.

Responsibility. Blaming others, claiming victimhood, or passing the buck may solve short-term crises, but refusal to take responsibility erodes respect and cohesion in an organization. Ethical people take responsibility for their actions. Likewise, actions show the ability to be responsible both in the little and big things.

Quality. Quality should be more than making the best product, but should extend to every aspect of your work. A person who recognizes quality and strives for it daily has a profound sense of self-respect, pride in accomplishment, and attentiveness that affects everything. From your memos to your presentations, everything you touch should communicate professionalism and quality.

Trust. There's no free ride. Trust is hard to earn and even harder to get back after you've lost it. Everyone who comes in contact with you or your company must have trust and confidence in how you do business.

Respect. Respect is more than a feeling, but a demonstration of honor, value, and reverence for something or someone. We respect the laws, the people we work with, the company and its assets, and ourselves.

Teamwork. Two or more employees together make a team. It is a business necessity to work openly and supportively in teams whether formal or informal.

Leadership. How many hardworking, honest employees have been tainted and led astray by corporate leadership failings? Managers and executives should uphold the ethical standards for the entire organization. A leader is out front providing an example that others will follow.

Corporate Citizenship. A foundational principle for every company should be to provide a safe workplace, to protect the environment, and to become good citizens in the community.

Shareholder Value. Without profitability, there is no company. Every employee should understand how he or she fits into the profitability picture. Everyone's common goal should be to build a strong, profitable company that will last.

The real test of these values comes from the resulting action. It takes a concerted, company-wide effort, beyond inserting these words in an employee manual, to make it happen.

First, management must lead by example. Good ethics should be most noticeable at the top. Every employee must be accountable to the same rules.

Second, a corporate values or ethics initiative must be "sold" and "marketed" aggressively throughout a company. Every forum and medium should be used to spread the good message. Of course, it will only be credible if the company is practicing what it preaches.

Third, training must be provided to get everyone on the same page. It's easy to ignore a motivational speech or pass by a poster, but spending time learning about the issues will have a lasting impact.

Fourth, both you and the company must be in it for the long haul. The ethics fervor should extend to the next generation of employees. The longer it lasts, the more ingrained the principles will become.

Despite failings of some, there is plenty of room at the table for good ethics and profitable business to reside. Together they can lay the cornerstone for a secure and prosperous society. These ten values you can put in the employee manual and mean it.

US recent POLICY

2010-01-20T10:40:00.000-08:00

Richard Holbrooke, Special United States Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, returned to this country after a considerable interval if one takes into account his earlier frequent visits to the region. His absence from the scene had given birth to some wild speculations that his confrontational approach in Afghanistan made him unsuited to carrying out his terms of reference.

PRODUCT PRICING STRATEGIES

2010-01-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

Developing a pricing strategy perplexes many CEOs, marketing and sales executives, and brand managers. It's not surprising really: real businesses don't always follow the pricing strategy models that business schools and books on pricing strategy present. But there are a few basic guidelines that can help take some of the mystery out of the process of establishing a successful pricing strategy.

We consider that there are four basic components to a successful pricing strategy:

Costs. Focus on your current and future, not historical, costs to determine the cost basis for your pricing strategy .
Price Sensitivity. The price sensitivities of buyers shift based on a number of factors and your pricing strategy must shift with them.
Competition. Pay attention to them, but don't copy them . . . when it comes to pricing strategy they may have no idea what they're doing.
Product Lifecycle. How you price, and what value you provide for that price, will change as you move through the product lifecycle

Brand-Focused Marketing Strategy

2010-01-20T10:36:00.001-08:00

Strategic Marketing and Brand Identity Services The Brand-Focused Marketing Strategy accomplishes the following:
1. Establishes a tangible connection between a client’s strategic goals and the company’s marketing strategy.
2. Effectively communicates the brand identity.
3. Provides a tactical promotional strategy.
4. Acts as a road map for implementation.

Cost-plus pricing

2010-01-20T10:36:00.000-08:00

Cost-plus pricing is the simplest pricing method. The firm calculates the cost of producing the product and adds on a percentage (profit) to that price to give the selling price. This method although simple has two flaws; it takes no account of demand and there is no way of determining if potential customers will purchase the product at the calculated price.

Price = Cost of Production + Margin of Profit

Ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pricing_strategies

Country needs a better of RPPs and IPPS

2010-01-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), as the third party auditor on the controversial Rental Power Projects (RPPs) proposed by the Ministry of Water and Power as a means to meet the energy shortfall in the short term has, reportedly, endorsed the general public perception and the stated position of finance minister Shaukat Tarin that the projects were ill-advised, would further burden consumers through a 31 to 45 percent hike in electricity tariff and are too expensive to boot.

Competition-based pricing

2010-01-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

Setting the price based upon prices of the similar competitor products.

Competitive pricing is based on three types of competitive product:

Products have lasting distinctiveness from competitor's product. Here we can assume

The product has low price elasticity.
The product has low cross elasticity.
The demand of the product will rise.

Products have perishable distinctiveness from competitor's product, assuming the product features are medium distinctiveness.
Products have little distinctiveness from competitor's product. assuming that:

The product has high price elasticity.
The product has some cross elasticity.
No expectation that demand of the product will rise. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pricing_strategies

Aspects of SWOT analysis

2010-01-20T10:33:00.000-08:00