Shopping online is big business and getting bigger and bigger by the internet nanosecond. Can you say Amazon or eBay?

Marketing experts agree that the majority of all consumer and B2B shopping will be transacted via the web within the next decade – or sooner. The breadth and depth of available - and potential - products and services is boundless. Online order fulfillment continues to get faster, safer and more convenient.

The long tail phenomenon exists because of the web. If you’ve dreamt of success as an online affiliate marketer you must check out this opportunity. Time is of the essence! No kidding – it’s a very limited offer!

We could say more but the information sales letter will answer your questions. This is what you should expect;
1. Click the text link which will take you to an affiliate landing page.
2. Opt in with your name and email address.
3. This will take you to the sales page.
4. Spend some time; check out the videos and beta sites that are featured.
5. Get informed and make a decision that’s right for you.

This is the consummate, irresistible offer with a no risk guarantee. Going through the process is worth the effort just so you can evaluate and learn from an extremely well executed marketing strategy. You are also learning about an empowering new business model.

Speed is the currency of business and success loves speed. To you, good luck – the gravy train is at the station - but there isn’t room for everyone!

So the creative juices have been flowing and you feel confident that you can develop your winning idea into a small fortune!

People have great ideas practically every day and dream about the possibilities that could earn them millions in royalties. So what separates those who earn money exploiting their ideas from those who’ll never get past ground zero?

One clear answer is research. One of the most accessible – and best – market research systems for aspiring entrepreneurs, small business marketers and even multinational corporations is the “How To Double Your Business Power Pack”.

It is a revealing, systematic approach to surveying a marketplace that has been distilled and refined from years of big budget, real world, applied research. The complete system is in a modular format and is the creation of renowned research psychologist, Dr. Glenn Livingston.

A second source of information that can help you transform a fledgling business idea into a viable product or service comes from an audio book by author Harvey Reese. “How to License Your Million Dollar Idea” provides both information and motivation that can help you turn your ideas into money.

This is a totally revised and updated version that is currently available from our friends at Acoustic Bookworm. It’s now a second edition that covers the recent changes in patent law and discusses how the Internet has impacted modern licensing.

Both of these recommendations bring to you the information and the ideas that have been employed by big budget, successful marketing endeavours across a wide variety of markets. The information can teach you how to make – or save – alot of money. Go ahead and unwrap that brilliant business idea! Happy marketing!

Chris Anderson’s best selling “The Long Tail” has become a highly influential and widely referenced business essay that theorises about the future of modern commerce. At its core, The Long Tail is a dissertation about the economics of abundance.

The book provides a description of a business paradigm that has begun to show the power of seemingly unlimited selection of products and services across a broad spectrum of consumer markets. It provides a perspective about what Anderson claims are “the new truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it.“

“In short, though we still obsess over hits, “Anderson writes, ” they are not quite the economic force they once were. Where are those fickle consumers going instead? No single place. They are scattered to the winds as markets fragment into a thousand niches.”

The book explores a variety of contemporary business examples that include movies, books, and music. Technology and the Internet have made possible an empowered, new world of business marketing in which the combined value of modest sellers and obscure titles equals the sales of the top hits. His examples reveal intriguing possibilities that can be applied to other business models.

In fact, the book may mean more to small business marketers who are nimble and faster to market than slower moving big business. Speed is after all, the currency of business and success loves speed.

Acoustic Bookworm has just released an inexpensive audio version of The Long Tail that you can download right now. Once you download your copy, you can listen to it as an mp3 or go ahead and burn a CD or DVD and listen to it in your car. Very cool!

This may be a trend setting decision that becomes the immediate future for industry trade publications. InfoWorld has announced that they will discontinue their print component as of April 2, 2007.

“InfoWorld is not dead. We’re not going anywhere. We are merely embracing a more efficient delivery mechanism –the Web — at InfoWorld.com. You can still get all the news coverage, reviews, analysis, opinion, and commentary that InfoWorld is known for. You’ll just have to access it in a browser (or RSS reader) — something more than a million of you already do every month.”

Industry insiders are abuzz over the long rumoured news. Ultimately, it’s a strategic decision that is both practical and in sync with the realities of today’s contemporary world of information technology. It’s not unusual for IT information in a print magazine to be out of date simply because things can change by the nanosecond – and often do.

When you’re dealing with information that is actionable intelligence, there is a high probability that you’ll need to refer back to the source of that info. You may save it for future reference, categorize it within certain projects, email it to associates or colleagues and so on.

The new school of information sharing includes viral phenomenon such as social book-marking, tag and ping, and RSS. All of which are more progressive and effective in facilitating the use of new info compared to having a copy of that old, dogged eared magazine collecting dust on your office credenza.

Other trade publications and marketers can learn an interesting leadership lesson from this gutsy approach by InfoWorld. Delivery of information is the objective. Businesses need to be in touch with the medium that best delivers information in the most efficient and useful fashion for their target audience.

Now this is an advertising print campaign that caught our eye! The adverts are brought to the marketplace by the popular Lavazza Coffee brand of Italy. Interesting imagery but we’re not really sure about the correlation between naked bodies and coffee beans. Coffee is a stimulant and the images are stimulating too - OK maybe we’re reaching. The ad copy reads; “Italy’s Favourite Coffee”

The art direction and creative photography of the graphics were produced by renowned advertising photographer Eryk Fitkau. He is best recognised for his specialized methods of post-production which include unique techniques for double exposing images and hand colouring.

Too bad Lavazza beat us to it though because naked bodies and Caffeine Marketing – well that’s another story. Even if it is narcissistic, we think that these graphics are just the type of promotion that would better suit our own brand identity goals.

Nuf said, study the ads, critique the ads, debate the ads – we just hope you enjoy them over another cup of your daily marketing news.

Luck is not chance – It’s toil – Fortunes’ expensive smile is earned.

– Emily Dickinson

What to earn fortune’s expensive smile? Smart marketers are using Real Marketing Muscle to unfair advantage !

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) unveiled the WOMMA Ethics Adoption Toolkit this Thursday. The toolkit is an ethics document which will help businesses develop a commitment to word of mouth marketing.

Dell announced it will be the first to support the innovative toolkit to help companies develop policies in support of the WOMMA ethics code. Read

“What up, this is Jimbo. Call me!”

You would imagine how upset this type of voicemail can make a person. There are some obvious problems. Other than being rude, there was no telephone number provided, no message left, and no full name. I do not know who left the voice mail message, what they wanted, or how to return their message.

Whether you’re calling your best friend or your boss, you should always take the few extra seconds to personalize your voice mail message. Vague voice mail messages just upset people. Leaving a full voice mail message willÂ� allow the other person to prepare to call you back. It will greatly include the probablity of them Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a simple fact of life that we can never be by our phones 24 hours a day and our cell phones are not always a good backup plan. We have our lives to live and work is not everyone’s life and blood. That is why it is important to create a personalized voice mail greeting that will work for you.

Unless you have an assistant working for you to take messages, chances are that you have set yourself up a voice mail message. Call me a psychic, but I’m sure yours sounds something like this; “Hi, you’ve reach (Insert Name). I’m out of my office right now but if you leave your name, number, and a brief message I will return your call shortly.” A message like this does not fill in for a qualified personal assistant and surely won’t give you that golden edge.

Personalizing Your Voice Mail Greeting
Voice mail should be treated like an extension of your identity. Your voicemail should reflect your professionalism and courtesy to others. You can express courtesy to others by updating your voice mail message Read the rest of this entry »

“Nature has given men one tongue and two ears, that we may hear twice as much as we speak” ~ Epictetus

Human beings are inherently going to speak over, under, around , and even through others. It’s the sad truth that we must face and deal with in the business setting. Like myself, I’m sure many of you have felt that others were completely ignoring you and therefore insulting you as you tried to make a point. TheÂ� truth of the matterÂ� is that phone-related etiquette can become quite a problem in the business world for yourself and others if not attended to.

Millions of dollars are lost in telephone conversations simply because we do not pay attention to the words we use, the tone we set, and the actions we make.� I hope this article on speaker phone etiquette will help you improve your business communications.

Asking Permission To Be Put On Speaker Phone
To put it bluntly, that title pretty much sums up this entire paragraph. If you’re looking to lose a customer and an important account, then gather your associates in the board room and make a call with the speaker phone on. No one wants to pick up the phone and hear heavy breathing, static noise, and a light wind instead of a another person’s voice. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re ever been in one of those situations in which someone in the business setting was looking to give you a first full of constructive (or counter-constructive) criticism you are commonly better off not apologizing for your actions. It is important to remember that we all say and do the things we do with confidence. When another criticizes our actions, we commonly resort to apologies. People in higher power status positions then our own create a sense of dominance over us.

We also accept almost all criticisim from those in higher positions with a sense that they must be right. Instead of immediately apologizing here if the proper way to handle constructive criticism.

- “Thank you for your feedback!”
- “I appreciate your concern and I will take your suggestions into consideration!”
- “Thank you for your comment!”

Burrowing A Deeper Hole
When you’re criticized, rather than stumbling on your words it is often better to first thank the person. Overexplaining, excuses, apologies, and changing the subject will land you in even more trouble. Admit your faults while retaining that sense of your best possible foot moving forward. When an apology is over, let it be over. Don’t resort to bringing up an argument or fault of your own days, weeks, or months down the road to put blame somewhere else.

Turning The Attention Around
When you’re stuffed with criticism, turn around and thank the person and follow it up by saying “Thank You, it looks like I can learn a great deal from you.” Read the rest of this entry »

Attention all marketing gurus and advertising players! Customer Relationship Management is here to stay and will be the driving force behind many of your most important marketing decisions.

SugarCRM, or Sugar Customer Relationship Management, will be pushing their software as a service market in order to increase visibilty. On October 5th, they’ll be telling the world in a live webcast titled “CRM: On Demand or On Site? Choose the Right Deployment Option.”

Although in marketing online I still contend that webcasts and podcasts are not yet large enough to drive huge sales, I do contend that marketing-geeks will be thrilled with the Sugar CRM webcast. Several promient customer relationship management software gurus will be in attendance for the webcast including; technology analyst Tim Clark, Sterling PCU’s GM of sales and marketing Christopher Edwards, and Sugar CRM CTO Jacob Taylor.

Some of the topics to be discovered in the live webcast include; ““Best practices for choosing an on-demand or on-site CRM system”; “16 decision points to consider when evaluating CRM deployment options”; “How leading customers are using CRM systems to better manage customers”; and “Two secret ingredients of any successful CRM initiative.” “CRM: On-Demand or On-Site?

Today I wanted to address something that really should hit home with alot of business professionals. Finding and administering standards for a common form of letter writing.

As we become increasingly dependent on sending and receiving e-mail it seems that we are focusing more on our message rather than writing as professional business persons.Â� The way we write e-mail to each other really shows that and I’m sure everyone can agree. I do not know what it is, a pure lack of unprofessionalism or maybe we are doing so much now that we don’t have enough time to take the few extra seconds to form a proper letter or

Read the rest of this entry »

1. Use Both Sides Of The Card:

When I recently printed my new business cards with the relatively cheap printing service Vista Business Card, it only cost an extra $15 per thousand cards to get the back side printed. Imagine the possibilities – you have just doubled your potential with prospects. You can now convey additional benefits of your business and more.

Using both business card back side ideas:

- A list of your services
- Client testimonials (insert clients picture with approval)
- A special or discount when the card is used.

2. Getting To Know You:

Your prospects, more than likely, do not know you yet. Many business cards are boring with only a name, Read the rest of this entry »

When it comes to professional business communication, you will be able to better understand your own communication style and improve your business relations. Moreover, you will identify various communication types in other people and be able to better communicate with them by adapting and / or modifying your own communication style. It is crucial� your staff be informed of effective communication types to help company productivity and avoid meaningless meetings.� In short, your words can explain, promise, and authorize but become a mess in the minds of others if you do not communicate effectively.

What Type Of Communicator Type Are You?

There is no doubt that people have different communication styles in today’s busy world of business. Some people like to start off approaches with ’small talk’, establishing rapport, and just getting to know you.

Still others, those who are high level multi taskers, enjoy getting right down to business. They will provide a logical and sequential flow plan with supporting arguments and evidence.

Then, there are the people who use communication to get straight to the point. You know the type. The ones in business who’ve already made up their mind and yours too. They just want you to be a ‘yes man/woman’. Back talking these communication talkers can land you in a heap of trouble.

Below are the Four Primary Communication Types. Identify which one you are and then discover how to modify your communication habits.

The Feeler

Also Known As The Office Pioneer:

The Feeler communication type is what you’ll find in the younger generation crowd. The new employees just getting their feet wet and trying to strike gold in the minds of the big bosses with innovative ideas. The only problem is, these office pioneers might strike out too many times with their proposals and end up on a silver platter.The emotional Feeler type of communication can be for some the easiest to adapt to.

Simply using the words “hope, feel, appreciate, understand, disgust” in your everyday sentences can help convey a positive business communication style with others. Also, when you pick up on subtle wording patterns in another persons sentences that show they are Feeler talkers you can adapt your communication style to theirs while still retaining your own independence. Identifying this communication type is especially important to those associated with sales and marketing. The Feeler will be most persuaded not by logic, but by the emotional impact that they receive with interpersonal communication.

The Feeler is sold with emotion, and will justify their purchase decision with logic. They focus on how you respond and how others react. The Feeler pays big attention to non verbal communication.

The Logic Thinker

Also Known As Your Boss:

A Logical Thinker communication style is pretty obvious. These are the types of men and women strutting around the office. They are also the most admired type of thinker. Often, they are the managers and key decision makers in your office.

They� believe the most effective communication style will be presented in a logical manner with supporting documents.� The Logical Thinker will seek approval for a set of ideas from his or her peers.

Feelings and personal opinions matter little to the brute Logical Thinker. They are looking for the truth in their frame of mind. They want to know the cold hard facts and never rely on gut feelings. Sorry poker players, but the Logical Thinker is your boss and he wants real answers and not hunches. Modifying your communication style to theirs might feel like kissing some corporate butt, however, in the long run you will be less likely to become a� scapegoated.

Be a team player. Modify your communication style to that of your boss at all costs. It will make him happy and put some extra cash in your wallet. Sometimes you need to leave your pride at the office door.

Mr. Multitask

Also Known As The Office Juggler:

The office juggler will more than likely drop a few balls or flying torches on your feet every once and awhile. They are the type of communicator who takes pride in being able to do as many things as once.The office juggler will more than likely drop a few balls or flying torches on your feet every once and awhile. They are the type of communicator who takes pride in being able to do as many things as once.The� multi-tasker is the first one in� a meeting to sprout a proposal to an emergency.

These solutions are often not as carefully planned out or effective as a “Thinker” or “Planner” communication style solution. Although theÂ� role of the multi-taskerÂ� might impress some with his ‘amazing’ ability to do so many things at once, he is often regarded as “half canned” or “flawed” in the minds of top level bosses. Many times the multitasker will be so impulsive with his/her decision making that their proposed solutionsÂ� to problems are sometimes only a temporary cure.

The Planner

Also Known As The Guy With A Schedule In His Shirt Pocket:

Alright, I had to do it. We know this guy. He always has a nifty pocket sized calendar, fancy new cell phone with a planner, or Pocket PC within ten feet of him/her at all times. Money makes the world go round and the planner knows this better than anyone else. They might seem like the type of guy with a corporate ladder up their butt, however, they are trading a large portion of their lives in order to better themselves. I might be bias in saying that but I spend a good portion of my day organizing effectively ahead of time so I do not have to rush and possibly fail if I am not prepared for a meeting.A planner will develop an indetifiable and reachable plan. The planner will help a business by increasing productivity and enabling proper resource allocation. Planners need charts, models, patterns, plans, and dates to be communicated with effectively.

What’s Next?

Tomorrow I will be covering the proper way of creating a Business Letter Layout for effective communication. I am still working on getting around to an article to show how to create a more effective business card to increase sales.

If you find my articles informative, God Bless. If you find them to ‘Beaucratic’, I am working on my own communication style so stay tuned.