Open Journalism For All - News, Documentaries And Information Services

Today there are a lot of several givings. But what is most effective? High priority properties of effective marketing givings are long-life cycle, an eye-catching design and a good variance of distribution. For a longlife present, its need to be a really good choice. The longer it lasts, the longer it can spread his message. Therefore it is better to use refillable lighters they can be in circulation for many years. A bad quality gift will be used much less than a present in high-quality. If we take a pen for example you have to know, that the cartridge should be totally full, so your client can use his giveaway for the maximal life performance. Directly we speak about the appearance of the present. The advertising must have a long lasting impression. In subjection of the giveaway, you might be to decide, if its better to take your attention to a high-quality desin or to offering prosperous colorings. So it makes sense if a toy store advertises with colorful colorful playpens and a real estate agent advertises with gracious ballpens.

Advertising must be seen

The circulation radius is key point. Talents, which gonna be leaved in a little time have almost no result of advertizing. Your gift is more working, if it might can be taken in a bag or can be used very much. You must different between the promoted . T-shirts or basecaps can be the right product in a very good way to advertise. If clothing doesnt fit with your company it might can be a solution to take universals advertizement presents like pens and lighters. If it has the quality and appearance it can become a constant companion. Other people will see them as well, if they are often shown or added. The new favorite promotional gift is nowadays the USB stick.

Nokia is an intercontinental tele-communications corporation, focused on the key booming spheres of wireless and wired telecommunications. Nokia is now the earth’s greatest constructor of mobile telephones, with a total set market share of roughly 38%. Nokia assembles cellular telephones for every sizable market sector and protocol. The outfit furthermore assembles coms network gadgets for applications such as mobile and fixed line voice telephony, ISDN, broadband access, VO IP and wireless LAN.

Nokia plays an inordinately considerable part in the economy of Finland. Nokia is surely the biggest Finnish company, comprising almost 0.3 of the market capitalization of the Helsinki Stock; an exceptional status in a first-world country. It’s an important employer in Finland and various small outfits have grown into considerable companies as Nokia’s subcontractors.

Nokia enlarged Finland’s GDP by more than one and a half % in 99 alone. In 04 Nokia’s quantity of the Finland’s GDP was found to be three and a half % and accounted for more or less 25 per cent of Finnish exports in 2003. In 2007, Nokia created revenue that for the first time exceeded the state budget of Finland. This has led some to refer to Finland as “Nokialand.”

Finns have named Nokia, on several occasions, as the best Finnish brand and employer. Nokia is listed as the fifth most valuable global brand in BusinessWeek’s Best Global Brands list of the 20 most respectable outfits internationally in Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies.

Nokia’s Mobile Phones section provides folks with mobile voice and data products around a huge assortment of mobile phones. The section attempts to focus on chiefly high-volume type sales of mobile telephones and devices, with the public being the most critical customer segment.

Nokia thinks that brand, design, ease of use and price are the main-stream mobile phone’s most essential considerations for customers. Nokia’s product back catalogue includes camera mobiles with super features, for instance, megapixel cameras and MP3 players that interest the mass market.

In the first quarter of 06 Nokia sold in excess of fifteen million mp3 mobile phones, which means that Nokia is not only the world’s primary manufacturer of cellular phones and digi cameras (as the majority of Nokia’s mobiles have digital cameras, it is also believed that Nokia has lately beaten Kodak in camera making, making it the largest in the world), Nokia is today also the primary manufacturer of digital audio. Nokia aspires to sell 80000000 music phones by the end of 2007, outpacing sales of devices such as the iPod from Apple.

118118 is a British provider of directory assistance facilities, assisting people to unearth telephone numbers in addition to more practical information.

118118 have The Number UK Ltd’ to provide directory assistance information - the firm is a subsidiary of States based Firm InfoNXX - the greatest independent directory assistance supplier on Earth.

Directory enquiries was, in the past, invoked through ringing 192 (United Kingdom), however, the market was deregulated in 2002 and in August ‘03 192 was discontinued.

As well as supplying a directory enquiry system, 118118 also provide a system whereby you may ask 118118’s staff about something, for example, ‘Where is the highest construction in Norway’ and 118 118 will then provide the answer, over telephone, or, if you want, over a text message (terribly convenient when you’re at quizzes!)

118118 run various extraordinary ad campaigns over the past few year, making 2 guys who have pendulous moustaches, renowned for promoting 118118’s resource. The blokes who have have appeared in various silly roles, such as an imitation of ‘The A-team’. 118 are, now, an extremely familiar section of the 118 118 brand throughout Great Britain, and are readily recognizable.

Brand Identity is a conversation, an interaction—a brandversation. Like any
conversation, it leaves an impression. Of course, the nature of the impression will depend on the value of the interaction, the way it has been communicated, the way it has been received, and the extent to which it has been engaged.

By the mis-1990s, the Internet had changed the way we worked: the way we were
educated: they way we played, shopped, and communicated. And it promised more.
For anyone involved, this transformational time was exhilarating and exasperating.
The learning curve was no longer a curve but a straight line moving vertically from
its base. The future was again upon us with predictions of revolutionary change and
rapidly developing evidence of that change. Movie theaters would cease to be, the
Internet would bring the demise of radio and television, there would be no further
use of the Post Office, the corner video store would be replaced by online, on-
demand subscription services, and every brick and mortar store would become click
and mortar.

Brandversation v1.0

Corporations rushed with a vengeance to grab history and launch their websites.
The first-generation websites were little more than electronic brochures, and were
commonly referred to as brochure-ware. These sites usually contained an “about
us” statement, some corporate philosophy that had been resurrected from the
company’s archives, dusted off, and lightly rewritten. Descriptions of the company’s
products and services, a careers section, and a “contact us” link were included to
finish of the site. Branding was considered to have been addressed if the company
logo and slogan were in a prominent place and appeared in, as close to the
corporate colors and the web would allow.

Brandversation 2.0

Evolution into more adventurous territory spawned the birth of second-generation
sites: interactive sites. Here a company’s hope was to mine data, with the intent that
this information would help it better understand the consumer. This collection of
data would build a profile on a consumer and, in theory, provide the company with a
rich understanding of the consumer’s lifestyle and spending habits. The hope was
to benefit both the consumer and the company. Usually this was accomplished by
giving something to the consumer in exchange for filling out a brief customer
profile. Case in point: The New York Times gave free access to its online edition to
those who completed such a form. The form requested personal profile and asked
permission to e-mail information that the company thought might be relevant to the
user. Once this was completed, the user had daily access to the news and the Times
had a “cookie” (an informational retrieval) embedded in the user’s computer. In
theory, this cookie could provide a stream of information, including following the
consumer’s online navigational history.

Attention was paid to the brand experience, but only as it applied to the content of
the product or service offered. If a company had a fun product or service, the
experience was made more playful; more businesslike products or services gave a
more straightforward experience. Although a plethora of data was collected, many
companies did not know where to go with this information, where to store the ever-
increasing supply being poured into their system or how to use it.

What was emerging was an exploration into the user expectations and, in fact, into
the way future business would be conducted and branded. Great effort was taken to
ensure that consistent branding and brandversation emerged between the content
of the product or service, but contextual branding was only hinted at.

Brandversation v3.0

Soon third-generation, transactional sites appeared. Business could actually
Be conducted as information was harvested. For a brief moment in time, the idea of
a web centric environment revealed a future where much more was possible.
However, the original hope of having a low-cost media vehicle proved unreachable,
as the drive toward web advertising proved that bringing traffic to a site was a costly
affair. The heavy lifting of driving eyeballs to sites proved to be a Herculean task.
The promise of web centricity proved to be the downfall of many sites. Only a few
web-only business prospered, although not necessarily financially. Companies like
Amazon, which had developed a business model based on retaining each customer
and refining customer profiles over a significant number of years (as long as 12
years), built better customer loyalty. Not only did their plan provide a model for an
extended brandversation, but their ability to harvest information on their customers
also permitted them to develop a richer brand experience. Contextualizing created
rich experiences for customers and other suggestions in their category of interest.
By taking the legwork out of the customer’s research and showing interest in the
customer’s request, Amazon built a brand that is customer centric. Contextualizing
the customer’s experience actually builds business for Amazon.

Brandversation v4.0

The destination site or destination fulfillment business model is undergoing a
colossal evolution that goes beyond web centric or brick-and-mortar-centric
models. It is a profound change that has refocused many corporations from a web
centric perspective to one that is customer-centric. Simply providing an
environment as a platform for the content is not enough. The user wants more, and
is being given more, and this has put more pressure on the brand promise. The user
is demanding content and an experience that is relevant to and engaging to him/
her.

The expanding digital bubble that surrounds each consumer also increases the
pressure on every brand promise. Content is expected, but content alone does not
constitute or guarantee success. Content must be delivered in a contextualized
environment. Contextualized branding links touch points throughout the user’s
experience, making the experience more relevant and rewarding.

The Internet continually reconfirms that its power lies in the ability to connect
people and ideas. The popularity of the chat rooms, user groups, e-mail, and other
forms of social networking are but a few everyday examples. Brand must also make
that connection to the individual. Today, companies must act as though everyone
has been wired into a wireless world.

Narrowcasting versus Broadcasting

Contextualized branding does not look at communicating a general message to a
large group of people. Quite the opposite: it narrowcasts a message, personalizing
that message for a specific audience. By building an audience of ones with a
targeted message, every message adds value to the brandversation between the
brand and the user. Johnson and Johnson’s Tylenol banner campaign explored this
concept by running banner advertisements on the financial sites: the ads for Tylenol
appeared whenever the market dropped 100 points or more.

The brand promise is an experience, a journey, and a friendly walk that always adds
new value to the experience. It can bring consumers back or send consumers
searching for another experience to meet or exceed their expectations. The more
the brand promise considers the needs of the individual consumer, the deeper that
consumer’s loyalty to the brand will be.

Theme parks are exploring ways to improve brand experience by giving users smart
cards that allow them to avoid waiting in lines. By swiping a smart card at a card
reader on the ride of choice, the user registers a place in line and is given a time to
return. In our wireless environment, we will soon be able to do this from cars on the
way to the theme park. Once we arrive, there will be no need to stand in lines, as
the schedule will have been preprogrammed from our cell phones, ensuring more
fun –a better branded experience.

Furthermore, knowing a customer’s schedule would enable the theme park to send
him or her relevant targeted messages. He/her could receive instant messages as
he/she moved through the park, suggesting places to eat and offering coupons or
discount for eating at certain times at certain food providers. Not only does this
richen our user’s branded experience, but also it helps draw customers into places
in the park that may require traffic at that moment, improving the user’s experience
as well as the park’s overall business.

Brand is a conversation that can take place at any of the encounter points that exist
in a consumer experience. At a theme park, the user could enter the experience at
any point though a phone call to the park or travel agent, or a purchase at a
souvenir stand. The user picks his/her point of entry: the user is in control.

A credit card owner has multiple entrance points into a brand. The card owner could
enter her experience by paying a bill online or making a purchase at a store.
Wherever she enters into the experience, she will be touched by the brand. It is the
responsibility if the company to ensure a meaningful contextualized experience if it
wants to retain the customer.

Contextualized Brand

The speed at which the Internet has evolved has highlighted the importance of the
brand experience. It has also revealed that the experience must be relevant and
contextualized.

Brand experience is a one-fold proposition: brand and experience cannot exist with
the other. For a band to survive, it must display a very clear, distinguishable brand
promise, focus and goal. Brand attributes go beyond the immediate benefits of a
product or service and are influenced by the attributes of the brand promise, as it is
contextualized throughout the touch points of the consumer experience.
Contextualizing the consumer experience means developing a branded experience
that constantly exceeds a customer’s expectation. Imagine a scenario in which you
are connected to a true brandversation. Make it simple, a scenario booking an
airline ticket for a business trip. You want to arrive in New York and return a week
later. As you book the ticket, you are given a list of car rentals, hotels, restaurants,
and special events happening at the time of your visit, personalized to your own
preregistered preferences (sports fans get a list of sports events, geeks find the
latest techie exhibitions and hot spots in the city); a reminder to send a gift to your
dad for his birthday (with a suggested selection of gifts); a wake up and weather
service call. It was the Internet space that reconfirmed what was previously known
but has been somewhat forgotten. Branding means a great user experience. Good
Internet branding went beyond logos, taglines, slogans and corporate statements
into real-time interaction for an online experience that is meaningful.

But branding
does not stop there. Developing a contextualized experience may include doing
more than one company is able to provide. Coalition programs, partnership between
companies with the purpose of providing a seamless consumer experience,
recognize the importance of granularly defining a company’s brand relationship to
other companies in the emerging wi-fi environment. As consumers settle into their
digital, wired bubbles, the demand for personalized experiences will intensify.

Don’t leave Home Without it

Our communication technology has us wired to the world, exposing the user to the
branded experience 24/7, anywhere, any time and all at their choosing. The more
robust the technology becomes, the more creative minds find ways to employ it. M-
technology notifies us when we are in the vicinity of a friend or business contact. It
offers us coupons redeemable at restaurants we are passing by. It notifies us when a
book we are interested in has arrived as we pass by a store.

Today in Japan, DoMoCo has put all of this in place. Teenage girls have totally
embraced this technology, turning their mobile phoned/e-mail/entertainment/wi-fi
environment into a fashion item worn as a necklace.
Salarymen are wired in and out of the office as Gen3 mobile technology becomes
ubiquitous. A man looking through the car showroom window at the latest Mercedes
after the dealership has closed can use his phone to scan a QR code on the window.
This can activate a commercial on his mobile phone broadcasting a commercial
demonstrating all the features of the vehicle of any car he is interested in. NNT
DoMoCo’s success lies in its creative ability to align its brand with thousand of other
companies.

Cell phone ownership among teenagers in Sweden is 100 percent. The opportunity
to immerse an audience in a deep branded digital communication is limited only by
our ability to creatively use current and future technology.

Today’s branded experience is an interconnected experience that links the user with
a robust, meaningful, personalized, prioritized experience. It requires a brand vision
that is creative, customer-centric, and globally encompassing. The user is in control
they want information when they are ready to receive it. The digital environment
provides us with the technology to meet this demand. From blogs, podcasts, social
networks, destination sites, he user has more touchpoints to interact with and each
one offers an opportunity to deepen their loyalty to a brand but it requires a
brandversation that is imagination and compelling. It requires people with a
relentless creative vision and imagination to continually evolve the brand
experience.

Article by Ken Thurlbeck
From The Digital Designer ISBN 0-7668-7347-1

Ken Thurlbeck is an early evangalist on the web. Presently CEO of Thurbeck & Co. in New York city he has held the position od Senior VP Creative Director and Brand Strategist a companies including Digitas and Avenuea/Razorfish.

As a beginner, you would be forgiven for thinking that marketing is simply advertising your product or service, how wrong you are.

Marketing is the art of allowing people to know that your business exists. You could be selling brand new BMW’s at $1 each, but if nobody ever got to hear of your amazing deals then nobody could ever buy into the bargain. You would be left, scratching your head, thinking how do those dealers keep selling them?

You must get your message out by every method known to mankind. This can be by direct advertisement, by personal contact, by phone, by chat room, by ebook, by viral methods, by contests, by giveaways, by conference, by affiliation, by broadcast, by joint venture, by email, by by by, the list is endless. The subtleties of branding and image all play their vital roles.

Take this strange event for example, if I flew over Disney World one day in a small aircraft, like you do, then buzzed around for a while and wrote my name, Pete Lauder, in smoke, into the sky. Everyone that looked up would say Pete Lauder, who’s he?

Most would ignore the whole affair and carry on with the day out, but a small element would think, Pete Lauder, I’ll find out. On returning home they would most likely tap my name into Google and find one of my web pages, but there would be no mention of any event in Florida, in fact, as much as I love Florida, I live in the UK. They would then go on to read my site, trying to find out about this strange sky writing. As a result of visiting my sites, some readers would buy my product, some would subscribe to my newsletter, but they would all remember my name, perhaps only subconsciously, but remember me they would.

You don’t need to fly over Disney World, be clever and use the net.

Take ten years and propel yourself into the future, a major recession has hit the western world and everyone is suffering. The people that were once too cautious to venture into business, now see it for what it is, a means of survival. They want to maintain the lifestyle they once knew, and surely want to add to it, so they begin to look around the internet at some of the offers that bombard their inbox daily.

Very soon they will come across the words, by Pete Lauder. Our prospect will instantly, subconciously connect with the name, because they have seen it before, and as if by magic, our prospect will follow me down any path I am steering at the time.

Because I’ve been working away in the background for ten years with my marketing, I am still around, and my name is a respected authority on internet business, and quite rightly so. I am sitting pretty, but my business still needs prospects.

By doing what I do now, I can guarantee that there will never be a shortage of new and eager prospects knocking on my door for the rest of my life. Your mission is to get yourself known and accepted, by every means possible. I am an experienced copywriter, but prefer to illustrate my messages by highlighting a method and allowing the prospect to work it out, this is a very powerful marketing technique, and you should be using it.

Marketing is never advertising for the moment, as I write this, although it is a legitimate, informative, published article, it is still, a form of marketing.

Just for the record, do you remember my name?

Pete Lauder is an internet publisher and success coach with a wealth of practical business experience. You can learn all aspects of business and success, by creating systems that allow you to earn as you learn. http://homebizassistant.com

A few months ago I phoned a number of builders and renovators to research some upcoming magazine articles. Many were gracious enough to spend 5 or 10 minutes answering some questions (I always appreciate that).

One question I asked was “do you guarantee any part of your service, over and above any industry warranty program?”

The interesting thing was the responses fell into two main, but vastly different, categories:

1) “Yes we do, and here it is.”

and

2) “Sure we do…well, it’s kind of like a reputation-thing…we don’t really put it in writing but, if something goes wrong, we’ll deal with it.”

Now, here’s the really interesting part — only one person fell into the first category…everyone else fell into the second.

Pretty striking, isn’t it? Of all the builders and renovators I spoke with, only one had a guarantee over-and-above industry standard, in writing. Everyone else were basically saying “trust us, we’ll take care of it.”

Now, if you’re spending tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of dollars (or more), which are you going to respond more favorably to — “just trust us” or “trust us, and here it is in writing”?

The Miracles of Guarantees

There is a lot of good in guarantees, and not just for the consumer. As a business, you can really benefit, and differentiate yourself, with guarantees.

Here’s three reasons why you should consider them.

REASON #1: No One Else is Doing It

There is no better way to differentiate yourself than by doing something no one else will do. And why isn’t anyone else offering guarantees in writing? Simple…for the same reason you’re probably not: they’re afraid everyone will take advantage of the guarantee and drive their business into the ground.

This is the #1 reasons most businesses don’t use guarantees, and it’s completely unfounded — it fact, the exact opposite is true…and here’s why…

REASON #2: You Attract More Business

Most builders and renovators don’t want to grow their business but, rather, just get more from it. But whether you’re growing your business, or trying to make more from it, the strategy is the same: attract more so you can have your choice of projects.

What if a hundred people banged on your door Monday morning and said “we want you to do our next build / renovation.” Would you turn them away and say, “sorry…too many people” or would you say, “great…tell me what you want done, and I’ll pick the five (or ten, or thirty) that I most want to work with.”

A guarantee helps you do that.

REASON #3: You Can Charge More

The biggie! Who else is sick and tired of low profits? Who has to fight just to get a good price (and a good margin) for a project, only to see the already low profit potential decrease as the problems pile up, and the costs mount (if the low-bidders didn’t steal the project from you in the first place)?

I believe the vast majority of professional builders and renovators don’t charge enough to compensate for the value they deliver in the first place…let alone all the extra pressures that push their prices (and profits) down.

The single easiest way to increase profits is to increase price…and the single easiest way to do that is to increase the value.

One way to do that is offer a “take-it-to-the-bank, get-it-in-writing” guarantee.

If there’s a second reason why most businesses don’t include guarantees it’s because “I can’t afford it.” Well, you can afford it if you charge for it.

If someone is renovating and decides to have low-grade windows put in, they should be charged for low-grade windows, right? If, however, they decide to have high-end, sturdy, energy-efficiency windows put in, they should be charged for high-end windows…right?

So why would it be any different in any other aspect of your business? If you’re adding value, and people want that value, people will pay for it. This includes the protection, and peace of mind, guarantees give.

Set Yourself Apart…Attract More Business to Choose From While Increasing Your Profits!

Guarantees are a great way to put your prospects at ease, knowing that you’ll do the job right, and take care of them if problems should arise. But although every single builder / renovator I spoke with was “guaranteed” their work…only one was willing to put it in writing and earn the trust of their prospects.

The secret is to make sure:

. you can, and will, honour it (that should go without saying)

. know the potential cost, and frequency of the guaranteed work, so you can charge appropriately (this will be refined with time, but even if you’re just starting you can make a decent stab at it.)

and

. let your market know you guarantee your work where others don’t…you’ll become the first choice to do business with (and let the rest of the competition take on the business you don’t want).

You either do quality work or you don’t…right? So guarantee what you know you can, and let the competition wonder how you can ‘afford’ it — ’cause, when it comes from differentiating yourself and being able to defend your higher prices, you can’t afford not to.

Brett Martinson is a professional coach and consultant to the home building and renovation industry. Builders and renovators can sign up for a FREE subscription to his Successful Home Builders’ Newsletter AND receive his free, bonus 5-Part eBook, “5 Profit-Draining Mistakes Builders and Renovators Make…and How to Fix Them” at http://www.SuccessfulHomeBuilders.com

The name of your business is important–it’s one of the first things potential customers know about it. And having unique names for each of your products and services can be a powerful selling tool. One way to make yourself and your business attractive is to have something exclusive and enticing, promising benefits. Good names for your business, products and services can do that. Good names market for you.

Do you have a hard time coming up with names? Perhaps you called your business ABC Enterprises, because you just couldn’t think of anything else. What does that name say about you and what you do? Nothing. Nada. Zip. It doesn’t tell customers why they would want to do business with you, because they have no idea what it is that you do, or who you do it for.

Here’s my favorite way to come up with a name. I call it “Idea Storming.” OK, I just did it to you. Marketing with a name, that is. “Idea Storming” is a name I came up with to describe one of my services. Brainstorming has been done to death. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt from the seminar. Idea Storming puts a slight twist on it. You recognize the concept, but it has a different name, and it ties to my Idea Lady identity. Not a spectacular example, but see how it works?

Anyway, I help my clients to Idea Storm, but here’s how you can do it on your own. Get a piece of paper and a pen. Write down every word or phrase you can think of to describe your business. What do you do? Who are your clients? What results do you get for them? What words would your clients use to describe what you do? How would they describe the feeling they got doing business with you? Why is your business better than others?

Once you’ve got a nice, long list, keep going. Get out your thesaurus (or use the one in your word processor) to come up with words with meanings similar to what you wrote down. Scan books and magazine articles for words and phrases that jump off the page at you. Talk to friends and associates, and get them to Idea Storm with you.

Now, take your list and start combining the words and phrases. Take this word and add it to that one. Use this phrase, but substitute that word. Take pieces of two words and make a brand new word.

I’ve used this method to come up with lots of names and titles over the last few years. This is how I created names such as The Idea Lady, Solo-preneuring, and many more.

Another great benefit of Idea Storming is that even the words and phrases you don’t use in your name can be used in a slogan, on your business cards, in sales letters, in brochures and in other marketing materials.

This technique is simple. But it really works.

Copyright Cathy Stucker. As the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker can help you attract customers and make yourself famous with inexpensive and free marketing ideas. Get free tips, articles and more at http://www.IdeaLady.com/.

“Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish.
Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.”

– Dwight D Eisenhower

From top business executives, to people striving everyday in their communities. From traditional corporations, to the internet, “branding” has become one of the most significant marketing practices to date. We have all become accustomed to the fact that our favorite brand will consistently offer a certain level of quality.

We are so bombarded by product brands that we are barely conscious of them much of the time, but most of us have at least some level of brand awareness. We can repeat their ad slogans. Dude, you’re gettin’ a Dell! or Energizer, it just keeps going and going and going…
But most important for the companies that make brand-name products, is the fact that we look for them when we shop.

The business world has long recognized the value of creating a
recognizable and clearly defined “brand”. When you are looking for clothes, don’t you seek out brand names like Nike, Donna Karan or Gucci? At the grocery store, do you purchase generic lemon cake or Betty Crocker? Odds are that you’ve developed a preference for one brand or another in almost every type of consumer good you purchase.

The companies behind all of those brand-name products and the millions of other goods and services being pitched to you everyday, believe that a strong brand creates a bond with consumers by giving them something of value and by consistently delivering on their promise of doing it. Companies with powerful brands have learned that we will keep coming back to their products and services, and sometimes pay a premium price for them, if they consistently deliver on their “promise” of giving us what we want or need.

Think for a moment about the people you value most in life. Aren’t they people who deliver something you value? They have skills, knowledge, or personal characteristics that add to the quality of your life. Their “brands” or reputations carry a promise.

The individuals who are most successful in the world today, are those who offer the greatest value to the most people – just as those products and services with the strongest brands are the ones that offer us the greatest value.

Today’s marketing experts attribute the development of brand images for products and services to the advertising world. David Ogilvy, one of the masterminds of advertising in the 1960’s, popularized the idea of creating a lasting brand image for products in order to create long term customer loyalty. Ogilvy believed in selling not just the product but also the physical or psychological benefits that are “promised” in the products advertising and marketing.

Marketing scientists who study consumer buying habits say that brands can become so powerful that people will actually incorporate them into their everyday lives. One example of this phenomenon is the Eddie Bauer brand, which you will see not only on rugged clothing but also on home furnishings, bedding, baby furniture, rugs, lamps and garden accessories, not to mention the special edition Ford Explorer.

Successful companies like Eddie Bauer and others such as Circuit City, Best Buy, Apple Computer, Montgomery Ward, Sears and the like, spend millions and millions of dollars creating, advertising and building their brand names so that you and I will ask for their products. These giant companies understand the long-term benefits of building a brand that stands out from the crowd, and so should you!

One up and coming internet marketer by the name of Anik Singal,
has created a very powerful brand-name in a relatively short period of time. If you don’t know about him yet, you should get to know him soon, as he is an excellent person to model after in terms of building your own brand-name recognition. Anik recently launched a training program called Affiliate Classroom that was already highly anticipated in the internet marketing community before it even launched, and has since grown to over 28,000 loyal followers. In fact, Top Internet Marketers are saying about the Affiliate Classroom that, “There’s so much valuable information in here that’s absolutely gold!”

Anik, and his pet project, Affiliate Classroom, have built a powerful brand-name. It was done by simply offering something of great value, in this case, affiliate marketing training and guidance of extremely high quality, and by consistently delivering on that “promise” of giving others what they want and need.

Until next time, I wish you much success.

This article was written by Rodney Brooks
Rodney Brooks is CEO of Brooks Global eBusiness Solutions
Brooks Global eBusiness Solutions is located in Bridgeton, NJ
Rodney can be contacted by email at: brooksglobal@yahoo.com

For more information on affiliate marketing, home and business telecommunications, VOIP, home business opportunities, home loans, auto loans, insurance, and websites. Free downloads from Sitesell! Google News, small business help, online business startup and much, much more, visit:
http://brooksglobal.blogspot.com

My first year as a Cyberpreneur was a steeplearning-curve. I was an academic beforestarting an online business, so I had a lot to learn.But even if you were in offline-business before goingonline, you may still have to learn some new skills-online business is a whole new ball-game. Here aresome of the things I learnt in my first year in CyberSpace:

(1) Be careful who you register your domain with.Some domain name registrars make it very difficult tochange your web host.

I registered my first two domains with a registrarthat caused me more headaches than I care to thinkabout.

When I needed to transfer one of my domain names to anew web host, my original email address had changed. Iwas no longer able to send them an email from thataddress and so I couldn’t authenticate my request fordomain transfer.

So I tried to update my personal record with my newemail address. I got a message saying that I couldonly change my email address by sending an email frommy original email address (which no longer existed).

This bureaucratic nightmare went on for 4 weeks. Toadd to my frustration, I was communicating with amachine, not a human being. By the end of that time Ihad no less than 35 computer-generated emails tellingme that my domain could not be transferred.

Finally, I sent my request for domain transfer in a5-page fax, including photocopy of my passport. Theythen sent me an email saying my request for domaintransfer could not be processed because my request wasnot on company letterhead.

So I designed a letterhead and re-submitted the 5-pagefax. Finally, 6 weeks after my first request, my domain wastransferred.

To avoid this kind of experience I recommend you useregister.com: http://www.register.com

Using their online Domain Manager, it took me lessthan two minutes to transfer my domain!

(2) A slow-loading index page is still one of themain reasons that online businesses lose customers.

Surveys show that the average surfer will wait no morethan 8 seconds for a web page to load before movingonto another website. So ‘load-time’ is a vitalconsideration when you choose a web host.

Below is a website that allows you to check the load-timeof a web host:http://www.hostpulse.com/app/networktools/ping.asp

(3) Once you’ve designed your home page and uploadedit to your server space, check to see what it lookslike to other people. What you’re seeing may not bewhat other people are seeing.

I once designed a home page I was very proud of - Ihad added a piece of javascript that gave the day anddate.

Then one day I checked my home page at Anybrowser.com.I was horrified to see that my home page was invisibleexcept for my company logo and the navigation bar. Fortwo weeks it had been virtually blank to mostvisitors! So take a minute and look at your websitethrough your visitors’ browser:http://www.anybrowser.com/siteviewer.html

(4) If a customer asks you for a refund, give it tothem immediately, even if you think it’s unjustified.You’ll be out of pocket by a few dollars, but yourname and your integrity will be intact. Your good nameis perhaps your most precious commodity on theInternet. Remember these words from Shakespeare:

“Who steals my purse steals trash;

’tis something, nothing;

‘Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands;

But he that filches from me my good name

Robs me of that which not enriches him,

And makes me poor indeed.”

(Othello, Act III. Scene III.)

(5) Reply to emails quickly. Nothing impresses memore on the Internet than a rapid response to abusiness enquiry. Try and respond within 2 hours, orat least within 24 hours.

(6) Never reply angrily to abusive emails or flames.People who send flames want you to reply, but there isnothing to be gained by replying. An abusive email canbe very disturbing, but the best thing to do is ignoreit. Better still delete it - that way you remove itfrom your life and you remove the temptation to reply.

(7) Lastly, never give up. Most successes are due tosheer persistence:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of

persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common

than unsuccessful men of talent. Genius will not; the

world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and

determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan, ‘press

on’ has solved, and always will solve, the problems of

the human race.” (Calvin Coolidge)

————————————————————
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
————————————————————

There are three basic types of logos: text, symbol, and combination logos. The type of logo that will work best for your company depends on a number of considerations, such as the size of your company, the uniqueness of your name, and a variety of other factors.

Text logo

A text logo (also sometimes called a logotype or word mark) is a logo largely made up of the text of the company’s name. This type of logo can have some graphic elements – lines, boxes, borders – that interact with, surround, or even form the letters. However, the graphic elements should be used as an accent to the text, not as a major or equally-weighted part of the logo.

A text logo works well when:

• You have a multi-word business name. If your business name is made up of many words, that are not commonly or easily abbreviated, or when an abbreviation may not be appropriate developing a text logo will keep the logo design as simple and clean as possible.

• You’re working with an innovative, unique business name, as with Yahoo or Google. In each case, the business name is enough to make the logo memorable.

• You’re designing a logo for a large company that offers many types of products, services, or a combination of both, that may be hard to define or “wrap up” in a single picture or symbol.

• You’re designing a logo “for the long haul” – there is less concern about your company “outgrowing” a text logo – they are timeless and classic.

• Trademark protection is highly important – as long as your business name is unique, then a text logo will also be unique.

A text logo may not be the right choice if:

• Your business name is not unique; this can mean difficulty for building your brand recognition. Then, without a symbol, the logo will be more difficult to remember or to associate with your business.

• Your business name does not describe what you do, it can be hard to tell what products or services you offer when just a text logo is used. Taglines or other graphic elements will need to be employed to tell your audience more about your business.

Symbol logo

A symbol logo is the opposite extreme in design from a text logo. This type of logo includes neither words nor letters – only symbols, images and shapes.

A symbol logo works well when:

• Your company already has a high level of brand recognition. If who you are and what you do are already widely known, then you can use a symbol logo as an elegant and clean solution.

• You have been using a combination logo for some time and have now built up enough brand recognition for your symbol to stand alone. This is a common transition for a logo design to take when your company grows.

• You have a unique symbol in your industry – you wouldn’t want to be confused with or mistaken for anyone else in your industry!

• You have the time and energy to trademark your logo, and then to police and enforce that trademark. This is how you ensure that your logo continues to be uniquely yours.

• You have a global presence and can develop a universal, graphic symbol that speaks to you and audiences. Additionally, a symbol can have meanings on many levels, and can also have different meanings in different cultures

A text logo may not be the right choice if:

• You are a company just starting out, you must have the budget and desire to educate your audience on your new symbol logo. This can be a difficult task.

Combination logo

A logo that in some manner combines both a symbol and the company name. The symbol and text can be integrated together, side by side, or with one located above the other.

Combination logos are the most common type of logo for several reasons:

• A combination logo offers the best of both worlds. This type of logo offers a memorable logo graphic that tells the story of who you are, what you do, and what makes you different, all in conjunction with your business name for easy identification.

• A combination logo is an excellent choice for a small- or medium-sized company or a company just starting out, to begin to build brand recognition, because a combination logo is both visually strong and explanatory. The symbol can speak to the services that the company offers, while the company name increases the company recognition.

• Combination logos are easier to copyright and protect than a symbol-only logo, because the logo symbol will always be used in conjunction with the business name. This automatically makes the logo unique.

You can use this guide to determine the best type of logo to design or to have designed for your company, based on the size of your business, how well-known you are, your business name, and your business plans, among other factors. Choosing the right type of logo design is the first step in building your company’s visibility, credibility, and memorability.

About the Author

Erin Ferree, Founder and Lead Designer of elf design, is a brand identity and graphic
design expert. She has been helping small businesses grow with bold, clean and
effective logo and marketing material designs for over a decade. elf design offers
the comprehensive graphic and web design services of a large agency, with the one-
on-one, personalized attention of an independent design specialist. Erin works
closely in partnership with her clients to create designs that are visible, credible and
memorable – and that tell their unique business stories in a clear and consistent
way. For more information about elf design, please visit:

Logo design at http://www.elf-design.com