Archive for July, 2009

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How to Perform Proper Product Market Research July 31st, 2009

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Marketing research is a type of sociology that has a focus on understanding the behaviors and preferences of consumers in an open economy. The goal is to interpret the effects and success (comparatively) of marketing strategies.

There are many types of marketing research including:

Questioning

There are different ways that marketing research can be done. One method is called Qualitative marketing research and it involves focus groups, in-depth interviews, and projective techniques. Quantitative marketing research, however, involves sampling, surveys, and questionnaires. Both of these forms of marketing deal with questions and interaction with your subject.

Observation

The other forms of research deal with observation of the subject rather than feedback from the subject. Ethnographic research involves watching social phenomenon occur in the social environment. A great example of this would be computer cookies or product use tests. Experimental techniques make up the last category and account for research done in a controlled environment to try to replicate the type of environment faced by the prospect.

Test Market

One of the most widely accepted forms of research is the “test market”. A population that seems to be a smaller scale version of the actual demographic will be asked to use and evaluate a product before it’s official launch. The feedback given could possibly redirect the original plan for the product to make it better for the end customer. It is better to discover any issues in the test market rather than after the final release.

If you plan to carry out your own marketing research be prepared to be completely honest with yourself. If you sugar coat your findings you will not be doing yourself any favors. Marketing research can be one of your most valuable tools.

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Art Investment Basics – How to Invest in Art and Make a Profit July 31st, 2009

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Art experts generally agree that there are two components to investing in art and making a profit. They are artistic taste and business savviness. Following are some tips on how to develop and hone both.

When an Art Investment is Married to Artistic Taste

For true art lovers, investing in art provides a double pleasure. You get to enjoy your investment on a daily basis and realize potential monetary gain. However, if you’re investing to make a profit and not for the sheer pleasure of the art, some general guidelines should be followed. Two of the primary ones follow.

Art Investment Guidelines for Art Lovers

Research: Savvy art lovers do their homework before making an art investment. While you want to visually enjoy your investment, you also want to make sure that it will appreciate in value. Art investments are, by their very nature, mercurial investments.

That is to say, the value of a piece on any given day varies with the normal market pressures of supply and demand. This is in addition to other factors particular to the art industry, eg, condition, age, and provenance of a piece, for example.

Determine Artist Worth: With an art investment, determining an artist’s worth is a key component of assessing the potential value of a piece. You don’t want to overpay. You can get a good idea of an artist’s worth by asking a few basic questions, ie:

Artist sales record: What have the artist’s pieces sold for in the past?

Artist Reviews: What have the reviews in industry-respected trade journals and papers said?

Artist Representation: Is the artist represented by an agent?

All of these are foundational questions that should be asked and answered about the artist of any piece you’re considering purchasing – particularly if you’re assessing it primarily as an art investment.

Art Investment Scams: Business Savviness is a Must

When buying art as an investment, business savviness is a must. This means being aware of the various art investment scams. Following are two that are very common.

Forgeries and Fakes: In art investment, this can come in several different forms. For example, there may be poster fakes sold as original prints, forged signatures and unauthentic titles and other paperwork supporting the provenance of a piece.

Insider Price Inflation: This usually occurs when insiders run up the auction record to artificially hype prices.

If you do proper research, as mentioned above, you will be able to spot many of the common art investment scams easily.

The One Surefire Way to Make Money on Art Investments

Art as an investment is a wonderful way to flex your artistic and financial muscle. And, one of the best ways to do it is to flesh out an unknown, yet rising artist, and invest early.

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SMS Marketing For Network Marketers July 31st, 2009

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SMS marketing is the use of “short message service” to deliver an automated cell phone message. Think of it as an autoresponder for cellphones or iPhones. Most network marketers already know the benefit of email autoresponders but few have tapped into SMS marketing.

Globally, SMS is used twice as much as email. In fact, the use of cell phones dwarfs the Internet by 3 to 1. Nearly 90% of all messages are read and are generally responded to within 60 minutes. Can you begin to see this sleeping giant as a marketing tool for network marketers?

Have you noticed that even waiting in line for a Starbucks coffee people are accessing the Internet via their phone?

There are two parts to SMS messaging: the code and the keyword. After you sign up for an SMS service you will be given a 5 digit SMS code. This code is like a phone number, but instead connecting you to another phone, it connects to a an automated message.

They keyword is like a passcode to a specific message. You set up the message like you would an autoresponder (log in to a portal and write the message). All a customer has to do now is to send a text message to that 5 digit code and send the keyword in the message body. Almost instantly, the sender (prospect) will receive a message back from the receiver (prospector).

The magic begins when you begin to promote your SMS code and keyword. For example when promoting my voice broadcasting business I instruct prospects to: Text IBUZZ to 41411. When a prospect completes that task they enter my marketing funnel. I collect their phone number and engage my prospect. You can use this for announcements, bonuses, and specials.

Keep in mind people don’t like messaging spam. However, they do want good information, deals, bargains, and announcements that help them.

SMS messaging is even interactive. Your readers can instantly respond if they have a question, want a phone number or website address.

Network marketers have discovered the power of social marketing using sites like Twitter and Facebook. Others are already using the phone to generate leads using voice broadcasting. Now it’s time to kick it up another notch and start using short messaging service.

American Idol uses SMS messaging to allow participants to vote for their favorite singer and presidential candidates uses it for instant updates on campaigns. More and more network marketers are using SMS to promote their home based business and further creating relationships with their prospects.

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Is the IPC Program Online Business a Scam? July 31st, 2009

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That is the first question we ask when we read ads such: make $$$$’s in minutes.

Finding a successful and easy to follow online business model and duplicating it over and over again. Of course, there is more than one way to make money on the Internet and so there are more than one successful business models to follow.

The great thing about having a successful online business model you can easily follow is that you CAN do it over and over and over again, as many times as you like! Since there is no rent or employees to pay, you can have as many profitable online businesses as you like…all from the comfort of your own home.

Remember: Starting your very own ultra profitable online business does NOT have to be hard…especially if you know of all the great different and most profitable ways you can start making money on the Internet ASAP!

For your information

* The IPC program is a “Direct Sales” program.

* It Is a legitimate online business that offers software and memberships for sale which sells for $200.00 and it is delivered immediately over the net. When you receive the Software Package you will also receive the full resale rights for the software itself. You can take this software and sell it individually to build your income.

Many people are joining this online business for three simple reasons:

1. It’s very affordable

2. It’s extremely profitable

3. It works very fast to produce significant income.

Thanks

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3 Small Business Marketing Tips July 30th, 2009

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There are some things that small business owners can do to market themselves very effectively, while working with a very conservative budget. These days, a big budget is not required for big results.

Here are three powerful tips for small business marketing success:

Play To Your Size

Remember who you are and who your competition is. Just because the bigger, badder company down the street is blowing all their money on a television campaign, doesn’t mean that you have to produce a 30-second spot of your own.

What you do is important. But just as important is HOW you do it. You can use your size to your advantage when it comes to how you treat your customers. Being smaller means being more agile and better able to respond to shifts in market trends.

Brainstorm a list of ways you can use your current size to your advantage over your bigger competitors.

You Get What You Pay For

Online advertising is becoming a required element of any successful business’s online marketing campaign. Pay-per-click advertising on the search engines is one of the most cost-effective means of leveraging this new advertising medium.

Because your ads are only displayed when people search for keywords that you specify, you are automatically getting a more highly targeted prospect using PPC advertising. And since you only pay for those people who actually click your ad, you don’t have any extraneous marketing expenses.

By simply testing and tweaking your ads, the keywords they are displayed on and the marketing copy on the page you send visitors to, you quickly gain control over your advertising campaign.

An additional benefit is that since you are essentially paying for this type of advertising as you go, you can set daily or monthly spending limits or literally stop a campaign in its tracks if it is not performing well enough.

Try Something Different

In addition to looking at your competitors to see what they are doing to attract new clients, try also looking outside of your own industry for insight and inspiration on new ways to reach the hearts and minds of your target audience.

Quite often, business owners get stuck looking at what their specific industry is doing and simply jump on board to try and follow suit. This not only has the undesirable effect of looking like you are playing “follow the leader”, it very seldom leads to innovation.

Every time you are personally in a buying space or are aware that you are being marketed to, pay attention to how you are being communicated to. What is the message that is being delivered? Is the delivery somehow unique or unusual? What stands out about the interaction?

Using what you learn from other industries you will be able to lead your own marketplace with fresh, innovative marketing ideas that will have your competition scrambling to catch up with you.

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