Your E-buzz

Growing up Google (my 10 fav Google Gadgets)

2009-10-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

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

2008-12-10T11:12:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-10-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-09-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

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:

Constantly set higher goals
Avoid comfort zones
Are driven by accomplishments rather than money
Acknowledge and solve problems rather than lay blame
Look at the worst possible scenario's and outcomes while planning a strategy
They rehearse the future as they see it
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

2008-07-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

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.

Advertising and Marketing 101 (Phase three)

2008-06-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

Best practices in Defining Business Goals

I beleive in the KISS philosophy.....keep it smart and simple.
SMART is an acronym which has many variations....all meaning the same thing basically and all greatly assist with defining goals.

Defining S.M.A.R.T GOALS

S-specific, significant, stretching: (When defining goals they should be specific e.g I need to sell 55000 Loaves of bread in a week to break even and 75,000 to garner profit). Ensure your goal(s) is well defined and clear to anyone who reads it.

M-measurable, meaningful, motivational: Ensure you are able to measure success.

A-agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented:Ensure the goal is attainable and acheivable and the defined objective is agreed upon by all involved parties.

R-realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented: Ensure the goal is acheivable within the alloted time, taking into consideration resources, personnel,market etc.

T-time-based, timely, tangible, trackable: Ensure you set enough time (but not too much time) to acheive a goal.

Draft Senario: Once you define 1) You need to sell 55000 loaves of bread every 5 days to break even and 65000 loaves for profit. 2) Once you have an adquate system in place to measure performance and sales 3) Once it's agreed that's the amount that needs to be sold to get adquate ROI 4) Once the time set to sell the loaves is realistic 5) Once you know you need to start selling that amount by june 5th 2008 then you are on the right track. Now the question is....How do I attract the customers in order to sell 55000 Loaves of bread every five days and sustain this number?

This is where you have to examine and know:

your position in the market

your potential customers and how you plan to reach them
your competitiors

Therefore in order to answer the questions above you have to do a solid business plan. Which i'll look at in my next post.

create@conceptsadvertising.biz

Advertising and Marketing 101 (Phase two)

2008-06-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

How to choose an advertising & Marketing Company:

Once you have made the decisions regarding 1) yes you need to advertise 2) WHAT you need to advertise 3) who you need to be targeting and 4) What medium you should use, next up in the marketing Process is finding an advertising company that can effectively help you with developing an advertising plan or campaign. This company should be able also to assist you in deciding on what advertising medium might best work for your company if you are unsure. So here we go:

1) Do your research: Ask persons who have impressive television , print , signage etc who did their work for them, how long they took, how much they charged. Ask questions regarding support and customer service. Call several advertising companies and observe how they a) answer the phone b) respond to your questions (if and how long they have you on hold), those types of things.

2)Request a meeting: at the meeting observe the types of questions being asked....you should only have to tell them what you want accomplished e.g I want more people to buy my bread or I want more people to stay at my hotel....and they should ask things like 1) what's your brand colors, logo, slogan. Do you have a website? do you want consistency in your ads: should it match your website look. Things of that Nature. After all they are suppose to be the advertising Guru.

3) Ask for a full portfolio: Ensure you check out their client list to see previous work done including testamonials and references. Things to look for: Quality, consistency, regular work (no large breaks in work flow), creativity, varied artwork and designs (if too many designs look the same, go elsewhere...you don't want you and a competitor to have the same looking ads).

4) Observe the packages they offer: They should be able to work along with you not only to realise your concept but to advise on how you can get the results you desire. They ought to make suggestions E.g "perhaps you should consider placing your ad after CBS sunday morning if it's to increase business lunch sales (as lots of business people like to watch that program", or "perhaps you should consider a Banner ad on a popular travel booking site if you are a hotel".....Advertising and marketing companies are not only there to do an ad or audio piece or flyer and give you on a CD. They should be able to offer solid advice as part of their packages. Email us for more: create@conceptsadvertising.biz. Look out for Phase three in the series: best practices in developing business plans (the SMART PLAN).

Marketing and Advertising 101 (Phase One)

2008-05-31T06:48:00.000-07:00

There is so much advertising and Marketing information out there nowadays. Tons of sites and publications offering varied advice on 1) Why advertise 2) Most successful forms of advertising 3) Most cost effective forms of advertising 4) Marketing how to's etc etc etc...

I decided to start with the fundamentals....what's they difference between Marketing and Advertising? Technically Advertising falls under one of the 4 P's of marketing ....Promotion. Many companies make the mistake of embarking on a promotions campaign without a proper thought out plan. So that's exactly what I'll look at today.

First of all you need to ask yourself these 10 basic questions:
1) Do I need to advertise? why, why not?
2) What product or service do I wish to or need to advertise?
3) Can I afford advertising?
4)What kind of advertising
5) can I afford one type or several? online or offline?
6)Printed or electronic? Traditional Media or New media?
7) How long am I looking to advertise for?
8)Who is going to manage advertising?
9)What results do I expect from advertising ?
10) Who exactly am I targeting?

Once you have answered the above 10 questions you would need to start by looking for an advertising company who can meet, sustain and manage all of your needs within your budget. I'll continue with the next step in the advertising process tomorrow....look out for advertising 101 phase 2. Email: create@conceptsadvertising.biz for more information.

Dealing with Data in a data driven world.

2008-05-30T11:34:00.000-07:00

"ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, BY ANYONE AND ANYTHING: Thanks to combination of new digital technologies and policy change in favour of liberalized markets, scarcity is being transformed
into abundance. The so-called “4A Vision” is that information will soon be accessible “anywhere, anytime, by anything and anyone”. Travel Impact Newswire

After reading that statement today I started thinking about Data and Information.
We are constantly bombarded with information....Internet, television,radio,newspapers,magazines.....always on, real time...blackberry....
How can a busy business person manage all this information coming at them each day? in addition to doing their day to day tasks to keep their businesses running smoothly
business owners, managers etc. have to always
stay abreast, keep current, stay informed in
order to have the relavant knowledge to make informed decisions.
So how can they determine quickly what to read and what not to read?
what to archive what not
to archive? Below are some simple tips for managing information overload:

1) Email: If you don't need an email, delete it immediately. If an email doesn't need action but is worth keeping, archive it immediately. If it needs action, action it immediately and archive it. If that's not possible, I leave it in the Inbox where it won't get forgotten.
I keep the Inbox less than one pageful.
Keep personal and work email boxes seperate and manage both the same way.
DO NOT SUBCRIBE TO THINGS YOU DON'T and WILL NEVER READ.
Ensure your email has spam block.
2) Paper: In addition to an IN and OUT box have a garbage and filing box.
As above, file whatever needs filing, throw out whatever you don't need.
If you are unsure whether to throw out something you "may" need in the future make sure it's filed under a seperate category e.g "NOT SURE.
Ensure your files are checked constantly. If you havn't used something in over a year that you filed under " NOT SURE" throw it out!
3) Websites (and RSS feeds): Ensure the feeds and online material you subscribe to are feeds you really have interest in. Also ensure you bookmark your websites using a system e.g 1) work related bookmarks 2)entertainment (uh huh :-)
3) learning 4) Hobbies 5)blogs. Also select two or three newspapers to read each day at different break times (lunch, coffee or in the evening) to keep abreast.
Nowadays you can customise news sites so you just see the headlines
and information according to your interests. e.g google news.
4) Newspapers and Magazines: When you are done reading it give it to someone else (it becomes their junk)...kidding....seriously... either throw it out or better yet recycle it. Magazines can be donated.
Business magazines can be circulated
or put into a business resource bank
(but avoid that, get the E-versions)
5) Use technology: Outlook is an excellent tool to use for keeping organised.
Meetings, contacts ....Another great way to keep organised is to use igoogle.
It's your personalised google homepage.
You can customise it for to show for e.g a calendar
(it can syn with outlook and gmail),
sticky notes, memo pads,news headlines,
tip of the day, new info from your fav. blogs and sites, tips and much more...you can even add cool gadgets.

web 2.0 and the caribbean...are you listening?

2008-05-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

The enterprise Web 2.0 market, which includes the deployment of tools like blogs, wikis, and social networking within the enterprise, was a growing force in enterprise software in 2007. This trend is predicted to continue with even more force in 2008.

User generated content and social media networking has changed the way online marketing is done. Do you know what is being said about your Brand? if the answer is no, you are missing out on a whole new arm of new media Marketing. The Online Media. North American and European companies have not been careless in taking full advantage of this trend and business growth. In fact, Forrester Research projects that nearly one-quarter of businesses will make implementing Web 2.0 technologies a major software initiative this year. According to an article by Oliver young, businesses will adopt several Web 2.0 applications this year including social networks, RSS and mashups.

The question is, are caribbean businesses on board with web 2.0? Are their IT and marketing departments taking note and working together? In today's competitive marketing world the internet is unarguably the number one way to promote your business 24 hours a day. Word of mouth has given away to online viral marketing techniques using photo tagging, youtube, blogs and wikkis. Web 2.0 is definitely a cost effective way to market.

Incorporating web 2.0 into your marketing strategies can be one of the best things you can do if your market is global or if you wish to break into the global Market. It is a great way of reaching a wider demographic in your own local market. It is a fantastic way to develop and improve your Brand's ranking. Used in a clever way, web 2.0 tools can greatly enhance your market reach. It is an easy, cost effective way of reaching more of your target market.

A word of caution however, be sure you can deliver on what you promise and you are adequately equipped to deal with a potentially greater demand for your product or service.

Caribbean businesses need to ensure their marketing departments see the long term value of this growing web 2.0 trend. They need to understand:

1. What are the different facets of web 2.0
2. Why they need to incorporate it in their marketing strategies or online campaigns
3. The Cost of incorporating it
4. How it can be used effectively for maximum results and minimum investment
5. How to monitor it and evalue it's effectiveness
6. The risks involved
7. The future of web 2.0

If you need help with understanding web 2.0, trends and how you can use it for maximum ROI using web 2.0 tools. Or if you just have queries feel free to Contact me at create@conceptsadvertising.biz

Attack of the Amature web designer

2008-05-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

I have found that persons in Guyana think getting a website up online is all they need to do get on the internet marketing bandwagon. This is the senario

1) Mr.Boss goes out and hears someone saying something about their new website or perhaps they attend a cocktail where someone says, I don't have a card but you can check out my 'site.

2)Mr. Boss says to himself...hmmm I gotta get me one of those website things.

3) Mr.Boss calls meeting with staff....Question....Does anyone know how to get one of those website things? De office assistant says yea Boss my second cousin's wife's half sister-in-law's third cousin twice removed is an excellent webdesigner. She did plenty of courses at global tech. and has her E-Mba from somewhere down under.

4) Boss says....Excellent ...bring her in

5) Cousin comes in armed with a list from freetemplates.com (copyright).

6) Cousin doesn't know their arm from their elbow when it comes to marketing....and throws something "genericly pretty up(I donno if that's a word). The site has every single free and cheap tool known to man....customary guestbook, polls,cut and paste html slideshows,built in search,lots of forms....everything but the kitchen sink.

7) boss has a launching of both the template driven website and the career of second cousin twice removed.

8) Another dumb so called designer is now the new "IT" person.

We have got to stop this. Persons in Guyana (and elsewhere) need to stop taking amatures to do the work. They need to honestly ask themselves why do we want a website?

1) as a branding tool?

2) to target customers?

3) to increase sales?

2) for entertainment purposes?

3) To awaken the critics?

4) to take up valuable internet space?

Any webdesigner worth their salt
would be able to at the very least offer advice on how to manage branding, increase hits, monitor stats, monitor competition,drive sales
while keeping content current and interestly presented.
It's just not good enough to throw a site on the internet.
One excuse many designers of poor sites have is that the client didn't provide proper content and images.
In that case why do it?
why tarnish your reputation with putting garbage on your portfolio?
Having said that Managers and Marketing personnel should constantly (even if busy) be at the very least reading some business related media item per day or week...
even month (hopefully my blog). If they do this they will most certainly be privy to information relating to online marketing,
thus having some idea what this whole internet revolution is all about.
It's guaranteed!!!.
So there is absolutely no excuse for having a bad website online today
....from management or designer prespective.

New Marketing.....New Thinking

2008-05-29T19:27:00.001-07:00

The word Marketing has become rather cliche. Latest Buzzword…Latest Killer App….…RSS feeds, Web 2.0, smart phones, B2B, B2C, GPRS, Viral Marketing…..What???

Everyone and their grandmother has a list or review of the latest, greatest product or service of yesterday, today and tomorrow…. who invented them, how you can have a piece of the pie or how you can create your own pie….

Yep….the internet has over 60 million blogs, countless forums, fast growing online communities and social networking sites all with people asking how to and even more people telling them how to….yet people are confused and asking….what??

My intention is to equally confuse you…..kidding!

On a serious note, my intention is to share ( in a straightforward way) practical, useful and easy to use information on:

Business identification

Planning

Development

Marketing

Maintainance

My aim is to help you to make smarter Business Decisions and develop your ideas in the simplest way using the simplest methods.