Growing up Google (my 10 fav Google Gadgets)

Going, Growing Google!!



Craving and simultainously begging for a Google wave invite today got me thinking about all that I accomplish or would fail to accomplish if google and it's various applications did not exist.

I live in 3rd world Guyana where there was a recession even bofore the global recession, so cutting cost is always on everyone's mind. Google has been my oxygen for many years and allows me to accomplish so much without going broke.

I use Google for everything and I mean just about everything....

1)Blogger: I blog using blogger and follows other bloggers religiously since blogs is where I get free access so much valuable information, advice and opinions.

2) Gmail: I would Die without my Gmail. Seriously, I do not know if i'm capable of surviving without it. One major reason internet and email access was invented on the mobile phone I am certain was due to people's need to access their gmail. There is so much I adore about gmail. The fact that I can edit documents, manage my calendar, organise contacts, organize and archive my mail, the reader is great. The ease at which I can create and send out invites. It's really a one stop, email shop.

3) WebmasterTools: I manage my own website and client sites with Google webmaster tools....I love it....love it...love it....I love the detailed reports I get which allows me to make informed decisions and keeps my clients happy.

4)Google talk keeps me connected to coworkers (since I work offshore) and I can keep in touch while checking and responding to mail.

5) Igoogle is my cup of coffee in the morning, It's like my corkboard. My mailbox, my desk, my morning paper all rolled into one. I especially like that I can customise it just the way I want...from the little things like a header to match my mood, sticky notes to jot down stuff while I work, I can see the weather, travel specials, mail, newspapers both local and international, fav blog updates, article updates on my fav. sites. I can even post to twitter and facebook. It keeps me organised and in the know from one place. Extraordinary!

6)Googlenews is another amazing app. It's like having 100 newspapers that magically update every few seconds right in front of me without the mess.

7) Google Earth gives my international friends, coworkers a Glimpse of where I reside and vice versa.

8) Google Chrome gives me speed when I need it most.

9)Orkut: I even used Orkut (Google's Social Networking site) before Social networks were popular.

10) Google Search: last but not least...there is nothing better that Google Search itself....images,books, videos...docs....Google is my world....I could not get anything done without it especially now that I have a young daughter chewing at the keyboard and I need to keep everything in my life simple and uncomplicated. Thanks Google for helping me do more with less. My Daughter will definitely be growing up Google!!
Can't wait for GoogleWAVE...

Email marketing Do's and Don't's

Sorry about the Hiatus folks. I was on maternity leave and on bed rest for the last few months.
Today i'm gonna focus on the right way to do Email marketing. Why? because everyone hates Spam and spammers. Recently I began receiving alot of promotional emails from a popular restaurant and bar. I had not been asked to subscribe to any of the material I was receiving so needless to say I was irritated. This led me to email their management Re:email etiquette. Now as a business owner one would expect professionalism on the part of this person toward someone he was soliciting via email for potential business, not so!. His response was simpily "you can hit the delete button along with the rest of us"......his poor attitude irritated me even more.

Whatever happened to plain ole good manners. This incident was the chief motivator for writing this article. Below I have listed my TOP 10 guidelines for proper Email and newsletter marketing.

FIRST AND FOREMOST HAVE AN EMAIL MARKETING PLAN. Don't just send out emails ad hoc. While doing your plan you can take into consideration the following:

1) Emails and newsletters should be only sent to people who sign up (OPT IN ONLY)
2) material should be concise
3) Material should have a friendly and personal yet professional tone
4)Should contain valuable information only (nothing overwhelming)
5)Should be targeted to the specific audience u are sending it to
6) Should contain details on how to provide feedback (all of which should be expected and readily responded to
7) Mailing lists should be kept up to date and anyone requesting removal should be removed immediately
8) Ensure no false or misleading header information is used
9) No deceptive subject lines
10) ensure it's identified as advertisment and contain a valid physical address.

REMEMBER SPAMMING WILL ALIENATE YOUR COMMUNITY. DON'T SPAM.

I would love to hear your views and if you have anything extra to add. I hope if helps you also in your online marketing planning. Email me if you need advice on designing and implementing and E-mail marketing strategy.

image courtesy marketingmo.com

5 Strategies to Survive the Economic Slump

The World economy has definitely been suffering and the Caribbean has not been exempted. Below is a fantastic article adopted from Dell Small Business on Surviving the slowdown. It gives sensible and doable tips on cutting corners without cutting your valuable Human Resources. Enjoy!!

5 Strategies to Survive the Economic Slump

The economic slowdown is hitting small businesses hard. According to the 2008 Economic Pulse survey from American Express OPEN, 79% report a drop in sales and 69% have been forced to cut expenses. Squeezed by energy and healthcare costs, rising prices and sluggish sales, small business owners are also reducing staffing, spending and expansion plans. To make ends meet, more than half have tapped personal assets to pay their business bills.
If you are feeling a similar pinch, use the following tips to help improve your cash flow and weather the economic downturn.

Improve billing

Review your accounts, collect outstanding invoices and revamp your billing system to make sure you are paid for work you have completed. Invoice promptly and encourage customers to pay quickly with credit and charge cards, bank transfers or checks. Consider a carrot-and-stick approach to billing and collections. If payment is due in 30 days, offer an incentive, such as 2% discount, to customers who pay early or within 10 days. Add a 1.5% interest charge after 30 days. Consider beefing up your credit-checking procedures for new accounts to avoid taking on customers who might have trouble meeting their commitments.

Stretch out payables

Pay your bills on time, but not early, thereby keeping cash on hand as long as possible. You may need to revise your payment habits, perhaps even paying bills more frequently so you part with less cash each time. The only time to pay early is if your creditors offer an early pay discount. Set up your online banking account to pay bills automatically, on the days you want the money deducted, and to notify you if your balance runs low.

Trim expenses

Your fixed costs may be more variable than you think. Review all of your expenses and renegotiate rent/lease agreements, staffing and supply costs. Small and midsize businesses have been knocked hard by energy costs, so look for ways to cut back on transportation (vehicles, delivery and travel) and electricity. Compare your phone and Internet service bills with the best deals out there. Check your monthly statements for hidden fees, extra charges and price creep. Scrutinize small-ticket expenses for savings opportunities. For example, would purchasing office supplies and printing in bulk save money? Or, instead of next-day delivery, send less time-sensitive mail through the U.S. Postal Service. Be sure to involve your employees and ask them for cost-cutting ideas.

Review pricing

Think strategically before you raise or lower your prices during an economic slump. Neither is a quick fix. According to the OPEN1 Economic Pulse survey, only 33% of the respondents said they expect to raise prices. Increasing rates and adding surcharges to cover costs of doing business isn’t likely to provide sufficient easing of financial pressure if your sales have dropped dramatically. Lowering prices to bring customers in the door may work, as long as you have calculated that you can still operate profitably with lower prices in place. If not, you may be sorry that you “trained” your customers to expect a low price when the time comes to raise prices again.

Increase service and marketing

It might sound counterintuitive to focus on customer service and marketing during challenging times, since both cost money. However, when the economy slows, it becomes more important than ever to keep the customers you have. Chances are you can little afford to lose any of them. In addition, a customer you lose today will cost you mightily to acquire when the economy picks back up. Keep your customers loyal by focusing on service. Emphasize your company’s unique value to limit the likelihood that a competitor hungry for business will be able to lure them away. Keep your acquisition “machine” churning, even if budgets are tight, by using low-cost marketing tactics, such as search engine optimization and email marketing.

Tips on choosing a production, print and publishing company for your projects

What is Publishing: Wikipedia (our trusted friend)....defines publishing as "the process of production and dissemination of literature or information – the activity of making information available for public view." It goes on to say "Publishing includes: the stages of the development, acquisition, copyediting, graphic design, production – printing (and its electronic equivalents), and marketing and distribution of newspapers, magazines, books, literary works, including the electronic media.

So you have a project idea....you want to do a magazine say on a fusion of Fashion and Music...where do you begin....how do you decide on a publisher and production company who can produce an outstanding piece for you or your company? Below i've placed some tips on what to look for when on the prowl for a publishing company:

1) Choosing a publisher largely depends on what you are publishing: Entertainment Magazine, Tourist Guide, Business Directory, Electronic magazine....(If you have problems defining the category perhaps that can be one of the questions you ask when you call).

2)Look at other publications that you like that are similar to what you want to have produced and published. Observer what you like about them, layout and design, content, image use, print type....when you have made a list of the ones you like, check the inside cover to get the names and contact info of the publishers

3) Seek advice from friends and people who have done publications.

4) Check out favourite writers blogs and websites for publisher information

5) Subscribe to publications directed toward the publishing industry, such as "Editor & Publisher" or "Publishers Weekly." These periodicals will keep you informed on the publishing industry. Editor & Publisher is geared toward the newspaper industry, but it covers those authors who have recently published books.

6) Call around with a prepared list of questions and inquires.....observe the way you are dealt with. They manner in which your questions are answered and the questions you are asked in turn.

7) A good publishing house will work with you all the way.

Our consultancy helps you from the start to find your market, advertisers or sponsors and even work with you to come up with a suitable name. From start to finish we work with you to define columnist (if necessary), decide on articles and content and much much more. Leave it to us and our creative and technical team will deliver a project surpassing your expectations. That's our Promise. Our Clients can varify this. Contact us at info@yourebuzz.com

Sales Strategies: How to be a winning sales person.

In this post i'll be moving away a bit from marketing and planning strategies and focus a bit on Sales. In some companies the highest paid staff member is the sales manager...why? Because they are the ones responsible for devising strategies to make the company a profit...note I didn't say money, I said a PROFIT.

The question is, what makes some people so successful at sales and not others. I think it has to do with them having some of the same attributes I listed in my last post on "successful People". Speaking with a good sales manager friend of mine who works in a leading mobile telecommunication company, I asked her what makes her stand out, Her response: A solid plan and consistent follow-up coupled with a friendly but confident attitude. Her motto: "winners make things happen, losers let things happen". She certainly lives up to that, i've seen her in action and she is smooth. Pushy without making the potential buyer feel pushed around.

So what is it? A born trait? Is it personality? looks? sex appeal? intelligence? above average knowledge of the product? Or is it pushing leads and following up? In my opinion it's all. A combination of personal attributes and Strategy. It also depends on what you are selling of course. To sell an encyclopedia you would certainly have to use a different approach than say someone selling beauty products. BUT....would the approaches have anything in common? well that's what I have been trying to determine. This is what I've come up with:

Personal Attributes:The approach persons take to pitch a sale can be completely and utterly different , but the personal attributes that makes a winning sales person would more of less be the same. Below i've listed some of what are considered the most popular personel attributes :

1) You must be self-motivated or able to motivate a team without alienating them

2) You must not only want or speak of success, you must NEED it

3) You must set a series of realistically high goals and establish a timetable for meeting them

4) You must act as if it's impossible for you not to be a consistently high acheiver.

5) You must form the habit of doing things the correct way the first time (remember money and time is involved here, more than likely not yours!)

6)Always be prepared for surprises (try to predetermine what these could be)

7) Aways, Always take the potential buyer's needs and budget into consideration

8) Give the impression of Confidence and Success (dress for success)

9) Guard moral values

10) Weed out real opportunities from "talkers" by asking the right questions

11) Practice ways of dealing with different personalities and interests and turning them into sales

12) Be Prepared: Check, double check and triple check your presentations and always prepare more than more kinds with extra copies in different formats.

13) Keep abreast with changing technology which can impact sales strategy and help to cultivate pre-sales leads.

I will stop at 13 but can add lots more. I think these are the major ones which can be elaborated on to include more. I will try to touch on most of these as time goes by.

Sales Strategy:

Apart from having the correct attitude and attributes a good sales person will always have a great strategy. Most people use the sales funnel as a base for their sales strats. I will discuss this in a subsequent post, be sure to check it out!

What Do successful Business people have in Common?

I was just reading through the list of forbes top richest persons as at September 18th 2008. This led me to research the World's richest people. The top 5 are Warren Buffett ,Carlos Slim Helu ,William Gates III ,Lakshmi Mittal ,Mukesh Ambani.

Bill Gates has once again reclaimed the number one spot from Warren Buffett and is worth 58 Billion dollars at age 52!!!....blimey!....and here I thought I was doing pretty well. So what made these people who they are today? Well it all depends on the way you look at it I suppose... According to http://valhallaisland.com studies show that 60% of these listed rich have a university education. What I loved about the article was this statement

"Just as you can’t conclude that the lack of a university degree guarantees you’ll be unsuccessful, you can’t conclude that having a degree guarantees success. It’s important to note that billions of dollars (or money at all) does not equate to success or happiness, it’s just the only thing we have available to measure."----So true....

But that question again....what are some things that successful people have in common? in a nutshell what they all have in common is their unique ability to keep goals clear, to focus and concentrate on how, when and with what they intend to meet these goals. I don't like to use too many words in an article since I think this discourages persons from reading it, but I think I do need to elaborate on the above. Successful people have plans. They have a strategy. They have solid, achievable and realistic goals. They know what they are selling or offering and they know it better than anything. They have commitment and self-drive. They don't only think success is based on the economy or political connections, they believe the key to success is mostly up to them. Not to reinvent the wheel, I think an article by Murray Raphel sums it up nicely.
Successful people:

1. Constantly set higher goals
2. Avoid comfort zones
3. Are driven by accomplishments rather than money
4. Acknowledge and solve problems rather than lay blame
5. Look at the worst possible scenario's and outcomes while planning a strategy
6. They rehearse the future as they see it
7. They have a high uncertainty tolerance (contrary to popular believe they do NOT take risks per se...they always anticipate the outcomes and possible responses)

All it all I dare to repeat myself, successful people have solid, dynamic strategies and plans. They plan for success, contemplate and plan for failure and are just plain old hard working and self-driven.

Need advice on business planning and strategy? email us at info@yourebuzz.com. We'd love to assist.

More about business planning

Today we look at the BUSINESS PLAN. Before you start a business it's important to start here. During the life of your business it's important to constantly refer to this plan and make adjustments. It is a dynamic living document. Concepts Advertising can assist you with developing your business plan whether starting your business or re-evaluating your position in the market.

Why a business plan? It is a general plan which can help provide direction to the management team. It's a communication tool.

The process of creating a business plan forces you to 1) think 2) to prioritise 3) to evaluate and test reality. It forces you to work out your people, your strategy, the market and your finances. It helps you to create a plan for the future and set goals. It is a marketing tool which can help you to obtain funding and endorsements.


What does a business plan look like? people choose several ways to do a business plan e.g square, round or rectangular. Many people depict a business plan as round because it is a circular feedback loop. It is an easy to follow continuing process. There is no shortage of information on types of business plans. One website I particularly like is nolo.com. If you need assistance with choosing the best type of plan for your business email us at create@conceptsadvertising.biz.


What goes into a Business plan? well the plan is all about giving structure to your exisiting company or idea. It should contain information on

1) The management team

2) Marketing strategy

3) Competitive landscape

4) Financial projections

5) Products or services to be offered and delivered.

Each point leads back to another. What do I mean? well, think about it

• What the company does determines the competitive landscape (5 determines 3)


• The competitive Landscape and market strategy drive the financial projection (3 and 2 drives 4)


• The financial projections drive what the company does (4 drives 5)

It is a process of constant refinement. So your business plan actually feeds back onto itself and you will find yourself going back and constantly changing sections.

Have a great week!!! Be sure to email me with any questions you may have at create@conceptsadvertising.biz.