This guest post is by Wendy MacQueen, www.mormac.ca
Throughout history, businesses have used demographics to define their customer base and tailor where they deliver their marketing messages. These tried-and-true methods of marketing helped businesses focus only on their customer, rather than a mass approach.
Now, in the 21st century, we have access to customer information
Ensuring the equity in your brand is pivotal to its perception in the marketplace. I found the following article recently that give some great insights into how you can ensure you retain the equity in your brand.
Domain names need to be chosen carefully. Your business and your domain name are intertwined. It represents you and who you want to be in the market. When choosing a domain name is it a wise idea to purchase others that are similar to the one that you chose for yourself.
Let’s weigh up the pros and cons.
There are many ways to enhance your business. If you are looking to pursue one of those ways, consider using eBooks. EBooks are the easiest way for people to acquire books without needing a bookshelf to house them all.
Check out this article to find out some of the benefits of e-books:
Ensuring the equity in your brand is pivotal to its perception in the marketplace. I found the following article recently that give some great insights into how you can ensure you retain the equity in your brand.
Many of you may be aware that Google has launched a new service for websites called Google Lively - a lightweight competitor to Second Life.
As this popped up, many marketing bloggers online have begun talking about how this might be relevant for for marketing purposes.
Microsoft may be considering a takeover bid for its main competitor, Yahoo! Once the leading search engine, Yahoo! has, over recent years come in a distant second to the apparent market leader Google.
It now seems like it is down to 2 in the battle of goliaths…Microsoft vs Google!
I think it is ironic that the Microsoft bid for Yahoo! comes in the same week that its greatest rival in the 90’s, “Netscape” has officially folded.
Microsoft is loosing big time in terms of market share when it comes to revenue, its as simple as that, however, there is no reason that they can’t take Google down a few notches just through the power of their marketing.
I’m not saying that its an ‘us’ against ‘them’ battle, but Microsoft has been the underdog before and have always come out on top.
It’s past the “1984” style of “Big Brother” however if they put their greed on the backburner they can take Google down a few notches easily. They have the resources to build a much better search engine portal and advertising system if they choose to invest in it.
I think that Microsoft will offer whatever it takes to win this one.
Personally, I give it 4 years before Microsoft controls the search engine market as well as the web browser market!
It just goes to prove that the net must go on.
Competition will be healthy for Google. It may bring prices down for advertising but I suspect that Goggle will now enforce themselves in some way to reduce the threat of Microsoft.
How it happens will all be revealed once the transaction takes place.
What ever it is I’m sure the consumer will benefit in the end.
Rumours are circulating again that Microsoft is considering a takeover bid for competitor, Yahoo! Once the leading search engine, Yahoo! has, over recent years come in a distant second to market leader Google.
The creation of this mega-search engine would provide well needed competition to Google who appear to be dictating to the market as of late with their search rankings, Google Slaps and questions raised over their analysis of sites in determining the Google Page Rank which many online marketers look to as a firm indicator of a sites value.
In addition to the Microsoft / Yahoo combination providing a valuable competitior to Google, it would also have major repercussions on the Australian market, with NineMSN and Yahoo!7 operating as competitors.
Do you remember what your New Years Resolution was?
If succeeding with it was based on ‘will power’ then the odds are that you have probably failed already. The reality of the matter is that people can rarely alter a habit through ‘will power’ alone.
Many of the experts claim that you can change any habit in just 21 days!
So, if you have a habit of sitting on the couch watching television before dinner, why not spend an hour reading marketing books or any books for that matter, books on money, personal finance, investment, real estate, marketing and in 21 days you will be more equipped than ever before to tackle your goals.
You should only ever try to change one habit at a time using this method so choose which one you want to break over the next 21 days carefully and consider that if you continue to change your habits in 21 day cycles you could break or improve at least 17 habits just in any one year.
To your success
Brad
Here’s a large forum thread I cam across with lots and lots of pictures of Guerilla Marketing. Some very cool ideas that I thought were really worthwhile sharing.
Brad
Smart Company has suggested that “Small and medium business owners could have less than a month to sack failed employees before Labor introduces new IR laws that make sacking workers much more expensive”.
You can read about their bold claimes in their article The Clock Is Ticking - Sack Dud Staff Before It’s Too Late. Smart Company says “For businesses with less than 100 employees, that means there could be less than a month left to remove problem employees without the threat of unfair dismissal claims and go-away money.”
Personally I think that it is time to look deeper into this problem. If companies have been carrying the underperforming and failed employees for this long, the question is Why?
Have you not noticed that your business is not performing as well as it could? Or did these companies just continue to tolerate poor performance because it was someone to do the work and you knew you could sack them at the drop of the hat, whenever you felt like it without any concern for the employee or their family.
If the employees are not performing they should be having regular reviews and if necessary, being performance managed to give them the best chance to succeed in your company.
It is far better to train an employee and have them leave than to not train them and have them stay.
It seems to me that the underlying attitude that the Liberal govenrment’s IR laws have brought into play are that you don’t have to worry about the employees because they are expendible at your whim.
So they don’t get well trained (an that is obvious from the poor level of customer service being displayed these days), the get reduced rates, hours and conditions and get potentially no warning that they are underperforming but just told “Don’t Come On Monday”!
It is an absolute disgrace that these type of articles and attitudes are being displayed before the new Government has even taken office.
Brad