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The (Marketing) Mystery of the Carnival

My first summer out with the Carnival, I didn’t make much money. I wasn’t there to make money; I was there for adventure and romance. My boss was always yelling at me and asking me, are you ready to make some money now? I didn’t get it. I shrugged my shoulders, what the hell was he talking about?” Looking back now, I can understand why he was so upset. I was taking up valuable space in a choice location on the midway and not bringing in much money. It was my own attitude that prevented me from making money. I still hadn’t resolved the feeling that it was kind of a gyp. I had no idea how much money I was missing out on. How could he blame me for being young and ignorant, though?

That was before I met a guy who said his name was Tim Sell. Was that his real name? probably not. Nobody in the carnival business goes by their real name for one reason or another, even if it’s that it’s just not cool.He was a pretty average looking guy, hair a bit longish, as was the style those days. His teeth were slightly crooked, but he had a nice smile, and a gentle manner that was disarming. He acted like everything was no big deal.

“How do you do that? ” I asked him as we laced up the awnings for the night. “Do what?” “Get such a big tip without saying a word!?” “It’s the mystery of the carnival,” he said in a phony, drawn out voice, as if he was a sideshow announcer talking into a megaphone, describing the two-headed cow or the woman who gets sawed in half.

“Seriously though”, he explained, “…everybody comes to the fair with a certain amount of money. They have some in their wallet that they know they are going to spend. They are planning to spend it all here, somewhere, today. Then they usually have some more tucked away in case of emergency. I always assume that the amount of money they have is unlimited. I try not to judge what I think they have or can afford to spend, and I’ll tell you why. I used to work next to this guy named Lloyd. No matter what I did, Lloyd would always re-hash my marks. I would play them until I thought they were out of money. They would walk away, and Lloyd would call them back. And almost every time, they would pull out more money, and trade in my prize to Lloyd for a bigger one. The weirdest part is the ones who looked like they didn’t have any money, would spend the most. Lloyd was a schmoozer, he would have these middle aged ladies pulling money out of their bras, guys pulling money out of their shoes, and it was amazing. So now I assume the supply is endless, and I don’t limit my self.

But I also learned by watching Lloyd, don’t work them too hard. That slippery-tongued devil would talk some little old lady out of her next months rent and afterward, she would regret it. I don’t like to work like that. I always make sure they have a little money left when they leave here. If some young dumb teenager trying to impress a girl gets caught up in the moment, runs through all his money and blows his last buck, I will kick him back a couple bucks and tell him to go buy the girl a hot dog, on me.”

Then there’s this guy with three kids, all crying, they see all these toys and they want one. He knows that there are two kinds of games on the midway. The hard games, like ring the coke bottle, where the odds are against you, but you might get lucky and win a giant prize for a buck, or you might spend a whole lot of dough and get nothing. He wants to get three prizes for his kids; he doesn’t really care if they are giant. In fact he doesn’t really have room in the car, or his apartment for them. He knows that he will be the one who winds up carrying them all day. No, he wants three medium small prizes, and he wants them fast. He knows at the easy game he is guaranteed to get something. Now it is our job to make sure he gets what he came for. We are just here to collect the money. And if he has a good time, he’s going to hang around for a while and let the kids play too. We have the opportunity to make this guy look like big hero in the eyes of his wife and kids.”

Suddenly, the game didn’t feel like such a gyp to me anymore. The way Tim described it, hell; we are doing this guy a huge favor. He went on for a while, describing scenario after scenario whereby we are simply the stewards of a process that makes WINNERS out of ordinary people. “Down in Mercedes, Texas, nobody speaks English. All the other carnys are freaking out because they can’t speak Spanish, and they don’t know how they are going to make any money this week. I only say one sentence in Spanish. ‘Aqui se tiren las carterras’. It means here is where you throw your wallets. The Mexicans crack up, they think I’m a funny guy and I slap them on the back a few times and say ‘Si’ a lot. They blow their whole wad at my joint.

You don’t even have to try,” he said, “You just stand here and hold out your hand, and somebody will walk up and put money in it. You don’t have to say a word. Don’t let them ask a bunch of questions and waste your time. Just point to the basket, point to the sign, and hold out your hand. Make it easy for them. I guarantee somebody will walk up and put money in your hand. It’s the mystery of the carnival, “he said in that slow, phony voice.

Believe it or not, everything I learned in my five years on the road has changed the way I view the rest of my life. Tim was teaching me usability and marketing skills that I try to apply to my web design. Make it easy for them. Everybody has a certain amount of expendable cash; we just have to make it easy to:

oo Find my site

oo Find my product

o Check out and pay

Mystery solved!

Copyright 2006

Sheri Salomone

howtotallycool.com

Author: Sheri Salomone

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Knowing who your competitors are, as well as their strengths and weaknesses is an essential part of assessing the market for your product for your product or service. Most businesses have direct and indirect competitors.

1. What is competitive analysis?

A competitive analysis is a formal evaluation in which you review the businesses of one or more companies that compete, directly or indirectly, with your own.
Online, competitors have access to each other’s company information and marketing materials that they might not be able to gather as easily in the offline world. This allows for even greater opportunities to benefit from competitive analysis data.
But how can companies improve by analyzing their competitors? And what is the best way to implement a thorough competitive analysis?
For a business to succeed, you need to know almost as much about your competitors as you do about your own company and customers. Unfortunately most business owners make the mistake of waiting until a competitor opens up shop across the street and is cutting into profits to find out who and what they are up against.

A Competitive analysis allows you to identify your competitors and evaluate their respective strengths and weaknesses. By knowing the actions of your competitors, you will have a better understanding of what products and services you should offer; how you can market them effectively; and how you can position your business.

Competitive analysis is an ongoing process. You should always be gathering information about your competitors. Look at their Web sites. Read their product literature and brochures. Get your hands on their products. See how they present themselves at trade shows. Read about them in your industry’s trade publications. Talk to your customers to see hoe they feel about competitive products or services.

2. What are the benefits of conducting a competitive analysis?

The benefits of conducting a competitive analysis include:
1. You will identify WHO you are competing against. You will be able to assess the threat levels presented by other companies in your market.

2. You will identify your own weaknesses. Companies who do not pay attention to their competitors may not understand just what they are doing wrong because they have no frame of reference. Studying your competitors offers you a perfect opportunity to find out how you can better serve your customers.

3. Once you’ve identified those weaknesses, you’ll be able to improve your business in a number of ways. The order in which those improvements should be implemented will often be dictated by the analyses of your competitors. For example, if all of the other companies sharing your target market have a certain feature considered essential to that market, this will be one of the first things you will want to remedy.

4. You will also identify your strengths. By comparing your own online presence to those of your direct competitors, you will discover what sets your business apart from theirs. These qualities can then be emphasized in your marketing efforts.

5. Additionally, you will be able to identify or confirm your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Your UVP is the single most important element of your business that sets you apart from your competitors. Do you have the largest catalog of products? The lowest prices? The best customer service? Competitive analysis will help you develop your UVP and test the validity of the claims you make about your business.

6. You will be able to determine what factors drive success in your market space. These may vary greatly from market to market, and may not be what you originally expected.
You will identify what specific actions you need to take in order to improve your competitive position

Identify your competition

Every business has competitors; you need to find out who your customers can approach to get a product or service that fills the same need as yours does. Even if your product or service is truly innovative, you need to look at what else your customers would purchase.

Begin looking at your primary competitors. These are the market leaders, the companies who currently dominate your market.
Next, look at your secondary and indirect competitors. These are the businesses who may not go head-to-head with you, but who are targeting the same general market.

Finally, look at potential competitors. These are companies who might be moving into your market and who need to prepare to compete against.

Analyze strengths and weaknesses

After you have figured out who your competitors are, determine their strengths and find out what their vulnerabilities are. Why do customers buy from them? Is it price? Value? Service? Convenience? Reputation? Focus on as many “perceived” strengths and weaknesses as you do on actual ones.

Tabulate the strengths and weaknesses in a table format. This will allow you to see, at a glance, where each competitor stands.

Look at opportunities and threats

Strengths and weaknesses are often factors that are under a company’s control. But when you’re looking at your competition, you also need to examine how well prepared they are to deal with factors outside their control. These are called opportunities and threats.

Opportunities and threats fall into a wide range of categories, such as technology, regulatory and economic.
You should consider the following guidelines when conducting competitive analysis.

1. Utilize a multitude of resources to identify your competitors. Who else is bidding on your PPC terms? What sites come up as natural search results for your terms? Check trade association memberships and business registries. Use your referrer data to identify what sites your visitors are coming from. Don’t overlook word-of-mouth information from your customers and investors.
These sources should yield a number of direct and indirect competitors. Narrow the scope of your analysis if necessary, but the most effective competitive analysis will compare at least three to five leading companies in your market.

2. Identify key success factors (KSFs) for your industry and rate yourself and others on each of them. One useful tool is the “strategic group map”, which is part of a supporting Word document available for download:

http://www.meclabs.com/CompetitiveAnalysisSupplement.doc

3. Identify the competitive strengths of each company in the analysis, including your own. What makes each company unique? Do they own patents or copyrights that give them a competitive edge? Is there a dominant company with market share at or near “critical mass” level?

4. Identify the revenue models of your competitors. How do your competitors make money? Are you overlooking potential sources of revenue?

5. Do your competitors utilize partnerships, outsourcing, or other strategic relationships? Could your own company benefit from such relationships?

6. KEY POINT: In the course of your analysis, make note of unique or creative elements or approaches your competitors may use. Often, the greatest insights will come from where your competitors depart from convention.

7. Utilize search engines to discover the sources of your competitors’ incoming links. These sites may be potential link partners for you as well. For more on linking strategies, see our research brief on that topic:

[http://meclabs.com/cgi-bin/pl/pl.cgi?mls]

8. If practical, make purchases from your competitors. How is their customer service? Are they utilizing drop-shipping or other forms of outsourcing? What can you learn from watching how they do business?

9. Monitor your competitors over time. Sign up for their email lists and analyze their marketing messages. How strong are your competitors’ brands?

10. Analyze your competitors’ Google, Overture, and other PPC ads. Knowing the best keywords for your market, it shouldn’t be hard to locate your
competitors’ ads. These may give you ideas about how to modify your own campaigns.

11. Analyze your competitors’ ratings and rankings on a number of platforms, including Google PageRank, Alexa, BizRate, comparison engines, and incoming links from other websites. The following spreadsheet may be useful in helping you track this analysis:
http://www.meclabs.com/CompetitiveAnalysis.xls

Once you have compiled this data, you should be able to use it to gauge the effectiveness of your competitors’ marketing efforts compared to your own.

12. Depending on entry and exit barriers for your industry, your competitive environment will change over time. Competitors will enter and leave and the most resilient among them will learn and evolve. Continue to analyze your competitors as time progresses. Consider performing a competitive analysis update on an annual or semi-annual basis.
No company exists in a vacuum online. If you ignore your competition, you will lose the opportunity to discover your own strengths and weaknesses. Effective competitive analysis gives you the information you need to “remove the blinders” and see your company as your customers and investors do, and to tune your marketing and business strategies for success.
March 11, 2007

Douglas Mackie – Consultant and Business Planner. Primary Web Site [http://www.fundamentallybusiness.com] features Internet marketing strategies, resources for newsletters, e-books, SEO, keyword research, web promotion and design. Offering over 30 years of marketing experience.

Author: Douglas Mackie

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Here are 8 dynamic marketing tips to help you increase your sales and profits fast.

1. Don’t Just Sell Benefits

Don’t just tell prospects what they gain when they buy your product or service. Tell them what they lose if they do not buy it. Most people fear loss more than they desire gain. Customers want your product or service to enjoy the benefits it provides. They will want it even more when you remind them of what they lose by not buying it.

2. Use Pleasant Surprises to Close Sales

An unpleasant surprise can kill a sale. But a pleasant surprise can help close a sale. For example, adding an unexpected bonus immediately before your prospect takes the last action to complete a sale will eliminate any last minute hesitation.

3. Provide Fast Delivery – Even When You Can’t

The faster you can deliver your product or service the more sales you will get. If you cannot deliver all or part of your product immediately, add something to the purchase that you CAN deliver immediately. It could be as simple as a series of helpful tips related to your product posted on your web site …available only to new customers.

4. Make Buying Easier

Every non-essential action in the buying process is an opportunity for customers to reverse their decision to buy. Look for ways you can make your buying procedure easier and faster. For example, many marketers use a multi-step shopping cart to get online orders when a simple online order form would do the job with just 1 or 2 quick clicks.

5. Improve Your Offers without Lowering Your Price

You don’t have to reduce your price to improve your offer. Instead, simply load it up with bonuses. Make sure your bonuses have a high perceived value to your customers …even if they cost you little or nothing.

6. Keep Your Advertising Up to Date

If you never make any changes in your advertising, your sales will eventually decline. Don’t abandon advertising that’s working – but do keep trying to improve it. And regularly test new advertising to see how it works for you.

7. Outsmart Your Competitors with Alternative Marketing

Look for some alternative marketing methods your competitors are overlooking. That’s how one internet marketer discovered direct mail postcards. They proved to be a highly effective and very low-cost way to generate traffic to her web site …while concealing her marketing activity from competitors.

8. Neutralize Customer Complaints Quickly

Handle customer complaints quickly and with a positive attitude. Strive to preserve your relationship with the customer instead of your immediate profit from them. They will reward you with repeat sales and referrals instead of punishing you by telling everybody they know about their unhappy experience …causing you to lose future customers.

Each of these 8 marketing tips reveals a proven low-cost marketing tactic many other small businesses have used to boost their sales and profits. Integrate them into your marketing program now and you’ll quickly start enjoying the same results too.

Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards …and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. You’ll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV

Author: Bob Leduc

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In recent times, the word ‘Advertising’ has become a fiercely mooted topic. Advertising has positive as well as negative, social and economic impacts on our society. Considering advertising as a public welfare is a positive social impact whereas exposing women as a sex tool comes at the negative side. As far as economic factors are concerned, funding for the media and stimulating an active and competitive economy, are the major examples.

Assorted techniques are enforced for persuading consumers that they want the product which is being advertised. These techniques usually give attention to the benefits that would be brought to the consumers rather than focusing on the actual products. For instance, an automobile advertisement adverting the mechanical attributes of a vehicle, most likely concentrates the exhilaration, reputation and social progression it may bring to the buyer. This swarming advancement is habitually sexual, or involving the opposite gender to attract the consumers with the glamorous women/men’s fancy car.

There are various blames that advertising is causing a negative social impact on the lives. The chief unfavorable judgment for advertising is that it hales the public to buy things that they are not their real want. It is arrogated that advertising plays with emotions and encourages people to think that buying and depleting are the activities of life.

According to advertisers, they state that people are capable enough to set their mind and no one can force them to buy anything which they dislike or which they think is not a necessity. Advertisers also think that there are positive impacts of advertising on our society and culture. For example, it can be used to generate awareness among the public that which product is OK or to which they should say NO. In other words, advertising also acts as an educator in the sense that it educates people what is good and what is bad for them and puts a ceiling on the harmful products like smoking and drinking etc.

There are not only social benefits of advertising, but it also has some economic advantages. Without advertising, the media, including newspapers, television and radio would never be much strong. Advertising provides revenue for commercial mediums which would otherwise need to be funded by the actual consumer of these mediums. So, we can see a major economic infrastructure based around advertising, in which the big companies fund and subsidize the commercial media by the way of advertisements.

The major economic negative aspect of advertising is that it boosts the price of goods and services. The source of this contention is that, when organizations subsidize the mass media with advertising, we, the purchaser, subsidize advertising by compensating a grossly increased price for heavily advertised goods and services. An easy example of this is that a box of Omo washing powder generally costs around two to three dollars while the market price of the product would be seven to eight dollars. The fact behind this is that the remaining proportion goes in heavy advertising in television and print media.

So, the impact of advertising on our society is in a jumble form, depending on the functions and implementations of numerous campaigns. Our society and the marketing of products depend very badly upon advertising. The companies have become much dependent of advertising that even its negative impacts can never outweigh the many positive social and economic effects.

Maaz Iqbal is a copywriter and an SEO content writer. He maintains a blog which is, http://advertisinginnovations.blogspot.com

Author: Maaz Iqbal

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1. Direct mail. With the rise of email marketing, direct mail has fallen out of favor. But it is still a cost-effective way to advertise in many industries. To be successful, your direct-mail piece should look professional and feature well-written copy. Hire a professional copywriter and designer if these skills are beyond you ability. You may even be able to barter for design or writing work.

2. Voicemail. Even the outgoing message on your answering machine or voicemail system can help promote your business when utilized correctly. Make sure your message provides additional product or service information so that it is working for you, even in the middle of the night.

3. Brochures. Brochures are still an effective way to present your product or service to new customers. They are relatively cheap and easy to print and you can distribute them by mail or by leaving them at locations where they will be noticed. A professional-looking brochure can help convince potential customers that are still “on the fence” about your products.

4. Press releases. The only thing better than cheap publicity is free publicity, and well-timed, professional press releases can result in just that. By timing a product launch or promotion to coincide with a related local or national event, you may be able to get editors to include your release in their media vehicle, be it newspaper, radio, or television.

5. Case studies. Case studies aren’t just for scientific applications. Studies of your products in action can help your potential customers learn more and make an educated decision before they buy.

6. Referrals. Referrals are probably the single best way to find new customers. If you do something well, chances are people are going to talk about it. Offering incredible customer service to your clients will ensure that you end up with satisfied customers who are willing to share your information with their friends and colleagues.

7. Radio interviews. If you can speak knowledgably about your product or service and tie it in well with current events, radio interviews are a great way to reach a wide audience and improve your customer base.

8. Affiliate programs. Online affiliate programs are one of the most cost-effective ways to market your products to a wide range of potential customers. It’s like having the benefit of a commission-based sales force, but without any of the hassles of managing actual employees.

9. A well-designed Web site. Your Web site will be the first impression for your company for many of your customers. Make it a good one. Your site should provide information about your product or service in a clear and intuitive format. Many people prefer to do their research online before making a purchase, so make sure your site leaves them with the right impression.

10. Ezines or Newsletters. When you provide interesting and informative content related to the products you sell, you can turn a subscriber list into a frequent buyer list. If you do not have the time to run your own ezine or newsletter, you can submit articles with your information to different publications. When you are perceived as a knowledgeable expert, potential customers know that they can rely on you for quality information and quality products.

Annette thomas is a freelance business writer and marketer. Annette has written several articles for online business magazines. She has just launched her new e commerce store..Giftboxedbaskets.com. Giftboxedbaskets.com is a an online retailer of handmade gift baskets, corporate gift baskets, holiday gift baskets,coporate gifts, and more. You may visit online at:http://www.giftboxedbaskets.com.

Author: Annette Thomas

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In recent years, the complexity of marketing skills has increased tremendously. However, the fundamental principles of business are still commonly applied. Many professional marketers neglect the basic techniques that have proved to draw a line between successful campaigns and campaigns that have no profit history. Today the consumers have a massive variety in front of them but the whole game revolves around the art of attracting them towards your business. Here are some useful tips for successful marketing.

Audience Identification: Successful campaigners always know their costumers and are fully aware of their needs and demands. Understanding the needs and demands of the audience and the way to reach those demands, will result in a profitable return.

Make your offer intelligently: One of the key techniques is to make your offer catchy, as it is the most important principle for conversion. Always make you’re an offer keeping the target audience in mind.

Testing: It’s very important to test something before campaigning. One of the most common is a split test, in which you can test two versions of a thing, at the same time, for example, a web page, post card, or email. It is essential for good performance.

Team work: Working within a team always results in creative imagination. You can start with your own initial ideas, share them with other creative minds and you will come up with a better and more satisfying proposal.

Dont sell on price: Focus should be on creating value rather than price only. Many marketers have failed drastically, resulting in bankruptcy, which have put price before value. You work is to put the value in spotlight so as to make the issue of price unimportant.

Reliable messaging: Before the launch of any campaign, always think about the entire user experience. From newspaper/magazine/email to website to offer, the user should experience consistency. If your successful in creating this scene, you campaign will surely bring in huge profit.

Leave an everlasting impression: One of the most important jobs of a marketer is to build relationships, and make way for future campaigns. Building relationships with customers through a high quality campaign leads to the success of not only the current but future projects. So put a lot of effort in this.

Use multiple media sources: Relaying on one form of marketing is not advisable. Yes integrated marketing does work well and most of the sales are successfully done through PPC marketing, but these also dry out. You should use multiple media sources in order to remain creative and attract profit.

Consider these effective tips for your business and you will see great results. These methods are commonly used by successful marketers, whose businesses profit rates are always growing on the growth chart.

Author: Mayyada Kamran Ansari

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Testimonials can add a lot of credibility to your business, but if you don’t have any yet, don’t make them up. Either just don’t show any on your website or literature, or do a few reduced fee/free sessions/freebies initially just to get them. Why do you need them? People who don’t yet know you are taking a risk doing business with you. They don’t know yet that you’re great to do business with because they’ve had no personal experience of dealings with you in the past. Thus, if you can get your past and current customers/clients to rave about you in, this will make you more credible in prospects’ eyes.

You can get them to write a testimonial for your site, and brochures, but also ask them to contribute to reviews, videos, blogs and so on. This will make you credible and reduce your potential customer’s perceived risk. Rather than write a testimonial and ask someone to sign it, try to get them to write the whole thing themselves – it is VERY difficult to write in several different styles, so if you do them all (even if your clients have endorsed them), it’ll show. Ask them to write as much detail as possible, as that can make quite a difference. Here are two examples of the ‘same’ testimonial about a magnetic car sign advertising their business.

‘The sign is great – I’ll definitely buy one for our three other cars’.

Mr J, Suffolk

It’s a nice testimonial, but not very helpful to its readers. However, this one will persuade prospects to enquire about getting a magnetic sign for their cars.

‘I attached the magnetic sign to my car two weeks ago. In the five days following, I received 10 phone calls, which resulted in two new clients, each worth 20,000 a year to me. Each call was a result of people seeing the sign. This week I’ve had a further 12 calls from interested people, and I’m following them all up. I used a sign from a different company last year, and it brought in no enquiries. It took some persuading to get me to try this one out, but I’m glad I took the plunge. Now I’ll use these signs on the rest of our staff cars.’

Dan Johnson, Have a Nice Day Ltd, Suffolk. [their website URL], 01221 112233.

If your product or service is new, ask someone to endorse it. For example, a well-known dog trainer could say something like, ‘I wish this product had been around ten years ago – it would have saved me lots of time, hassle and expensive mistakes! If anyone is even considering going into the dog training business, I fully recommend they buy this product now.’

Or you could sell the first 10 or 100 at a lower price and say and say you’ll do it at that price if they’ll write you a testimonial in return – and make sure you follow them up; people do forget. Include your testimonials wherever people will land on your web page (not always your home page), and on a specific ‘testimonials’ or ‘what our delighted clients have to say about us’ page. You can use ‘sound bites’ if you don’t want to write the whole thing out. Also put some in your printed literature. Make sure you get permission to use the testimonials.

You can also include ‘tell a friend’ links or coupons. If the client is delighted, they’ll be happy to tell others. You can incentivise/reward them with a freebie for their time taken. Seem overwhleming? Just take it one at a time: they’ll soon build up.

Jacqui Carrel is a partner of the UK-based marketing consultancy firm Cinnamon Edge. Currently they are raising funds for their local hospice (St Nicholas Hospice, Bury St Edmunds). You can find out more at http://thefiftyquidchallenge.co.uk.

Visit our main site and take a look too at the blog and resources section. Get two free reports at http://www.cinnamonedge.co.uk

Author: Jacqui Carrel

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In recent times, the word ‘Advertising’ has become a fiercely mooted topic. Advertising has positive as well as negative, social and economic impacts on our society. Considering advertising as a public welfare is a positive social impact whereas exposing women as a sex tool comes at the negative side. As far as economic factors are concerned, funding for the media and stimulating an active and competitive economy, are the major examples.

Assorted techniques are enforced for persuading consumers that they want the product which is being advertised. These techniques usually give attention to the benefits that would be brought to the consumers rather than focusing on the actual products. For instance, an automobile advertisement adverting the mechanical attributes of a vehicle, most likely concentrates the exhilaration, reputation and social progression it may bring to the buyer. This swarming advancement is habitually sexual, or involving the opposite gender to attract the consumers with the glamorous women/men’s fancy car.

There are various blames that advertising is causing a negative social impact on the lives. The chief unfavorable judgment for advertising is that it hales the public to buy things that they are not their real want. It is arrogated that advertising plays with emotions and encourages people to think that buying and depleting are the activities of life.

According to advertisers, they state that people are capable enough to set their mind and no one can force them to buy anything which they dislike or which they think is not a necessity. Advertisers also think that there are positive impacts of advertising on our society and culture. For example, it can be used to generate awareness among the public that which product is OK or to which they should say NO. In other words, advertising also acts as an educator in the sense that it educates people what is good and what is bad for them and puts a ceiling on the harmful products like smoking and drinking etc.

There are not only social benefits of advertising, but it also has some economic advantages. Without advertising, the media, including newspapers, television and radio would never be much strong. Advertising provides revenue for commercial mediums which would otherwise need to be funded by the actual consumer of these mediums. So, we can see a major economic infrastructure based around advertising, in which the big companies fund and subsidize the commercial media by the way of advertisements.

The major economic negative aspect of advertising is that it boosts the price of goods and services. The source of this contention is that, when organizations subsidize the mass media with advertising, we, the purchaser, subsidize advertising by compensating a grossly increased price for heavily advertised goods and services. An easy example of this is that a box of Omo washing powder generally costs around two to three dollars while the market price of the product would be seven to eight dollars. The fact behind this is that the remaining proportion goes in heavy advertising in television and print media.

So, the impact of advertising on our society is in a jumble form, depending on the functions and implementations of numerous campaigns. Our society and the marketing of products depend very badly upon advertising. The companies have become much dependent of advertising that even its negative impacts can never outweigh the many positive social and economic effects.

Maaz Iqbal is a copywriter and an SEO content writer. He maintains a blog which is, http://advertisinginnovations.blogspot.com

Author: Maaz Iqbal

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As you read this you may be finding it difficult to produce a consistent flow of customers into your business.

Or maybe you get one-time customers but little repeat business.

Or worse still, your phone never rings.

Yet you deeply believe your product or service is just what other companies need.

So what went wrong? Where is your steady stream of clients?

Most businesses struggle to thrive or even fail because they don’t conduct market research before they open, to see if there is a demand for two things:-

1. their service or
2. their positioning – how they differentiate themselves from everyone else

They rely on their belief rather than fact or testing the market.

Why don’t more people do it?

One reason is that people just don’t think about doing it.

Another is that market research is notoriously difficult to get any meaningful output. There are many reasons such as:

the difficulty of finding willing respondents in the first place.

getting “sensible” answers from them.

and finally, being able to believe what they say. Often people will say what the think you want to hear.

Simply put, you cannot rely on what your customers say.

The only reliable source of the truth is what people do.

And there’s one place where people freely and consistently tell you what they want by their actions.

Google.

When people type into Google for business services or products, it’s not to while away an idle half hour or, out of curiosity, to see what the local plumbers are up to on their websites. (Well some of us do but we have our own special peculiarities).

No, people go there to find immediate providers or at least to research potential providers.

Even on social media not all people say what they really think. Certainly a lot tell their truth but for some it’s a game. For others, they say what they think is cool. And for more, they don’t want to be seen in public.

But Google gives them privacy and information without being hassled by sales people. Your prospects feel safe using Google.

The only source of your customers’ truth

So, to increase your chances of success, or rather to reduce your chances of failure, redefine yourself and your business based on what people are typing into Google for your broad category.

You can then drill-down to find more detailed data and then use those Search-terms on your website.

And here’s a big tip.

Don’t forget to use those terms in your off-line communications as well. People will recognise their words and feel more connected to you as a result.

Rename your offering from the bland “Services” that everyone else uses to match the best Search-term you can find.

For example, in the tree-maintenance industry, instead of crown-lifting, use tree pruning.

Treat your business to the best investment you will ever make.

Go to Google’s Keyword Research Tool. It’s free.

Find out what words people are really using to describe your business. You’ll find loads of data. And then use those words on your website.

Learning what it all means and how to use it will be the best day’s work you can do. But then I would say that wouldn’t I, as an SEO guy.:-)

But it really is the best research tool you can find.

Or, if that all sounds too complicated, ask an expert to do it for you to turn all that data into useful information.

Email me at Andrew@gigmarketing.biz for a no obligation, fixed-price quotation to find out what your market is really looking for.

Andrew Haddleton, a highly experienced marketer working with local businesses helping them get their websites higher in Google. He has a 90+% success rate using his easy-to-understand 5S Google Ranking Method.

Unlike many SEOs, he will not work with your competitors.

Visit http://im4local.com/contact for a free 27-point Search Engine Assessment Test.

Author: Andrew T Haddleton

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It’s the weak point of most entrepreneurs-the Achilles Heel-marketing. Over the years I’ve watched countless small business owners struggle with their marketing plans like they were wild beasts. Marketing and public relations is tough for lots of entrepreneurs and it seems to be even more difficult for those whose brand is also their personal image.

Today’s wired and global economy requires so much more than memorizing the 4 P’s of marketing.

First you must deal with the new expectations of the public. Customers expect you to listen to them; interactive marketing (think choose the color of the new M&M) is the only kind many consumers can even remember. Websites now must be content driven. It’s not enough to try to sell something you have to add value, share information and develop a relationship with your target market.

In order to take advantage of these new realities you must both learn to use the power of the internet and avoid social isolation. For starters, learn to use the new tools of social media. If you need help just reach out through cyber space – there’s lots of free and paid advice out there.

Even though you are tackling the marketing challenges of the web you cannot neglect your “in person” communications skills. Your website should be great, but you also need to be able to connect with a live person. Attend networking events and really participate. Keep your own personal and social life in healthy condition. When you get the chance to speak in front of a key group or client you want to be ready. All of this will help you to build on the power of referrals and word of mouth marketing.

Finally you must have a plan. Your plan should:

o Include a detailed understanding of your target market
o Have measurable goals
o Be flexible – you should be able to change in response to market demand
Getting a grip on marketing requires work, but it shouldn’t hurt.

Karen Southall Watts is an entrepreneurship and management trainer, business and life coach. Karen travels all over the country to teach workshops to new business owners and leaders, as well as working one-on-one with private clients. Karen’s work blends a background in counseling with years of business experience. You can reach Karen at http://www.karensouthallwatts.com.
Read Karen’s blog at http://karensouthw.wordpress.com/

Author: Karen Southall Watts

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