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Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

Marketing Consulting: The Brief Overview

February 28th, 2010
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When designing a plan for sales strategies, marketing consulting services may provide the long sought solutions. In fact, there are companies that specialize exactly in this field of activity developing ways to promote businesses, products, services while keeping the methods effective and costs low.

A complex market analysis should precede any business plan because serious knowledge about competition, targeted customers and development criteria makes possible the creation of viable business strategies. Depending on what sort of of marketing consulting services you hire, more growth sectors could be identified, but such aspects are agreed upon by business owner and consultants.

There are four or five elements related to marketing consulting that set the course for the creation of a viable business plan: the the place, the product, the price, the people and the promotion. These are often referred to as the five p’s of marketing, and they influence all strategies, campaigns and market approaches regardless of the business domain and the size of the company or corporation. The physical features or attributes of the product or service that requires promotion will shape the design and the approach: the marketing methods will surely different for a snails farm and a tourism agency.

The price is the element on which marketing consulting experts can estimate the target profit before actually getting the profit margin. A competitive product will always reveal a good ratio between the variable and fixed expenses and the price you require for the product. The element that needs special attention from a marketing consulting analyst is the relation of this price with that practiced by the competition.

Special marketing strategies will have to be enforced whether this be higher or lower. The place where you’ll distribute or promote the product or service makes another variable that requires utmost care for business development from the point of view of marketing strategies.

Marketing consulting is incredibly important when it comes to the promotion strategies necessary. The benefits and features of the product or service have to attract the customers, and they need to be well understood and bring a feedback from those exposed to the advertising message. In the tricky realm of advertising, marketing consulting could be a bliss if it is conducted correctly.

The costs have to be analyzed in advance so that you may know what to expect. Depending on the intended strategies and the starting budget, the costs could be higher or lower; yet, only a detailed plan created together with a professional marketing consultant will bring the expected results.

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jeannoel Business, Small Business, Small Business Consulting, Strategic Planning , , , ,

The way to Begin Investing in a Stock Market

February 6th, 2010
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Buying low, and selling high, that’s continuously the motto if you are going to invest in a stock market, and this gives you the rationale to shop for things even if you are doing not have a heap of money to invest. There are particular ways that where you’ll start investing within the stock market, the primary one is the mutual funds and the other is the individual stocks. Both ways that can carry attainable rick but, on the other hand it will also carry rewards. Learning on how to invest in a very stock market is usually the most effective method for you to try and do whether or not you only have a small quantity of money. In order to start investing, you must open a brokerage account and you must do it on-line, by phone or perhaps face to face therefore that you can transfer an quantity of cash into the account and create your stock being purchase by others.

You can conjointly use a reputable company, or maybe your own bank. You also need to have data about the stocks and bonds. A share of stock is solely a bit of your possession in a very sure company that problems a bound stock. It will additionally be notified as equity investments, and the purpose of owning a stock is that the hope {that the} price of your shares can increase in an exceedingly bound amount of time. So, even when your stocks pay a little dividend in an ongoing basis, you’ll still have the best reason why to have to shop for stocks, and that’s for the expansion of your principal investment. Companies and governments whether it is native, state, federal or democratic, they will surely issue or sell bonds as a approach of borrowing money from a public office. This why bonds are being known as debt investments, and the real purpose of owning bonds is for the interest in return that they are visiting pay.

You also need to learn about mutual funds, since it’s the approach for numerous investors to collect their money in order to buy stocks, bonds, or different securities that are being selected by investment professionals. The mutual funds portfolio managers can purchase and sell stocks or bonds within a bound fund since they create the predictions for the future performance. You can additionally start investing by shopping for a personal share of stocks for you, and this really suggests that that you may hold the shares under your name. Upon the beginning of your investment, you ought to conjointly apprehend about the advantage and the disadvantage of mutual funds and individual stocks.

Typically, the shares of mutual funds are sometimes less expensive than the individual shares of stocks, thus, you can invest in the stock or bond market with even a very little quantity of money. You also want to choose what company that you’re going to possess your individual shares. These are simply the simple steps that will lead you in order to have a sensible start of arrange in investing.

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jeannoel Business, Small Business, Small Business Consulting, Strategic Planning , , ,

Brands And Branding

January 4th, 2010
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Branding is quite a an interesting topic of discussion among marketers and companies. But people seldom understand the correct meaning of branding. Yes, there is a common misconception that any company/product that is popular or is doing good is branded, and this misinterpretation is seen even among most brand managers who deal with everything related to branding. So what actually is the definition of Branding and how is it different from Brand?

Branding in a way is an ‘emotional attachment’ that one has with a particular brand. For instance, let us consider a Rolex watch. What would first come to your mind when you hear the term ‘Rolex’? You would think about the high status a Rolex watch carries with it.  Exactly. This is what branding is all about - it gives you a clear picture of the product’s power and benefits that come a branded product brings with it.

A brand can be defined as a product or a product line. Where as Branding is the bond created between the customer and the product (brand). There are many such examples that associate the consumer emotionally with its product - Apple, Harley Davidson, Sketchers, Southwest Airline etc. No, IBM, Kawasaki, Ford are not a branded product. They definitely are a brand but not companies that are branded. Why? Okay, think of IBM and do you get a clear picture of what someone related with IBM is like? (In the Rolex case, it immediately made you think of ‘class’). So that was the difference between brand and branding.

The great advantage branded companies have is their customer’s loyalty. Ask an Apple user to switch to some other brand - you would only end up entering a heated argument. Yes, a branded company’s consumers are emotionally attached with the product and cling to it irrespective of the same Product of different Brand being offered at low price. To put it simply - when you are branded, you are not just a product but a part of the consumer’s life which he/she  is emotionally attached with.

jeannoel Marketing Tips, Small Business Consulting , , , , , , ,

Has advertising gone too far?

December 13th, 2009
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Advertisement is a part of life. Advertising has become very powerful and it would seem that whereever you go there is no escape from it anymore.

Even people that are playing computer games seem to be suffering as well with more and more “in game” advertisements being seen. The very first in game advertisement was seen in 1978 in a game called Adventureland. The advert in question was created by the devloper to put his next game out there.

Football games started to set a trend as with each addition of FIFA came a new set of advertisments. It would seem that games have taken a leaf out of FIFA’s book in that more and more are seeing in game advertisements. Splinter Cell even had a giant billboard advertisement that you couldn’t avoid seeing as you had to climb over it.

Something that has started to cause huge arguments is the envolvment of corportate companies advertising within schools. Is it just there to get a bit of extra business or is it slowly forcing children into buying in a specific brand for the rest of their lives?

Companies advertise in schools in a variety of ways:

  • Sweet and candy companies have created educational posters which contain their advertisements.

 

  • Many school canteens have started to become subsidised by food brands in return for advertising.

 

  • Some school busses actually have advertisements within them so even before and after school the children can not escape the power of big corporate companies.

 

  • A recent and rather disturbing dystopian trend has been for actual lessons to be sponsored by a big corporation, so that in return for educational funding our children are seeing branded lesson plans, handouts and worksheets. Is this really any different to what Hitler did to all of the German Schools during his dictatorship?

The advertising industry worldwide covers mediums such as print management solutions to Corporate identity design. exhibition display stands are seen as one of the more effective traditional branding mediums during a corporate event or trade fair.

jeannoel Marketing Tips, Small Business Consulting , , , , , ,

Branding and Advertising

September 24th, 2009
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The recent recession and the slow job market have lots of people worried enough to consider working from home. A lot of people realize for themselves that they cannot rely on companies to give them jobs and that they have to start their own business making money independently. This is the reason why starting a home business or a small business has become so popular. There are tons of work from home ideas for people to consider as well as work at home reviews to help them select the right businesses to start.

For a small business, the startup costs can be overwhelming. There are many things you must do when starting a business such as advertising, marketing, branding, stocking up inventory and the list goes on. While a big company usually has a large advertising and marketing budget, a small business often does not. If you have already chosen what kind of business you are starting, you might want to get the words out about your business by networking with people you know. You can advertise your business cheaply by word of mouth. You can tell your family members and friends and ask them to tell others that they might know about your products or services. By going to events and network with other professionals such as at chamber of commerce meetings, you will meet and connect with people who might want your products or services.

Brand name is also important. A brand is a name or trademark connected with a product or producer. Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy. If you are marketing a brand name product, then people will already have seen your product and it will not be difficult to market it to the right group of people. If you have invented something then you might want to protect your proprietary rights through trademark registration. For a business owner to be successful, he or she will need to put in a lot of efforts into the business.

jeannoel Marketing Tips, Small Business Consulting , , , , , , , , ,

Create a Visually Alluring E-Learning LMS Course Logo

September 7th, 2009
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If you are getting your e-learning material ready to upload to a learning management system or e-learning syndicator, you’re probably making a wide range of choices. Besides the more involved decisions like navigational choices and multimedia options, there are aesthetic choices to be made; namely, your courseware’s design. One element of design is your e-learning course logo.

It goes without saying that a logo is quite like a book cover; ultimately, it doesn’t signify much. Your online course must be well-developed, unique and strong to thrive in the e-learning world. But people don’t say things like “Don’t judge a book by its cover” for no reason. The fact is that we do make fast and visually-cued judgments, which aid in our decision-making process. Like an interesting book cover, a logo can intrigue viewers and appeal to their sensibilities.

How do logos work, and what kinds of logos exist? Your logo is the visual embodiment of your courseware system; it symbolizes your learning content and fosters customer recognition.

Logos can be logotypes (a simple name) or ideograms (visuals including icons, signs and emblems). Ideograms can be often be recognized alone, like the McDonald’s arc–you know what it refers to without seeing the actual McDonald’s.

Although it’s possible to hire a graphic designer to create a logo for your e-learning course, why not add a more personal touch and design your very own? After all, it’s your content and your vision, and a logo can be very simple to design.

So, how does one go about designing a great logo? Tirelessly brainstorm your ideas and sketch them out by hand–and don’t be afraid to use up lots of paper. Large design firms utilize this strategy, sketching out everything by hand before even turning to a computer. Sketching by hand is the best and quickest way to visualize and design your courseware system’s logo.

Once you’ve got your simple and unique logo design, test it out in different ways. Experiment with different colors and combinations of shades and tones. Put your logo in many situations, putting text in many disparate positions to find out where it fits best, and playing with different font styles and sizes.

Your logo should be strong and simple, representing a learning management system course that potential users feel confident placing their trust in.

jeannoel Marketing Tips, Small Business Consulting , , , , , , , ,

The Power of Pictures: Designing an LMS E-Learning Courseware Logo

September 5th, 2009
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If you are getting your e-learning material ready to upload to a learning management system or e-learning syndicator, you’re probably making a wide range of choices. Beyond the more practical concerns like navigation and what tools to employ, there lie aesthetic choices–the course’s style and design. Part of this issue is the design of your e-learning course logo.

Of course, in many ways a logo is basically a gimmick in the sense that when it comes right down to it, it doesn’t determine an awfully lot. Your courseware itself needs to be strong and effective in order to survive in the e-learning market. However, we don’t use expressions like “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover” for no reason. The fact is that we do make fast and visually-cued judgments, which aid in our decision-making process. Like an interesting book cover, a logo can intrigue viewers and appeal to their sensibilities.

What’s the function of logos, and how do they work? Your logo is the visual embodiment of your courseware system; it symbolizes your learning content and fosters customer recognition.

Your logo can take any shape you want, whether it’s a visual in the form of an icon or sign (ideograms) or a simple word (logotype). Ideograms can be often be recognized alone, like the McDonald’s arc–you know what it refers to without seeing the actual McDonald’s.

Although it’s possible to hire a graphic designer to create a logo for your e-learning course, why not add a more personal touch and design your very own? After all, it’s your learning system based on your expertise, and it’s not difficult to design a logo.

So, how does one go about designing a great logo? Tirelessly brainstorm your ideas and sketch them out by hand–and don’t be afraid to use up lots of paper. Large design companies utilize this system, having their graphic designers sketch everything out by hand before even getting close to a computer. Sketching is the most effective and easiest way to quickly create and imagine your logo.

Now that you have your simple and potent logo design, try different things with it. Experiment with your design, adding different colors, changing shades and tones, adding and subtracting images, etc. Put your logo in many situations, putting text in many disparate positions to find out where it fits best, and playing with different font styles and sizes.

Design an e-learning logo whose uniqueness matches that of your learning management system course.

jeannoel Marketing Tips, Small Business Consulting , , , , , , , ,

Create a Visually Alluring E-Learning LMS Course Logo

September 5th, 2009
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If you are getting your e-learning material ready to upload to a learning management system or e-learning syndicator, you’re probably making a wide range of choices. Beyond decisions about the content itself–what to include and exclude–as well as navigational, format, and others, there are the choices related to design and style. Part of this issue is the design of your e-learning course logo.

Of course, in many ways a logo is basically a gimmick in the sense that when it comes right down to it, it doesn’t determine an awfully lot. In order to prosper in a competitive market, your e-learning product must be well developed, interactive, and based on your professional and/or academic expertise and experience. However, we don’t use expressions like “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover” for no reason. The truth is we do make quick, visually-based judgments when we decide between everything from soap to food to cars, to more important choices like schools and romantic partners. A smart logo can distinguish your courseware from others, and pique the interest of potential users.

How do logos work, and what kinds of logos exist? Your logo will act as the symbol of your e-learning course; it will embody your learning material as well as aid in your audience’s recognition of your product.

Logos can be logotypes (a simple name) or ideograms (visuals including icons, signs and emblems). Ideograms are often recognizable on their own; for example, you know the gas station is a Shell when you see the ideogram of the shell on the sign, and the actual word “Shell” isn’t necessary.

Although it’s possible to hire a graphic designer to create a logo for your e-learning course, why not add a more personal touch and design your very own? After all, it’s your content and your vision, and a logo can be very simple to design.

So how can you get inspiration for an interest-piquing logo? Brainstorm relentlessly, using up lots of paper and writing out your ideas by hand, the old-fashioned way. Large design companies utilize this system, having their graphic designers sketch everything out by hand before even getting close to a computer. Sketching is the most effective and easiest way to quickly create and imagine your logo.

When you finally have a strong and simple logo design, what you’ll need to do next is to test different things with your logo. Experiment with your design, adding different colors, changing shades and tones, adding and subtracting images, etc. Place your logo in different situations, placing text in different positions to see where it fits best, and experimenting with different fonts and sizes.

Design an e-learning logo whose uniqueness matches that of your learning management system course.

jeannoel Marketing Tips, Small Business Consulting , , , , , , , ,

Ways to Build Your Brand

August 30th, 2009
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Of the multitude of books you see on branding, most have a huge problem - they are written by people with multi-million dollar budgets. People who think nothing of wasting 2.5 million on a 30 second Televison spot during the Super Bowl (this year’s cost!) that no one remembers anything the next day!

At my golf marketing seminars, I don’t talk a lot about branding, because it’s just NOT as high on the food chain as most ad agencies or designers would have you believe. Most people I deal with are FAR more concerned with actually making money than building a brand. Having said that, the concept of branding should not be ignored, and if you follow a few simple rules, your brand can be quickly enhanced without the billion dollar budgets.

  1. Consistent use of name. Before I start branding any name, I’d ask myself, “is it really a good company name”. Is it unique?You can always change; I changed my company’s name twice before getting it right with Legendary Marketing!
  2. Consistent use of your logo. I was at a club recently that had seven totally different logos on its golf hats. Perhaps the buyer is related to Sybil? (The woman with split personalities.) Anyway, first make sure the logo defines who you are, looks good on a bag and is desirable. THINK Greg Norman’s SHARK, AMAZING! Not Arnie’s umbrella. I mean no disrespect to the King, but was that even a decent idea in 1960?
  3. Consistent use of colors. As you may know, Legendary Marketing uses orange and black! The Raiders are silver and black, English sports cars are racing green, Ferraris are red, Ping Tour bags are white. What’s your club’s color?
  4. Consistent use of USP. Most clubs simply don’t have a Unique Selling Proposition, and that is a big mistake. Not having one lessens the power of your brand and every piece of marketing you do by 300% or more in customer recall!

    For Example, Garland is Michigan’s Most Beautiful Golf Resort, is a strong, simple and versatile USP! FedEx owns overnight shipping; Dave Pelz owns the short game. Juliette Falls Golf Resort owns Florida Golf Resort. Legendary Golf Management is the the world’s leader in golf management. What Unique Selling Proposition does your operation own?

  5. A message that is consistent. I am constantly amazed by the number of clubs and equipment companies that change their message from year to year. In fact, I recently talked to a resort owner who proudly showed me 22 different ads he ran the previous year all with different headlines and tag lines. Testing is a great idea, but change for the sake of variety is not!
  6. Consistent feel and look. You can’t say you are the most beautiful resort in New York and run your ads in black and white on 20 lb. bond. Beauty calls for high gloss and thick paper. Make the look and feel of your collateral match the demographics, specific location, and facilities you offer.
  7. Consistent exposure. One of the reasons I focus more efforts on results than brand is that building a real brand in any market takes mucho time, money and exposure. If your brand is not out there constantly in a very big way, it won’t stick. You need on going PR and media presence of some kind.
  8. Consistent delivery of promise. Your brand has to be backed by delivery of the implied promise. You can’t promise the best greens in city and then have them covered with fungus when players arrive.
  9. Consistent and Quality contact. To many clubs blast everyone in their database a with a poor discount offer. High end golf resorts usually specialize in bland John Doe ‘return to see us’ letters. Both are contact…neither is quality content.
  10. Consistent use of viral tools to spread the word. Perhaps the most overlooked way to build your brand is to provide your frontline employees and customers with the tools to help spread your brand for you. Things like yardage books, bag tags, and audio CDs packed full of Great Golf Stories For Your Drive Home. Reinforce the brand long after a player has left your property.

 

jeannoel Marketing Tips, Small Business Consulting , , , ,

Do your customers like your Logo enough to save it?

August 26th, 2009
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Consumer behaviour is changing and it is looking to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Throughout the boom of the last few years, we have seen very small business adequately competing with the bigger brands. And many of them have been amazing success stories, particularly online. Then consumers were used to choice and less demanding of reliability in their brands, they wanted the cheapest items and they wanted them now. Things have changed however and hundreds of website companies are going under, the fall out of which is a growing lack of customer confidence. The fall out of this lack of confidence is that consumers are going back to what they know, that welknown brands that charge more, but whom they can be sure of.

With the recession causing people to loose their jobs, some have looked to the internet as a portal for their salvation, but starting their own business. But even in the recession, web business is booming, Barclays showed that even in the credit crunch 98,000 new business popped up over only a three month period. Yet it’s a tough road to go down. Around the same number of businesses failed during that period too!

I think that underestimating your companies branding is as detrimental as not having a website at all. When a customer hits your website, what does your logo say about your business. It’s crucial to what people use to judge whether you are trustworthy or not. But it’s so often the case that startup owners put off paying professional logo design in the initial stages. They think “wait till I get a few more customers, then I can afford it”.Then they design one themselves in photoshop and thinking that looks fine, load it up to the site. Lots of companies merely go for free options such as clipart and templated designs that look cheap and unremarkable.

This isn’t acceptable for a Brand. All web business now more than ever, need to look much bigger and much more capable via good marketing, to retain customers and encourage new ones.  In these anxious times the image of stability and reliability is more crucial than ever. Very small businesses need to look like a much bigger business, its possible. As I’ve touched on above, people nowadays are more and more attracted to bigger brands and bigger companies. So basically, these days users care more about who a brand is and less about what they are, a good brand is much more likely to be recommended to friends than one that consumers are less sure about.

The bottom line is this. Around half of all new businesses go bankrupt in the first few years. Many experts say that one of the top causes of business failure online is bad marketing. A custom logo design helps you create the right image for this marketing to succeed. So do yourself a favour - start looking at some sample logos in your industry and see what the successful ones have in common.  Then get yourself a proper graphic designer to plan and create a great corporate identity that will help you not only stay afloat but truly stand out and succeed.

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