February 2023 - Page 4 of 11

Facebook Fan Pages – Key to Social Media Marketing

The phrase “Social Media” is everywhere these days, and if you are like me, you may be a bit unclear about what it actually is… the infamous phrase “I’ll know it when I see it” comes immediately to my mind!

I went looking online for a short, easy to understand definition and found this analogy:

Think of regular media as a one-way street where you can read a newspaper or listen to a report on television, however, you have very a limited ability to share your thoughts on the matter.

Social media, on the other hand, is an active two-way street that gives you the ability to communicate and respond.

As the internet develops and evolves, the various Social Media websites are also growing and changing. Several years ago, MySpace was the place to be but it is now, generally, considered to be on the wane. Likewise, on MySpace, 33% of its users are aged 17 or less.

Ravalry is a relatively new, large community based around knitting with over 1,200,000 registered users. As you would expect, its membership is primarily female and the average member age is not available.

Facebook provides this information about its users:

More than 500 million active users (I recently saw the number 600 million, but it hasn’t been changed yet, on the Facebook site)
50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
Average user has 130 friends
People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

As you can see, each Social Media site appeals to and has a different user base than any other site.

One of the powerful considerations about using a Social Media web site is the fact that most of them provide a level playing field when it comes to small business owners vs the big boys. For instance, you can build a Facebook Fan page for your offline business and so can a major automobile manufacturer. Within those Facebook Fan pages, both you and the multi billion dollar car maker have the same tools and resources. On Twitter, as another example, both you and the big companies are limited to 140 characters per tweet. They can’t buy more characters and blast you out of the competition.

When considering which Social Media site to use with Social Media Marketing, you should consider the site’s membership but you should also evaluate its culture and how the members interact. It is important that any Social Media site have a population whose interests are in line with your goals and, also, that it have a structure and pattern of interaction that is compatible with your objectives.

In addition, you must keep in mind that things change on the Internet, sometimes at breakneck speed. As an example, between March 2011 and May 2011, Facebook implemented some major changes which changed the whole landscape of using it for business. Suddenly, controlling the content on a business Fan Page and using product images to build a brand became game changers… for those who knew how to do it!

While a particular Social Media site may be a good fit now, be aware that it may not always be a successful marketing vehicle for you! Monitor the efficacy of any Social Media site you are using AND also keep an eye out for the next big thing!

With all of that in mind, at the current time, I consider Facebook and Twitter to be the Social Media sites most likely to be compatible with the majority of offline businesses and their needs.

In this article I am going to briefly cover Facebook, its structure as it pertains to Social Media Marketing, discuss some of the pitfalls, and propose some strategies appropriate to it.

Facebook Marketing for Small Business

Facebook’s membership has exploded and is currently greater than 500 million, according to its own website.

It originally began as a way for college students to keep in touch with fellow students. As a result of that, the basic Facebook community seems to start from an academic basis, joining students and former students with friendship circles widening out from there. If you are like me, you will be shocked at how many members from your high school class seem to appear out of nowhere!

As part of the Facebook mechanism, possible Friends are suggested to you, based on Friends that you and the other person have in common. While you can do searches, it is hard to find and befriend a person that Facebook doesn’t think you should know. On the other hand, Facebook makes suggestions that will extend your network, based simply on friends you may have in common with someone.

Another important mechanism is the Facebook Like option, which has now been extended beyond Facebook Profile pages and Facebook Fan Pages and out into the web at large.

A third and exceedingly important Facebook mechanism is the ability to link between websites, Facebook Fan Pages, and Twitter accounts. This can be done with a variety of website creation software options. At the moment, I am encouraging my clients to use the blogging software, WordPress, for non blog websites.

With WordPress as your website management system, once you have signed up for the Networked Blogs Facebook App(lication), you can set your website to show any changes on your Facebook Fan Page and your Twitter account. Your Twitter Account can be set to show Facebook Fan Page Comments along with Posts from your WordPress website. In addition, your Tweets will be displayed on your Facebook Fan Page and your website.

Now, I know that the previous paragraph was confusing so let me give you the abridged edition! In my example, you have three web presences for your business – A Facebook Fan Page, a website built with WordPress, and a Twitter account. Any Post made on one of those three sites will automatically appear on the other two sites.

This is VERY powerful and is a REAL time and energy saver IF you take the time to plan your web marketing strategies with this capacity in mind!

With the potential of getting a three to one benefit from any of your Social Networking posts, as described above, let me go a bit deeper into the opportunities afforded to an offline business by having a Facebook Fan Page.

NOTE – It is important to understand that while a Facebook Fan Page can be considered a potential web site substitute, it offers long term hazards that, in my opinion, are not worth the risk.

Building your business’s primary web presence on a third party web site is taking the time, effort, and money to build a nice new house on land that you DO NOT OWN! You might be OK in the short term, but later down the road, you may lose you house, simply because you do not own the land.

While you may decide that it is efficient to start with a Facebook Fan Page, you should also plan to build your own website ASAP! As a business owner, you should be careful to own and control as many of your business assets as possible.

With that warning out of the way, before utilizing any Social Media site for your Social Media Marketing, take the time to read the site’s ToS or Terms of Service. Do NOT assume that you know what is allowed and what is not.

As an example, you may have multiple Twitter accounts, but each account must be tied to a different email address. Any email address can have only ONE Twitter account.

With Facebook, any human is allowed ONLY ONE ACCOUNT! This means that any Facebook Fan Pages built for any businesses will be offshoots of your primary, personal Facebook account.

If for some reason, you do not want a Facebook Fan Page to be obviously tied to your personal account, you can set the Privacy setting to obscure the connection. In the case of most offline businesses, this would not be a concern. However, I have a number of online businesses, some of which I am open about and others that I have chosen to run from behind the scenes. There is nothing questionable about doing this, I just prefer to keep the connection quiet to minimize others copying my business model. However, ALL of my business Facebook Fan Pages are offshoots of my SINGLE personal Facebook account.

Part of the evolution of the Facebook Culture is that, in most instances, it is considered appropriate to ask other members to share with their Friends about your Facebook Fan Page or your new post or any of a number of other Facebook interactions. This is markedly different from other websites and their culture, and as a business owner, it is a powerful tool.

It is perfectly OK to ask others to LIKE your Facebook Fan Page. In fact, this can be an important traffic builder for your Facebook Fan Page!

Google AdWords vs Facebook Ads

Another online marketing benefit offered by Facebook is the option to use their Pay Per Click advertising. In the Facebook universe these are known as Facebook Ads – which seems obvious, but online, things are not always obvious!

Last night, I was on a call with one of my consulting clients and she mentioned that she had just gotten a $100 voucher for Google AdWords. She wanted to know if this would be worthwhile. I said that I thought that using Facebook, creating a Facebook Fan Page for her business, and spending her limited budget on Facebook ads would be a better use of her resources, even considering her $100 AdWords voucher.

I explained it to her this way:

Google AdWords and Facebooks Ads are Pay Per Click… each ad is shown (this is called an impression) and you pay when someone actually click on the ad.

While the mechanism for figuring ad payments is the same (PPC or Pay Per Click) the basis for showing an ad differs drastically between Google AdWords and Facebook.

On the surface, the ads themselves are similar. While they may or may not have a picture included, the text or content of the ad is short and presented in plain and simple text. Ads are displayed off the side in vertical stacks or within the body of the page’s content. For the most part, these ads are subtle and unobtrusive.

However, the Ad Display Criteria is where the biggest differences lie.

In Google, AdWords are shown on the pages generated with Search Results as well as on website pages related to the Ad’s specified search term. This means that Google AdWords are displayed using a mechanism of which terms are being used in online searches. As AdWords have developed, in some instances they are also displayed according to the geographical location of the person doing the Search.

Facebook actually takes an entirely different approach – Facebook Ads are displayed in front of PEOPLE who meet the demographic requirements that you have chosen.

To simplify further, Google AdWords are displayed based on the content of the page where they are shown and Facebook Ads are shown based on the interests, and even the physical location, of the person doing the looking!

As you can see, there is a radical difference between Google AdWords and Facebook Ads.

This is one of the reasons that I feel that Facebook Ads may be far more beneficial for offline businesses.

It is also important to note that when creating a Facebook Ad, you have the choice of sending people who click either to an offsite web page or to a specific Facebook Fan Page.

All in all, I consider Facebook a strong option for offline businesses, since you have the ability to target both demographically and geographically. The potentially viral effect that is inherent in the Facebook culture is another good reason for adding Facebook in to your online advertising mix.

WordPress works well for integrating Social Media options

Finally, if you are using WordPress to build your website to blog, it is relatively easy to integrate WordPress Posts, Facebook Fan Page Posts, Twitter Tweets, and possibly even, your Autoresponder Service messages, so that each one appears on the others… AUTOMATICALLY!

Between the timesaving automation available and the three for one currently available combining WordPress, Facebook, and Twitter, spreading your company’s message across the internet has gotten MUCH easier!

No Debt Is Good: Aiming For A Debt-Free Life

Did you know that you’re being deceived? Right now, everywhere. On TV. In the newspaper. On the radio. In magazines. You’re getting the same message over and over again: “buy now, pay later”; “consolidate your debt into one easy monthly payment”; “get a secure line of credit”. Or the perennial favorite, “don’t worry, it’s good debt”.

The truth is, there is no such thing as good debt. Debt is debt. It’s money you owe someone, money that needs to be paid back at some point in the future. “Good debt” is a misnomer. There’s better debt, sure, because there’s also really bad debt. But debt is never good. Not really.

We live in a debt-ridden society. We’re encouraged to buy things on credit all the time. Why? Because it’s a profitable business for lenders. They’re not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re in it to make money, and their target is you.

Of course, it’s hard to live entirely without debt. To buy a home these days you almost always need some kind of mortgage, this is true — few people can afford a house outright, especially at the beginning of their careers and families. But you don’t have to be in debt for the rest of your life. A mortgage is meant to be a temporary debt, one backed by the (normally) stable value of the property you purchased with it. It should be for a reasonable, affordable amount that can be paid back within 10 to 20 years of the purchase. And you should have some of your own equity in the house right from the start. But that’s not what people do anymore. They get mortgages for 100% of the appraised value of the house. Worse yet, they get interest-only mortgages that leave the principal — the amount you borrowed — untouched. Is it no wonder that these people eventually find themselves drowning in debt?

But it goes beyond mortgages. A debt mentality pervades our society. Once you have equity in your home, for example, the banks urge you to “free up” the money with home equity loans and secured credit lines. Use the money to better your life, they say, by renovating the house, taking that big vacation you’ve always wanted, or — here it comes — consolidating your other debt.

Your other debt? Sure. You think the only debt people have is mortgage debt? No, they have plenty of other debt. It’s a banker’s wet dream out there today… Credit lines. Cash advances. Overdraft coverage. Automatic credit card limit increases. Pay nothing now. If you’re not careful, you can build up a lot of debt very quickly.

And that’s the problem: those debts have to be repaid sometime. Rack up too much debt and soon you’ll be worrying about the monthly payments. Your peace of mind will suffer, and possibly other things like your marriage and your job. Is that the kind of price you’re willing to pay in order to have things you couldn’t otherwise afford?

The solution isn’t debt relief or debt consolidation. It’s debt avoidance. You should do everything in your power to avoid debt. Because too much debt will tear you down, physically and mentally.

What if you already have a lot of debt? There are things you can do. Yes, you can consider consolidating the debt, but that will only work if you’re able to stop accumulating more debt once your current payments are lowered. Otherwise, you need to attack your debt using a step-by-step plan that involves paying off the highest-interest debt as quickly as possible, then using the money you free from that debt payment to pay the next-highest debt, and so on. It’s the snowball debt reduction method, and it works.

The key to all of this is willpower. Make the commitment today to be debt free as soon as possible. The peace of mind it gives you will make it all worthwhile in the end.

An Overview of the Potential of Silicone Release Coatings

If you are on this page, chances are that you are looking to find out more about the performance of silicone release coatings. First of all, it is essential to keep in mind that these coatings are applied on two different types of substrates. For this purpose, many techniques are used. As a matter of fact, these coatings help create a cross-linked non-stick surface. The idea is to protect pressure-sensitive adhesives and many other types of sticky materials. Some of these materials include food, composite prepregs, and bituminous compounds. Read on to find out more.

As far as availability is concerned, you can find them in a wide range of delivery systems that can be emulsion-based solventless or solvent-based. Apart from this, they use a lot of cure chemistries as rhodium or Platinum catalyzed curing.

When it comes to the benefits of this material is concerned, the good news is that it is beneficial in a lot of fields, such as labels, graphic arts, health care, and food. As a matter of fact, high-quality silicone release coatings are the best solutions for different types of applications.

From the cost point of view, know that they are competitively priced. And they are supplied in large quantities to cover the demand. Now, let’s talk about some of the major benefits of this material.

Conversion Speed

We want high conversion speeds. And this is what this material offers. Apart from this, it also offers ease of dispersal. So, you can rest assured that this material will meet your required convergence speed.

Great Coverage

As far as releasability, anchorage, and what life is concerned, this material offers great coverage.

Line Speed

Silicone release coatings provide great line speeds. As a matter of fact, it can break records with no problem of missing.

High Flexibility

When it comes to coating, releasing, and curing, this material offers increased flexibility.

Reliability

Reliability is one of the most essential factors. And the good thing is that silicone release coatings offer excellent reliability.

In many applications, silicone release coatings are used. For example, they allow the fast release of products that are made in different types of molds. Some examples of these molds are food containers and tires.

Apart from this, they offer slipperiness and lubricity in many applications like conveyor belts and newspaper presses. They offer a lot of benefits in many industries, such as film coating and food contact manufacturing. They have non-stick properties, they offer the following benefits:

Long lifespan of machinery and molds
Reduced material waste
Clean finished products
Fast throughput

Generally, the purpose of silicone release coatings is to prevent different objects from sticking together. In most cases, these coatings are temporary or permanent based on the application type. The good thing about these products is that they offer a lot of functions.

Moreover, most of these applications are silicon-based because of their unique chemistry. Moreover, they can be solventless, water-based, or solvent-based based on the performance and application requirements. They can be cured using heat or ultraviolet.

In short, this was an introduction to the potential of silicone release coatings.

Take Your Customer Service Dept From ‘Cost Saving & Cost Reduction’ To High Profit & Business Growth

The more communication I have with people involved in telephone service and sales, such as Contact/Call Centers and Customer Service Departments, the more amazed I become at the reluctance to create more sales and profit opportunities through better interaction with current customers, reactivation of lost accounts and new business acquisition.

Companies are forever seeking ways to cut costs and reduce staff – particularly so in Call/Contact Centers (turning so many into ‘Call ‘n’ Wait’ disaster zones) – they often fail to see what rewards they can achieve by using the following formula:

1 humble telephone + 1 skilled operator + 1 established sales system = HUGE PROFITS!

Here are twelve ideas that can dramatically improve your bottom line RESULTS build greater customer RELATIONSHIPS and earn you (a company of any size and industry) more REVENUE.

1. Build the loyalty of your current customers

A ‘no brainer’ right? Why is that so many customers cannot get through to you, when it suits them?

Why are you constantly offering free incentives and reduced prices to gain new business?

CRM is meant to be the new service elixir. Well it is worth nothing if you don’t listen to your customers.

Here’s an example – in the last six months or so, a metropolitan daily newspaper has offered ten-week subscriptions for $39.90 (I pay more and have subscribed for 20 years), contests (win wine if you subscribe, see a rock group in concert!) and give-aways to induce new subscribers. Me, I get some sort of special club membership with the odd discount or special offer. But hey, so do the new subscribers! Who’s ahead?

2. Gain referrals from current customers

The cost of losing customers is almost incalculable. Add to that the people they tell about their bad experiences and the people they never refer to you.

Instead, offer your current customers a total strategy of satisfaction and benefits. Then, encourage them to tell others.

Don’t reward these referred customers (but do give them total satisfaction and benefits). Do reward your current customer for their referral. Develop a system that will encourage customers to tell friends, family, their customers and associates about you and then say ‘thank you’ or offer them something of value for their efforts.

3. Add VALUE to every sale

Here is a really simple equation: If you give value – you get more sales.

That’s it. If your people are trained to offer advice and information, educate customers, offer them creativity and innovation then your customers will buy more products and services, more often.

Even if your prices are slightly higher. This was the IBM way, back in the 60’s and 70’s with some great lessons to be learned. IBM charged the steepest prices in the industry but their service and support was legendary. The phrase ‘no one ever got fired for buying IBM’ originated way back then.

4. Turn an enquiry into a prospect

Then, turn that prospect into a customer. Then turn that customer into an advocate, one of your company’s ‘raving fans’.

All you need are trained people, a system and a monitoring and measuring plan. Simple? Yes it is, and like all things mentioned in this article, I will bet that some of your people excel at this and a number of them perform basic courtesies with callers – and that’s it.

5. Create an upsell program

One becomes two. Two becomes four. Four becomes … greater than the GDP of Argentina.

It is so simple, easy and effective and so few organisations employ this strategy. Many of your people don’t do this because they think the additional cost will put the customer off. It doesn’t. Not if the customer actually sees the benefit of greater quantity or improved quality.

6. Cross-sell at every opportunity

What can your people add on the original purchase? Extended warranty, on-site service, insurance, a savings if they purchase an additional item(s), a special offer or other options?

If everyone in your organisation upsold and cross-sold at every given opportunity, your sales would soar. I have witnessed increases of between 15-45% in companies where a simple upsell/cross-sell strategy was installed.

7. Negotiate on price

Don’t just offer a discount or ‘best price to you’. Let me reiterate, if you give value – you get more sales. Negotiate price. Train your people that by dropping price, they are giving away margin. So, if you offer a discount negotiate an upsell and/or cross sell. Package or bundle your offer to make it attractive and a genuine customer benefit.

8. Follow up

Every time your people give a quote, send a proposal or brochure out via fax, mail or e.mail, they should record a follow up timeframe.

Between one hour and three days. Everyone who requests information should be followed up by telephone. This leads to a higher close or conversion rate (I have witnessed 20-50%) or, if they have purchased elsewhere – your follow up call may be the commencement of a relationship … or not. But you won’t know if you don’t follow up.

This rule should also be applied to complaint management. Most companies have no follow through with people who have complained.

9. Adopt a ‘keep in touch’ program

What can you do for your customers that will allow you to contact them on a planned, regular basis?

Special offers, new product or service introductions or …? The best forms of ‘keep in touch’ are e.mail combined with a regular phone call.

But be warned – you should have a purpose for every call you make or email you send. Don’t just bombard your customers (and prospects) with garbage.

10. Develop a systematic approach to lost customer reactivation

The longer you fail to make or maintain contact, the likelier you are to lose customers forever.

If you check the most recent contact vs previous contact frequency, you can detect a lost or about to be lost customer. Do something to regain their business.

This is the most costly part of your operation – the lost customer, the lost referral.

Do you have a lost customer reactivation plan?

11. Gain new customers

Why are there so few high quality telemarketing divisions in companies? Certainly, the ‘T’ word is considered dirty and grubby in some quarters and indeed it can be. However, where you have trained professionals, comprehensively developed objectives and strategies why wouldn’t a well run telemarketing campaigns gain new business and new relationships for your organisation?

Quality telemarketing will generate leads, open up new business channels/market segments, build business with small, marginal and distance customers, give you real value (as a follow up) from exhibitions and seminars.

This is one of the most under utilised resources for business acquisition (and reactivation).

12. Develop and work your system

Success will come in all of the previously mentioned guidelines, tips and hints if you adopt a systematic approach. That is:

a) A sales and service oriented contact management system, based on a quality CRM package.

b) Well trained people who consistently add value to and gain value from every call they take or make.

c) Monitoring, Measuring and Reviewing each of the above and seeking continuous improvement both in contact management and people skills.

It is simple and what’s more, it works. Use the power of the humble telephone (and quality people) wisely, and you will gain great RESULTS: Relationships and Revenue.

Reaching the Affluent on Social Media Platforms Top 7 Strategies Using the HR Department

Social Media is a phrase everyone knows or has heard, and is certainly being tossed around by seemingly everyone with a heart beat and a pulse these days, and yet it is difficult at times to answer the question regarding Social media. If Facebook, MySpace, and Wikipedia are Social media sites, then what is social media? Perhaps the best way to define social media is to break it down. Media is an instrument used for communication, such as the radio, a newspaper, and television, and social media would be a social instrument of communication.

In Web 2.0 terms, you’re given information while that information interacts with you. The interaction can be various things from comments to rating a product or articles, and thus the beauty of Social media – it’s a two-way street providing you the opportunity to communicate while you’re engaged on that site. At one time it was commonly held that no one could sell High-priced items online, or anything else of real value for that matter – but that time has come and gone. More than three-quarter of US online adults made a purchase over the Web.

Nearly 4 out of 10 online buyers have made a travel purchase and more than one-third have managed their credit or banking accounts online. American Express Publishing and the Harrison Group’s report “The Second Annual Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America” found that 70% of US consumers with over $100,000 in discretionary, house hold income surveyed prefer online buying to the in-store experience. The same number (70%) also goes online to research products, comparison shop and make purchases.

This fondness for online shopping could very well be a case of time equaling money. More to the point, the retail experience has varied in its character. For example, the introduction of online retail has significantly changed the overall shopping experience. The term e-tail encompasses so many different experiences such as grocery e-tail, auction e-tail, and or specialty e-tail and a host of others. But now there’s a new experience on the rise and has been added to online shopping which is the rise of e-luxury online.

So what has sparked this sudden growth for luxury online? This new growth is largely because most wealthy Internet users in the United States are optimistic about the economy going forward according to Ipsos Mendelsohn and their online spending has historically been higher than average. That should make everybody happy and present an attraction to retailers, which have increased their attention to social networks to attract customers. But does this mean that the affluent will be as receptive to social marketing as other Web users? The answer to that question depends on who you ask. According to a study conducted by Unity Marketing, the outlook is mixed. But as confidence grows among Affluent about the economy, the Affluent will drive online spending. Believe it or not, the affluent lead the way to E-Commerce recovery, and that leads to another interesting point I’d like to make.

In the past, most corporations’ communications teams were responsible for protecting and preserving the corporation’s reputation. However, with the huge popularity of Social media, every department in your business can play a huge role in branding, monitoring and protecting the corporate image and reputation, beginning with the Human Resource department. One of the greatest challenges for Human Resource executives is breaking through walls that some corporations put up simply because there’s a belief and or policy to allow only their communication’s departments to represent the company and its brand identity. In some companies the wall is big. But there is a way to knock it down, if one has the right tools. Except in a few instances, most companies offer largely undifferentiated products and services; airlines for example fly their aircraft over and over, while serving the same food, and retail stores offer the same merchandise.

In many respects, their brand strategy is quite simply their business strategy. A brand, frankly speaking, is a promise to consumers to provide a specific level of service, value, and quality that can be expected and received. Think of a brand as a covenant between a business and its customers. Branding expert Martin Lindstrom said it best when he said “Great brands and religions have something in common: the idea of vanquishing a shared enemy.”

Today’s media approach to branding the message of a company to the consumer is greatly enhanced, with all the Social media platforms out there today, one thing is for certain – if the promise is not kept, customers will flee and go elsewhere. A classic example is Eastern Airlines who promised to “Earn its Wings Everyday” through superior customer service while simultaneously canceling flights, losing bags, and serving passengers horrible food. As a direct result, trust between customers and the airline were irrevocably broken, passengers boycotted and eventually Eastern Airlines went out of business and destroyed the brand forever.

What went wrong? Eastern Airlines failed to align the behavior of their employees with the brand promise, and that leads to my first tip to anyone building a brand; understand that the copy in your ad does not deliver your brand’s promise, nor is it your product – your brand’s promise is delivered by your people.

Herein lies the opportunity for Human Resources to break down the walls and into the branding game, by helping ensure that all of the large and small actions that people in the company take every day, throughout the organization, fall in line with the brand strategy.

Finally, use these seven tips to further enhance your position and participation in the company’s brand identity, ensuring that your company and its brand will have ever lasting years, and be in business for years to come.

Top 7 Strategies and Tips for getting Involved with the Company’s branding from the Human Resource Department to reach the Affluent:

Conduct interviews as if you’re using a crystal ball. Look deeper and ask questions that lead to future responses.
During interviews start thinking of the big picture – convey how the corporate reputation affects every aspect of the company’s business, including the hiring and terminating process.
Create a company policy centered on conduct and disclosure, and offer to the communications department for implementation outside of your office and department.
Understand how quickly information moves online and be ready to respond swiftly should an issue appear online.
Review Social media sites before conducting an interview, and become aware of the social behavior of the person seeking the position in the company before to employ them.
Keep your temper under control, and never speak badly to anyone using Social media and review if the potential new employee has done the same. Remember that your bad comments will out live your temper.
Think the Future. Try to predict how announcements, changes in policies, ad campaigns, and world events can impact your organization, while taking part to lead in a reputation crisis.

Keeping these helpful tips and strategies in mind will go a long way in the process of an HR executive participating and supporting with branding strategies. Ten years ago it would not have been possible for this kind of intelligent departmental interaction to be feasible.

As a Human Resource executive, you can take advantage of this opportunity to reach the affluent consumer by incorporating social media and monitoring into your communications plans today!

Naming Your Business – Five Rules To Long-Term Success

What’s in a name? Quite a bit if you are starting a business. From cute to clumsy, serious to inane, business names can range from the ridiculous to the sublime. Perhaps starved for opportunities to be creative, some entrepreneurs seem to have the market cornered on how to blunder into what may be the single most important aspect of marketing genius: the name of the business.

It never ceases to amaze me how people arrive at the names for their businesses. Many business people approach me after they have worked with their lawyers and accountants to set up the business, perhaps going the extra mile to incorporate and sometimes having also taken it upon themselves to design their own logo before realizing that it takes a little more talent to create a brand than some amateurish attempt at graphic design. I then have the dubious honor of taking the pooled efforts of these three dedicated professionals some of whom must have slept through business marketing to work with a sometimes problematic name they have agreed upon and create a logo or trademark which addresses the desperate need for a striking, definitive and effective professional image for the duration of its existence.

Many people who start small businesses fail to consider that in the highly competitive arena of local marketing the name should quickly define what the business represents. This results in two problems: The name does not describe what the business offers; or, even if it does, it usually uses too many, or a misguided combination of words, to do so. And to make matters worse, this is usually after a false start with liberal spending to try to promote this new venture, based on an array of inept marketing decisions and the use of deficient marketing tools, a situation which makes it more difficult for me than starting from ground zero.

Case in point: I recently was contacted by a relatively new organization who said they needed a marketing plan. Upon closer analysis, I learned that they had been running an ad in the regional newspaper of their geographic service area on almost a daily basis without reaping any response. In searching their industry via Google, I could not find any mention of their group within the first ten pages of results. Only after searching the name of the gentleman who had contacted me was I able to locate his name on a web page about this organization’s board of directors. Literally entering through the back door, I was able to find a link to their home page which upon observation reminded me of the incompetent ad which had been running in the paper I read every day but like everyone else, had ignored as irrelevant. Understandably, with a nebulous business name, poorly designed logo, non-existent ad message and busy, unprofessional presentation, it’s sad and ironic that this non-profit group offering a valuable service to senior citizens had so miserably wasted their limited funds by trying to do everything themselves to save money. And not one of the members of this in-house marketing group were able to detect any problems with this effort, too close to the forest to see the trees.

Now, with resignation that a do-it-yourself strategy is not always the most cost-effective, the directors were surprisingly receptive to my suggestion that, while I expected resistance, perhaps they could consider a business name change at this early juncture in their organization’s history. Simultaneously, I also proposed that along with the marketing plan and name change, a new professional logo would logically follow in addition to a series of well-conceived ads they could use for promotion on a continual basis. As soon as their signed contract and project deposit arrives, I will undertake this challenge, since they now are anxious to proceed with sudden recognition and appreciation of their failed attempt at self-promotion.

From the perspective of my long career, I assure you that this is a common phenomenon particularly in situations where marketing is done by “committee,” which tragically describes the majority of my clients: law firms, healthcare and dental practices, non-profit organizations, industrial and pharmaceutical companies, etc. And it doesn’t matter whether the business is large or small, or whether it is basically run by a single professional or a group of directors. In most cases, business leaders frequently lack the vision or self-confidence to make marketing decisions on their own, so they engage the opinions of everyone and anyone who surrounds them, regardless of competence to judge the subject. This means that my directives come from such diverse sources as teenage sons of clients, wives of clients, secretaries, summer interns, random customers of clients, anonymous emailed comments from websites, and other miscellaneous “experts,” all of whom emphatically express their views so I am well-apprised of how to do my job effectively.

Of course, I am not so pig-headed that I cannot see the value of such input. On the contrary, I am grateful to know how this diverse universe processes information so I can evaluate every strategy as it is developed to satisfy every possible requirement. Whether anyone realizes that this method of marketing is fairly impossible to achieve is immaterial, since no one can ever measure every single response to marketing efforts anyway. The old axiom, “You can’t please all of the people all of the time” may apply, but you can’t blame a person for trying.

Of the clients I have who do believe that there is one, and only one, way to effectively market their business, that way being their own personal way, based not on advanced study of business marketing, mass psychology, the elements of style or effective strategies of communication, but on nothing more than pure, unadulterated, self-centered ego. I say, hey, more power to them! It is their money they are spending and they certainly have the right to believe what they want to believe. Furthermore, marketing as part art, part science and part luck has as many guarantees as we get at the race track or in the stock market. So who am I to disagree with my clients’ convictions?

Well, just for the record, I do chime in with my own opinions which are backed by 35 years of hands-on marketing experience which includes a successful career in marketing my own as well as my many successful clients’ businesses. If my opinion differs from that of one egotistical client, for example, it is enough that I have advised him of it regardless of his stubborn impulse to dismiss it and proceed with his own strategy despite what I think. He obviously has gotten to this stage of his illustrious career through his own navigational talents and distinctive intelligence so I do respect him and am not offended in any way by his belief in himself, above all.

However, this places an enormous task on my shoulders: To market his business using a name that includes six long words, some of which are esoteric and industry-specific. This means that the logo, in addition to including a striking trademark must also be composed of six words totalling 42 letters. Add to that the need for a tagline, the entire package of which must be large enough to read in such small applications as on checks, on business cards, and in the smaller units the yellow pages offers both online and in print.

Compare this with business names using one short word: eBay®, Google™, Yahoo!®, Microsoft®, Apple®, etc. Granted, some of these names do not describe what the business offers. But all of these are highly successful businesses nonetheless. How have they done this? By assigning ample funds to building their brands so that the name of the business needs no definition, it becomes its own word with its own meaning. Such is the power of successful marketing.

You may say those businesses had the advantage of marketing their brands over the Internet but today, we all have that same advantage. Especially with the help of such brands as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, all four being excellent examples of short, punchy business names which aptly define their raison d’étre. Most of the businesses that approach my company for marketing help are small businesses, sometimes with geographic limitations. Such businesses usually don’t realize how much time, money and repetition of effort is needed to build a brand.

One of our competitors in the metro-New York market recently began airing a commercial to promote their business and invite response from the same market we serve. While I cannot mention the name of this business for legal reasons, suffice it to say that it is a short 3-word insult directed at the very market they are trying to attract. And, moments ago, I was scolded by a telemarketer who responded to my polite statement that his offer to sell my business did not interest me at this time with: “OK…go down with the rest of them!”

Have I missed something? Are insults the new marketing strategy du jour? In both of these instances, injecting negativity, or worse, personal abuse into normally courteous business protocol, in my opinion, does nothing more than deliver a message of disrespect, insolence and humiliation to the very subject you are trying to endear.

Having been raised by a mother who was 40 years older than I, I often heard old American colloquial expressions, a couple of which occur to me now: “You win more bees with honey than with vinegar” and “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all!” In marketing, both of these sayings are powerful guides to proper business etiquette and by extension, long-term business success. While you may feel this is a milquetoast approach, the muscle is in a sincere and heartfelt delivery.

How does that relate to naming your business? In a few ways which I will list as a random set of rules to follow:

1. The business name can be your biggest marketing tool if it defines what you are offering but is distinctive enough to stand out from the crowd.

2. Keep it short and sweet, but above all, memorable.

3. Accentuate the positive, with emphasis on value to the market you plan to target.

4. Don’t limit yourself too severely if you may need to branch out in the future.

5. Remember, you may want to protect your business name by registering a trademark, incorporating, or filing a dba (an alternate or assumed name registration for your business known as “doing business as”), so engaging a lawyer to conduct a valid search may be necessary, which could require a list of suitable possibilities rather than one lone choice of name.

With all of the above in mind, it is of utmost importance for you to realize that whatever you end up calling your business, it will be one item in a long list of vital components which together will work cumulatively to establish your business as the success you desire. That is the bottom line.

How To Succeed In Any Network Marketing Business – Tips For Network Marketers

Before you start investing your time and energy in your newly created MLM Home Based Business you need to know the things that are required to help you succeed. Most net workers give up after a few months in the business simply because they were unable to create a full time income from their opportunity. Situations like this do not have to happen.

Network marketing is a business of style that gives you the Freedom to make whatever choices you want and create what ever level of income you desire. Why not take the time to learn what it takes to succeed in a MLM Business with any company and apply them to your business.

Successful Network Marketers have made it to the top of every company they are involved with irrespective of what products or compensation plan. Reason for their success is based on the following techniques.

1- Effective Positioning

Are you practicing Effective Positioning? How do you position yourself to your prospects? Effective positioning is placing or showing yourself and your business to prospects in a way they will see you as a REAL LEADER that can help them succeed. In order to start practicing effective positioning, learn every thing about your business, pay plan, products etc and be armed to answer your prospects questions yourself. With this they will start seeing you as a leader. People want to associates themselves with leaders and leaders have followers. How do your prospects find you online and off line? Look for a convenient way that puts you as an expert in the field. Have you ever done a 3way call? Picture this scenario: You call John (prospect) to tell him about you business, and he has two simple questions about the pay plan. You dial Mark (your sponsor) to answer John’s questions. Who does John see as the leader and expert? You or Mark? Mark obviously. You see the positioning stuff. When you start practicing effective positioning in your business, you will have prospects calling you and asking you for more information.

2- Leading with your Product

Are you leading with your product or your opportunity? Most Net workers make the mistake of leading with the opportunity. If prospects do not see the benefits of your product or service, how do you think they will join your business? Selling the benefits of your product and increasing consumption should provide you with enough retail profit to keep you going. Once consumption of your product increases so does the opportunity for new distributors. At this point you can comfortably sell your opportunity without fear. The difference with leading with the product or the opportunity is this. If people join your business because they think they can make money fast, then it is obvious that they will leave as soon as the next big opportunity comes knocking and your will business collapses. If they join your business because they fell in love with you product and are passionate about it then your business has a 99.9% chance of succeeding. The benefits of your product should lead the prospect to join your business not the opportunity.

3- Leads

What is the life line of your MLM Business? Leads. Most net workers do not take this seriously. To succeed in any Network Marketing business you need a steady flood of hungry prospects reaching out to you on a daily basis asking you for more information. You can never have too may leads….But how to get them is the question. There are tons of ways to make this happen ranging from home gathering, meetings, newspaper adverts, internet etc. I recommend the use of the internet for this as it is the path of least resistance. Create yourself a lead capture page that is dealing with the benefits provided by your product or service. Once set drive traffic to your site using social networks like Stubleupon, myspace, facebook, YouTube etc to get free leads. Other forms of getting leads include purchasing leads from lead dealers. Also Pay per Click advertising can put literally hundreds of even thousands of prospects in front of you everyday. Note that without leads your business will not succeed.

To succeed in any MLM Home Based business the above factors are very essential for anyone who is serious about their business. Positioning yourself effectively makes your prospects see you as a leader and expert and will want to partner with you in your business. Leading with your product is a key thing you must do. If people fall in love with your product then your business has 99.9% chance of success. A steady stream of hungry prospect is the final key that will propel you to the top. Choose a strategy to generate your leads and be good at it and then move to the more advanced methods.

By putting this fact into action, you can guarantee your success in any MLM Home Based Business.

Best Home Based Business

Knowledge is king, but applying it is what makes a business a business. Elisha A.

Silicone Release Coatings: Back to Basics

If you don’t know even the basics of silicone release coatings, you are on the right page. Usually, these coatings can be applied at different low weights on a whole host of substances with the help of different techniques. Read on to find out more.

Basically, the role of these coatings is to create a cross-linked non-stick surface, which is useful when it comes to protecting adhesives that are pressure-sensitive. Apart from this, there is a long list of sticky materials that it can be used on. Some common examples of these materials include food, composite prepregs, and bituminous compounds, just to name a few.

The good news is that they can be found in a wide range of delivery systems and use a lot of cure chemistries like rhodium-catalyzed or platinum-catalyzed curing, to name a few. So, you can choose from a lot of materials to get the most out of these products.

Benefits of Silicone Release Coatings

Silicone release coatings offer a wide range of benefits. They can be used for labels, graphic arts, and healthcare and food items. So, the benefits of the product are almost endless. This is an ideal solution for a lot of applications. Apart from competitive pricing and non-stop supply, they offer the benefits listed below:

Reliability: They offer quick curing under 35PPM platinum

High Flexibility: You enjoy great flexibility when it comes to coating, curing or releasing

High Line Speeds: The line speeds are high, which is why records can be broken without misting. This is one of the greatest benefits of these coatings. The idea is to ensure nothing wrong happens during the process and high line speeds are achieved at the same time.

Better coverage: you enjoy long bath life, high release ability and anchorage, which is what today’s manufacturers demand. So, better coverage is another great advantage of this system.

Conversion Speeds: You can enjoy the ease of dispersal and high conversion speeds

Usually, silicone release agents can be used in the form of additives in applications that involve mold release. They allow quick release of products that come out of molds. Some good examples of these products include food containers and tires.

Apart from this, they feature slipperiness and lubricity in a lot of applications like conveyor belts and newspaper presses.

If you buy silicone release agents from a good supplier, you can enjoy a lot of benefits in paper/file coating applications, food-contact manufacturing and a lot of other industries. The non-stick properties of the agent can allow the following benefits:

Longer lifespan of machinery and molds
Reduced material waste
Products with clean finishing
Faster throughput

Long story short, if you want to enjoy the maximum potential of silicone release agents, we suggest that you buy these products from a good supplier. Hopefully, these tips will help you opt for the best products to meet your needs.

8 Lessons in Strategic Marketing A La ‘Daddy Daycare’

I bet you thought the movie “Daddy Daycare” was a kiddie comedy, right? Wrong…It’s a marketing strategy film! When Charlie and his friend Phil are fired as Product Development/Brand Managers for a cereal company, they decide to fill a need in their community.

Along the way to success they demonstrate several solid marketing strategies — equally applicable to online, offline, and integrated companies. Take these lessons to heart when developing plans for your business.

Lesson 1: Research the competition

The future entrepreneurs visited each daycare in the area. While doing so, they got a feel for their daycare competitors. By knowing your own competitors you will be better able to effectively find a way to compete.

Competitor research does not have to be thought of as “guerrilla warfare.” In many industries, competitors work together by partnering, cross promoting, sending business to each other, or even manufacturing each other’s products.

Lesson 2: Know your customers’ values

Charlie and Phil understood that price is not the only important factor for their target market. Based on their own experience and customer research (talking to other parents), they recognized that other concerns besides price played a part when parents choose a daycare provider.

While price is almost certainly a consideration for your customers, don’t get caught in the mentality that customers will buy from you only if you have the lowest cost. If you think of your own service/product as a bundle of attributes having a unique value for your customers, you will be more successful.

Lesson 3: Identify opportunities

Charlie and Phil uncovered an unmet need in the market by combining their competitor research and knowledge of customer values. You can do the same when looking to develop new products/services or improve existing ones.

Lesson 4: Develop a positioning based on opportunity

Using knowledge from the first three lessons, they positioned themselves as the quality alternative and focused on providing different benefits than their nearest competitor. In the movie, Daddy Daycare stole all the competitor’s customers and drove her out of business.

In real life, customers choose a product/service that best fits their needs. Consequently, competitors can co-exist when each are valuable in different ways to industry customers.

Lesson 5: Create a catchy tag line

The tag line “Who’s your Daddy?” helped advertise the new business. Often, a concise, catchy tag line can go a long way in building brand equity, communicating benefits and features, and/or conveying a feeling/mentality your target customers can relate to.

Some examples:

“Just do it.” (Nike)

“Life Unscripted” (TLC)

“Naturally sweetened whole grain oat cereal with real berries.” (Berry Burst Cheerios)

“Makes anything possible.” (Craftsman)

Lesson 6: Spread the Word

Phil and Charlie put their tag line on t-shirts along with their business name. They also printed and distributed flyers that explained their new company’s positioning.

A few more ideas you can use to spread the word about your business:

Word of mouth — give customers an incentive to tell people about your business.

Advertising — use both online and offline methods. Online options include pay-per-click search engines and ezine advertisements. Offline methods include radio spots and newspaper advertisements.

Philanthropy — donate money, services, and/or time to non-profit organizations or conduct your own event.

Lesson 7: Be ethical and above-board

The new business owners cooperated fully with the daycare inspector. They treated him as a source of information rather than “Big Brother”. This resulted in not only a better business, but also a valuable ally. In the long run, your own company will be more likely to thrive if you concentrate on improving the business rather than dodging regulations.

Lesson 7A: Subterfuge is a poor long-term strategy

Besides being unethical, subterfuge soils your reputation. In the movie, the competing daycare crashed and ruined a fundraiser event…spilling bugs, freeing animals, and drenching visitors. Short-term, it worked. Phil and Charlie were broke, seemingly with no way to continue with their venture.

In the long run, Ms. Subterfuge had such a poor reputation (from this and other business tactics), her business failed.

Lesson 8: Implement until you’re blue in the face

In the beginning, the new Daddy Daycare was a complete disaster. Charlie and Phil did their “homework” and knew they had a good idea. When reality hit theory, however, a few not-so-minor details got in the way. Like all successful marketers, they worked out the kinks (okay…disasters) and kept trying (and trying, and trying) until they got it right.

Keep the Daddy Daycare lessons in mind when developing and implementing your own marketing plan. Don’t give up, strive to continually improve, and you’re business is sure to be a success.

The 10 Most Influential Internet Marketers (Part 1)

This article is a subjective list of the ten most influential Internet marketers. I could have easily included more than ten marketers, but I had to draw the line somewhere. So, if you don’t see your favorite Internet marketer on the list, please don’t be offended. I purposely excluded individuals whom are known primarily for one particular talent.

For example: copywriting and SEO. I wanted to sing the praises of those individuals whom are known as great marketers – first and foremost. And while this list is subjective, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to argue against any of the selections included on the list, as they are all proven excellent and have stood the proverbial test of time.

1. Jay Abraham’s uncanny ability to increase business income, wealth and success by uncovering hidden assets, overlooked opportunities and undervalued possibilities has captured the attention and respect of CEOs, best-selling authors, entrepreneurs and marketing experts. Jay’s clients range from business royalty to small business owners. But they all have one thing in common – virtually all have profited greatly from Jay’s expertise. A number of clients each acknowledge that Jay’s efforts and ideas have lead to a profit increase of millions of dollars. [See our Testimonial pages]

Jay has identified the patterns that limit and restrict business growth. He’ s one of only a very few people who realize that most industries only know and use one particular marketing approach – even though there may be dozens of more effective and profitable strategies and options available to them.

Jay shows his clients how to take different success concepts from different industries and adopt them to their specific business. This gives Jay’s clients a powerful advantage over their competition.

Jay has been acknowledged as a unique and distinctive authority in the field of business performance enhancement – and the maximizing and multiplying of business assets. He’s been featured twice in Investors Business Daily both on the front page and in the Leaders & Success Section – saying Jay, “Knows how to maximize results with minimum effort”. The March 6, 2000 issue of Forbes Magazine listed Jay as one of the top 5 executive coaches in the country saying jay’s specialty is, “Turning corporate underperformers into marketing and sales whizzes.”

In addition, Jay has been written up in USA Today, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, OTC Stock Journal, National Underwriter, Entrepreneur, Success, and Inc. magazine, and many others. [See our Press articles]

He has over 10,000 individual business success stories from around the world. Many of the world’s preeminent trainers and consultants have sought out Jay’s advice and counsel in growing their organizations.

As a proven business leader with energy and vision, Jay has demonstrated the critical ability to stimulate true breakthrough thinking and execution throughout organizations, in all 4 vital areas of performance enhancement: strategy, innovation, marketing, and management. He understands how to focus on the upside leverage in an organization, while effectively controlling and minimizing the downside risk. He understands the implications, correlations, applications, opportunities and vulnerabilities in a given situation from a “catscan” perspective that is exceedingly rare.

He sees overlooked opportunities, hidden assets (both tangible and intangible), and underperforming areas of a business no one else recognizes. His depth and breadth of empirical experience has facilitated exceptional judgment, communication, and collaboration skills, the vitally essential traits necessary to establish, lead and effectively contribute to any organization. These are the prime abilities required to add new life and strategic vision to a company that is struggling, or one that needs to redefine or better distinguish itself in the marketplace.

His forte, which is the ability to think “way outside the box” and prepare for multiple potential scenarios, has enabled him to find and successfully implement creative, preemptive solutions to very complex problems in order to generate high-performance results. He has successfully established beneficial relationships with key strategic partners and developed strategic business plans for companies that have consistently been met or exceeded. He has been instrumental in raising performance even while working with adverse business environments.

As the founder and CEO of Abraham Group, Inc. in Los Angeles, California, Jay has spent the last 25 years solving problems and significantly increasing the bottom lines of over 10,000 clients in more than 400 industries worldwide. Jay has seen and dealt with every type of business you can imagine. And he’s studied and solved every kind of business question, problem, challenge and opportunity

Jay has been extremely successful at what he does for others. He’s produced many thousands of success stories and made Billions for others as well as millions himself. He’s spawned an entire generation of marketing consultants and experts who credit him as their primary mentor as a result of his past Protégé and Consultant Training programs. Nearly 2,000 websites reference his impressive work on the Internet alone.

2. Mark Joyner is a #1 best-selling author of over a dozen books translated in almost as many languages. He is widely recognized as one of the early pioneers of e-commerce, responsible for inventing, pioneering, and popularizing many of the technologies we take for granted today (including remotely-hosted ad tracking, electronic books, Integration Marketing, and more …)

– One of his books (MindControlMarketing.com) shot to #1 within 36 hours of its release.

– One of his websites became the 37th most visited website on the planet within 6 weeks of its release.

– His pioneering ebook (Search Engine Tactics) was downloaded over 1,000,000 times years before e-books were common.

– He turned a fledgling one-man operation into a multi-million-dollar International corporation with customers in every internet-connected country on the planet in two years time.

Other Interesting Facts About Mark Joyner

Earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology through independent study while simultaneously serving in the U.S. Army in the Military Intelligence Corp (he speaks Korean fluently graduating at the top of his class at the Defense Language Institute).

Is a cold-war veteran of military intelligence and a former U.S. Army Officer. He held a Top Secret SCI clearance (the highest clearance level in the US) for several years.

Was awarded for his military service by the U.S. Army, the Republic of Korea Army, the Korean Consulate General, and the President of the United States.

3. Dan Kennedy, a Phoenix-based entrepreneur-extraordinaire has won international recognition as a “millionaire-maker,” helping people in dozens of different businesses turn their ideas into fortunes

Entrepreneur Magazine says that Dan Kennedy has “at least 101 moneymaking ideas for any business owner.”

Dan Kennedy moves with remarkable ease from one very different field to another, working with clients in 62 different businesses, industries and professions, earning as much as $250,000.00 in a single month providing unusual direct-response advertising and direct marketing advice, strategy, copywriting and marketing materials, video production and infomercials, and profit improvement systems.

Kennedy’s clients include everything from sole entrepreneurs to huge corporations. Here are just a few examples – there’s the husband-and-wife couple who came to Dan with an idea, a mountain of debt, and failing advertising. Less than two years later, they have zero debt and a home-based mail-order business generating over $200,000.00 a month at about a 40% profit margin. Or, there’s the now-giant Guthy-Renker Corporation, famous for its celebrity infomercials with Victoria Principal and Vanna White, and its Tony Robbins infomercials. Guthy-Renker is a 200-million dollar+ a year business now, and Dan’s been a key member of their brain trust since their very first infomercial (Think And Grow Rich). Or there’s U.S. Gold, a company that has twice increased its sales by millions with Dan Kennedy provided marketing breakthroughs. And the list goes on and on and on.

Kennedy is the “hidden genius” behind full-page magazine advertisements you’ve undoubtedly seen, direct-mail campaigns you’ve received and TV infomercials you’ve seen. In addition to all the advertising and direct-mail Dan prepares for his own products, services and businesses, there are hundreds of clients using marketing materials Dan has prepared for them. His full-page ads have appeared and do appear in magazines like Inc., Success, Entrepreneur, Moneymaking Opportunities, Nations Business, the airline magazines, the tabloids, USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal, and countless trade magazines. One of his client’s full-page ads is now in its 10th consecutive month, appearing in over a dozen national magazines. In any given month, clients spend over 1/2-million dollars running ads, much more mailing sales letters, and still more airing infomercials that Dan has developed.

And, Dan is one of the most popular, in-demand speakers on marketing-related topics. Ironically for a marketing guru, Kennedy gets almost all of his clients with no marketing! Some come to him after hearing him speak – in 1995, he addressed over 200,000 people, including audiences of thousands in many cities, in his 5th year on tour with famous motivationalist ZIG ZIGLAR. Others come after getting and reading one of his books available in bookstores, receiving his newsletter or listening to his cassettes. But most are referred to him.

4. Joe Vitale is Founder & President of Hypnotic Marketing, Inc. He has written books for the American Marketing Association and the American Management Association. He wrote the only business book on P.T. Barnum, in There’s A Customer Born Every Minute. He also wrote The AMA Complete Guide to Small Business Advertising for the American Marketing Association. His most recent book, co-authored with Jo Han Mok, is The E-Code: 47 Secrets for Making Money Online Almost Instantly. Be on the lookout for his next book: Meet and Grow Rich!

He recently created a software program to help anyone write better sales letters, articles, news releases, speeches and even entire books. It’s called Hypnotic Writing Wizard. He also has a brand-new membership program for those who are serious about learning marketing at HypnoticGold.com.

Besides being one of the five top marketing specialists in the world today, and the world’s first hypnotic writer, Joe is also a certified hypnotherapist, a certified metaphysical practitioner, a certified Chi Kung healer, and an ordained minister. He also holds a doctorate degree in Metaphysical Science and another doctorate degree in Marketing.

5. Dr. Jeffrey Lant has been a top achiever for a VERY long time. He published his first article at age 5. An afternoon newsboy, he started his own newspaper at age 10, sold stock and, yes, paid dividends! Even then media and communications intrigued him. This has never stopped!

Editor of his high school newspaper, editor of his class book, editor of the literary magazine, he also wrote a weekly column. That continued in college — and so did the awards accumulated along the way.

Graduated with highest honors from University High School, Los Angeles, he graduated summa cum laude (one of only 11) from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Along the way, he spent his junior year at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, where he won the University Prize in Philosophy and became the first American ever elected to the Students Representative Council.

At UCSB he became the University’s first-ever Woodrow Wilson Fellow and was actively recruited by over 60 graduate schools, each offering him full doctoral fellowships. He chose Harvard, where he also became a Harvard Traveling Fellow, Harvard Teaching Fellow, and winner of a Master’s Award for special achievement, en route to graduating with both a Master’s and Ph.D.

Upon graduation he took a third post-graduate degree, the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Higher Education Administration at Northeastern University, where he became the first student to cite his own published work (by now very extensive) in footnotes to his class papers.

After a stint as Assistant to the President of Radcliffe College, Dr. Lant decided to set off on his own. He set up a consulting practice for non-profit organizations in 1976 and published his third book, Development Today: A Fund Raising Guide For Nonprofit Organizations. (Previous books had dealt with English Court ceremonial in the age of Queen Victoria. Entitled, Insubstantial Pageant: Ceremony and Confusion at Queen Victoria’s Court, Dr. Lant became the first American ever granted access to the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle. Another book, Our Harvard, dealt with the memories of eminent Harvard grads, including Dr. Lant himself.)

Development Today launched a busy consultancy, international travel, workshops and direct assistance to hundreds of nonprofit organizations nationwide. It also spawned a series of how-to books that turned Dr. Lant into a millionaire and brought his detailed, hard-hitting, practical advice to people worldwide. (Click here for information about all of Dr. Lant’s books.)

Along the way, Dr. Lant developed an internationally syndicated column carried by several hundred publications, a syndicated radio show on the Business Radio Network, and a string of special reports on specialized business- building subjects.

So it might have continued but for the creation of the Internet and a series of eye-opening phone calls from George Kosch and Sandi Hunter, two Edmonton-Alberta- based entrepreneurs who were way ahead of their time. They persuaded Dr. Lant to come to Edmonton and see the future — the Internet — for himself.

He did. And the rest, as they say, is history.

What he saw in Edmonton, back in 1993, was that anyone, anywhere in the world with a computer and access to the Internet could transmit unlimited amounts of information to people worldwide. In a moment, the glimmer of an idea took form that is still being developed right now.

This new technology opened the possibility of staying at home and helping people worldwide at little or no expense! As a result of that trip, Worldprofit Inc., a company which has opened the Internet to business people worldwide, people who want to enter and profit from new markets across the universe for their products and services, was born!

These days Dr. Lant, still publishing articles just like he’s been doing for over 50 years, helps business people worldwide understand how the Internet can benefit them.

6. Marlon Sanders, CEO of Higher Response Marketing, Inc. is a prolific internet marketer, with a dozen internet marketing products and services to his name. He uses his Master’s degree in psychology to great effect by writing great ad copy.

Marlon’s products and services include The Amazing Formula That Sells Products Like Crazy, Push Button Sales Letters, Associate Program Marketing Handbook, Gimme My Money Now, Amazing Ad Copy Secrets Revealed, Create Your Own Products In A Flash, How to Automate Your Web Business, The Web Site Power System, Web Business Operations Manual, Secrets of Speed Publicity, The Cash Like Clockwork System, Daily Stats Software, and The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide.

Marlon has spoken at over 120, $3,000 one-day marketing seminars and commands $1000 an hour for consulting. His reseller program for The Amazing Formula is one of the top-ranked systems on the Internet.

7. Corey Rudl (1970-2005) was an American marketing strategist, and founder and President of the Internet Marketing Center. He was also an author, speaker, and software producer.

Rudl started his first online business in 1994, turning it into a multi-million-dollar business based on Internet marketing. In response to the demand for his advice, Corey founded the Internet Marketing Center, where he taught techniques and strategies that stemmed from his own experience. His Internet marketing guide is sometimes described as the “Internet Marketing Bible”.

Rudl’s articles appeared in publications such as http://Entrepreneur.com, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s -SCORE.org, the Direct Marketing Association, MarketingProfs, Opportunity World, Money ‘n’ Profits, Dig-IT Now, and Home Business Journal.

Before beginning his business career, Rudl was a motocross driver, winning a 2002 Vancouver Molson Indy sports car event.

On June 2nd 2005, Rudl was riding in a Porsche Carrera GT driven by Benjamin Miles Keaton, on a track that was also being used by a local Ferrari sports club. Keaton, trying to avoid a queued car, hit a concrete barrier on the passenger side, killing Rudl.

8. Joe Robson, owner of “The Newbie Club” is a Brit and lives in the beautiful County of Yorkshire, England.

He is responsible for the overall Promotion and Marketing of The Newbie Club, and is deeply involved with his team of Techies, Writers, and Designers on several unique and ground breaking Newbie Club Products and Services

Until he went online in 1998, he owned his own Direct Marketing company, and is a professional Advertising Copywriter with 30 years Sales and Marketing experience under his belt. He is widely acknowledged by many Internet Marketers as one of the Internet’s top Sales Copywriters, and his Copywriting Solutions Website is one of the most respected Web Copywriting Tutorial Websites on the Net.

One of his strengths is his ability to reduce highly technical marketing copy, into easily understood Plain English. And he is a avid campaigner against the use of Jargon in writing materials. Hence the birth of The Newbie Club.

His Copywriting and Internet marketing articles and Tutorials have been widely published across the Web, and he is the author of several books, including the Internet Copywriting blockbuster “Make Your Words SELL!” – MYWS – co-authored with Ken Evoy of MYSS fame.

Joe is a Founding Member of iCop – The International Council of Online Professionals, the highly respected organization dedicated to protecting Internet consumers from the dishonest practices of unscrupulous Internet marketers. He is also a Member of the iCop International Advisory Council.

9. Dr. Evoy is also the author of a series of widely-acclaimed “best on the Net” e-commerce books and courses for SOHOs (Small Office Home Office) and small businesses (1-10 employees) who sell (or plan to sell) products or services online. The SiteSell product line has empowered hundreds-of-thousands of people and small businesses around the world to succeed on the Web.

A successful entrepreneur, Dr. Evoy has designed over 23 products that have sold internationally, generating 100’s of millions of dollars in revenues for various companies. He also developed several software products including one for the stock market sector.

Dr. Ken Evoy is also a Canadian physician who formerly taught and practiced emergency medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He was born in Montreal, Canada and holds degrees in science and medicine from McGill University.

Dr. Evoy’s business philosophy is to offer the absolute best tools and information available on the market in the most accessible format and at the most affordable price. He feels strongly that every small business can be empowered to use the Internet to leverage their income-building potential — whether it is to build an e-business, grow an existing offline business, or create a secondary income stream.

It is with this in mind that SiteSell has developed its breakthrough Web site-building, hosting, e-marketing solution that delivers real traffic and guaranteed results to novices and savvy pros alike. Some call Site Build It! “The Next Generation of Web Hosting.”

Through Dr. Evoy’s spearheading efforts and fanaticism for quality and customer “OVERdelivery,” the SiteSell brand is highly-respected by top influential Internet business personalities around the world.

10. Mel Strocen is CEO of the Jayde Online Network of websites. The Jayde Network currently consists of 12 websites, including ExactSeek.com and SiteProNews.com, two of the most popular sites on the Internet.

“SiteProNews” an ezine for business owners and site developers containing articles and advice on how to get the most from your website. SiteProNews (SPN) has a subscriber base of over 500,000!”

Another of Mel’s sites – GoArticles – is an immensely popular article directory where you can search for free content for your website.

In addition to providing a great resource for webmasters looking to find free content the GoArticles site also provides authors with an excellent platform for promoting their articles. You can submit articles for free that will then be read and used by other websites owners.

ExactSeek is a fast-growing search engine and directory and alternative advertising platform that receives over 30,000 new submissions daily.