How to get a response from a total stranger

The beauty of the Internet is that it is easy for anyone to contact complete strangers from all over the world and get questions answered by them, says Eszter Hargittai in Inside Higher Ed (www.insiderhighered .com, “A primer on electronic communication”). The problem arises when people don’t know how to pose their questions to total strangers. Hargittai says that everyone is busy these days, and if you don’t want your e-mail to land in the recipient’s trash folder, you should follow these tips:

• Write a clear and descriptive subject line.

• Address the person politely.

• State your reasons for contact.

• Introduce yourself.

• Explain who you are, what you are doing and what you want to know.

• Restate your question and elaborate, if necessary.

• Thank the person and sign off with a formal signature.

• Read your letter and make sure it says exactly what you want it to say—and is error free.

• Get in touch again in a week if you’ve gotten no response.

• Don’t make urgent requests. Assume that the person on the other end is as overwhelmed as you are.

Three skills for better negotiation

Negotiating is a make-or-break skill, whether you’re a CEO in charge of a merger or a parent trying to sort out a sibling squabble.

Follow these tips to negotiate agreements productively and without stress:

• Keep an open mind. Brainstorm ideas. Listen to outlandish proposals. Entertain unusual possibilities. This

will expand opportunities for agreement.

• Treat people fairly. When people feel you’re being fair with them, they’re more likely to make real commitments. If they think you’re trying to cheat them, they’ll walk away in a huff. You won’t get commitment unless the other party feels you’re sincerely trying to do what’s right.

• Listen actively. Don’t plan what you’re going to say while the other side is talking. Pay attention to what they’re saying so you know where they’re coming from and what they really want. When your response makes it clear that you’ve really been listening, they’ll be more willing to listen to your proposals.

Use Social Media To Get Exposure

Nowadays, if a business is not on a social media site, or several for that matter, then they are deemed to be missing out and missing out big time. The great thing is; it is easier to connect with social media sites and they can do wonders for a business, regardless of how established the business really is!

There are many different discussions and opinions going around relating to SEO and social media as well. Many people believe that as most of the links on social media sites are noFollow, then they have no weight in terms of SEO and rankings. However, some tests have proven that sites with great social media coverage will rank better and people working at major search engines have confirmed that the social media profile will be taken into account.

Whether using social media for promotion or as an SEO tactic one thing is for sure; it should certainly be used. There are thousands of businesses that think because they have a website, people can find them. They believe that because they rank above the majority of their competitors in search engines, there is no need to attack social media. The reality is these people are wrong; there were businesses doing something similar 5 years ago, when every company had a website except for them! Getting onto social media sites is a must!

Getting into social media for people that do not really have any technical experience can be a struggle to start with, but it really is not as difficult as the majority of people think. By logging onto social media sites like Twitter, Face Book and My Space, business owners can not just start to promote their businesses further, but they can also connect with their target audience and understand what it really is that they want!

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future!!!

Social Media Marketing - Goals and Effectiveness

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a form of internet marketing, which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in various social media networks like You Tube, My Space, and Face book, social web application like dig, delicious, reddit, Wiki. The goal of each SMM program varies from business to business, but mainly involves building of brand awareness, increasing visibility and through this, sells a product or service.

Social Media Marketing is becoming an essential marketing tool for connecting with customers and optimizing online presence. Social Media describes the tools and platforms, people use to publish, converse and share content online. Video, pod cast, blogs, discussion boards and social networking sites are all tools, online businessmen can use to build relationship with their customers and keep them on websites longer. Social media provides more opportunities for organizations to present optimized content that can be indexed by search engines and ultimately improves site rating.

To implement some of the social media elements, it is first important to evaluate your customers to create an effective strategy. If your consumers are professionals who commute, then pod cast can be downloaded and can be very effective.

Posting video content on YouTube is a unique opportunity to improve your position in Google’s universal search results. WithYouTube, customers can visit the site, view your video and easily post to their own blogs, social networking profiles or websites. YouTube is a great way to reach a broader viewer and generate buzz around new products, especially if your product has a visual appeal.

Building healthy relationship with the customer, that last is an on-going process for a business person. Social media takes this a step further by making that relationship personal through blogs. It tells about you, not only about your product or service. A blog, which includes video, pictures and text, can build interest and loyalty among customers and a new way to search engine optimization. Create a page dedicated to community with website visitors and this will be interactive.

Social media encourages social visits to your site. Keep adding content to encourage customers to return regularly. With the advent of social media, consumers have become contributors, contributing to brand messaging. SMM is related to other online tactics such as SEO, SMO. It has a more active planned role in directing, influencing and suggesting the community members.

Boosting Local Business

When it comes to marketing, businesses just simply can not survive anymore without getting online. Online marketing can be extremely time consuming and extremely costly for those that do not have previous experience. There are plenty of ways to promote business online and social media strategies are usually a great place to start.

Social media strategies can help to boost local business extremely easily. Business owners need to utilize all of the different social media networks out there to really promote their business to the masses. The best thing about it is that is can be done by anyone, it just takes some careful planning.

Social media strategies come in all shapes and sizes, but generally, they all help to build a company’s’ brand identity to their targeted local audience. Promoting a business using the likes of FaceBook, Twitter and even YouTube allows businesses to stay one step of the competition, by ensuring that they are engaging with their target audience on a regular basis but in a cost effective manner.

The more people see products and services, the more they learn. The more people learn about these products and services, the more likely they are to buy them. This is something that social media strategies dwell on in order to be successful. Some of the most successful businesses in the world use social media to attract their target audience and to increase their overall brand image. The best thing about it is that all marketing techniques can be tracked, to see which campaigns are producing a positive ROI.

Making products or services attractive using social media strategies might not be as hard as many people think. By looking at what competitors are doing, business owners can try their hand at marketing campaigns that could grow their business over night without too much input or too many costs involved.

Social Networking Service

The internet has come about to be an effective marketing tool. The fact that more and more people are realizing that this global platform can be used effectively to widen their horizons is evident from the huge number of websites that are being created each day. Advertising online brings forward a whole lot of opportunities which was otherwise unimaginable. Once the website is created the next step would definitely be increasing the traffic to the website so that the client base can be widened with more number of visitors. Trying to find new and more effective ways of getting traffic to the website has resulted in developing new concepts like social networking services. You can register with any of the popular social networking sites by opening an account and creating a profile. You must be an active member on the forums of the social networking website. This would bring about an interaction between you and like-minded people and once you have established yourself on the social networking site you would realize that it provides a great platform to market your products and services.

Once you have established yourself on the social networking site, it would be a very productive platform to promote your business. Social networking not only gives you an opportunity to connect with like minded people but you can also simultaneously promote your business and increase the traffic to your website and thus make a positive impact on the profitability of your business.

All that you have to make sure is that your site is interesting for people to go back and visit again. The content of the site should be interesting and should not only be able to attract the attention of the visitor but also retain it. Regular updates would work in the favor of the site. SEO is another technique used for generating traffic to the site. People have content on the site that has a certain keyword density. This gets the site a high page rank in the search engines priority list thus, the site would get a lot more traffic which the search engine itself would divert based on the keyword searches.

Social bookmarking services are another way of increasing traffic to the website thus, contributing to the profitability of the business. One has to register the website with a social bookmarking service. This would lead to the website being listed with the social bookmarking service and any person making a search here would be directed to your site. With social bookmarking sites being very popular, by registering with a social bookmarking site you can actually cash in on their popularity.

With a little bit of effort and creativity the internet can be converted into a gold mine that would generate business for you on a regular basis. There are several social networking sites like MySpace, Tribe and the like. The secret to success lies in finding the right social networking service. Once you know how to utilize the services on the web to generate traffic then there is absolutely no looking back.

Social Media Strategies That Really Work

When it comes to developing a business brand image online, a lot of people simply do not really know where to start. More and more businesses are online these days and there are hundreds of different marketing campaigns that can be used to try and promote a business. The question is though; which ones really work and how hard are they to execute?

One thing that a lot of businesses are doing these days is signing up to social networking sites like LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a website that has been designed by professionals, for professionals. It helps people and businesses connect with others in their industry and in fact, in other industries as well. By being involved in such a high profile website, people will soon start to create their own perception of a company and will start to become aware of exactly what they do.

The same goes for the likes of Facebook, but on a different note. Facebook allows business owners to connect with their target audience at an extremely low cost. People can become fans of a business, or link to a business page and the brand image around a business can quickly grow here. The best thing about the social media strategies that are out there is that the majority of them are free. This means that businesses do not need to invest thousands in order to get some output from their efforts.

Here is the thing; the wider range of social networking websites a business uses, the more likely they are to be successful in attracting their target customer base. A lot of businesses limit themselves to just using things like Facebook, but over look the fact that a lot of their customer base may spend their time on other sites like MySpace or even Twitter. A range of social media strategies will help a business to grow quickly over time.

Keep employees motivated when work is boring

Some jobs are boring. That makes managing the people who do them a challenge, especially when those employees grew up with constant entertainment from TV and the Internet. How do you keep them engaged and motivated when they’re counting the hours until they get to go home and do something fun?

• Be honest. Acknowledge up front that the work isn’t very exciting, but explain why it’s important. Don’t just focus on the company’s profits. Emphasize how their work helps other people—co-workers, customers, and so forth.

• Give them goals. Sometimes a target can make work more interesting. Challenge employees in different ways: To greet the most customers, assemble the most widgets, count the inventory more accurately, etc. Offer a small reward to make the game more enticing.

• Look to the future. Employees are more likely to stick with a job, even a boring one, if they see the possibility of moving into something better. Describe potential career paths, and tell your people what they need to do in order to move up.

• Ask for feedback. Encourage employees to suggest ideas for making their work more interesting or productive. Implementing their ideas will show that you value their opinions and take them seriously. They’ll also be more invested in making their own suggestions succeed.

From the minds of youngsters

Young innocent minds sometimes are the wisest—and funniest. Here are some quotes from children that can apply to all ages:

“Never trust a dog to watch your food.”

Patrick, Age 10

“When you want something expensive, ask your grandparents.”

Matthew, Age 12

“Wear a hat when feeding seagulls.”

Rocky, Age 9

“Never try to hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.”

Rosemary, Age 7

“Never ask for anything that costs more than $5 when your parents are doing taxes.”

Carrol, Age 9

“Don’t ever be too full for dessert.”

Kelly, Age 10

“Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat.”

Joel, Age 12

“Listen to your brain. It has lots of information.”

Chelsey, Age 7

“Never dare your little brother to paint the family car.”

Phillip, Age 13

“Forget the cake, go for the icing.”

Cynthia, Age 8

“Remember the two places you are always welcome—church and grandma's house.”

Joanne, Age 11

Mobile Marketing Basics

Implementing a Mobile Marketing plan into your current marketing strategy really isn’t all that difficult and it’s actually less expensive than you think, but it will take time to set up, monitor and maintain. It can’t be stressed enough that Mobile Marketing is about consistency and commitment. You have to think about what you want to offer your customers, how you want them to react to the offer and what you will do to see it through.

Business is about building relationships and Mobile Marketing fits into this concept perfectly. In order to be successful in offering your customers what they want, you have to first know what they want.

To help you on your way – here are a several steps you can take to begin implementing Mobile Marketing in your business today:

• Learn the basics first. You have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run. If you are planning to go this alone and not hire an agency that specializes in this field, you must learn the basics. The Mobile Marketing Association’s Best Practices Document is a good place to start. Unless you are a computer and Internet guru, some of the information may seem over your head when you first start reading. It’s ok – take your time and you’ll catch on.
• Case studies are excellent examples. Case Studies help you to see what other businesses are doing in the mobile world. It can also help get your creative juices flowing as far as what you can do in your business.
• Walk the walk. Use mobile web frequently. There’s no better way to learn something new than by putting it into practice. Subscribe to as many text messaging campaigns you can find. If you aren’t already on an unlimited data plan, now would be a good time to change that. You have to use the technology if you expect to sell your customers on its benefits.
• Determine how you’re going to get your offer out to your customers: text messaging, mobile website, mobile coupons, mobile advertising or some combination of these.
• Find companies who can provide you the technological support you’ll need to get your offer out to the masses. You’ll need text messaging companies, mobile website builders, etc., to make it all come together. Or, if you prefer, hire a one-stop shop to handle it all for you.
• Never stop learning! Mobile Marketing is a new technology and just like everything else, it will continue to evolve even in its formative days. Learn what you’re competitors are learning – but do it first. Don’t get left behind!

Like it or not, Mobile Marketing IS the wave of the future of the Internet. The yellow pages and other forms of traditional marketing have run their course. It’s now time to embrace the new technology and discover what it can do for you and your business.

The Four Most Important Parts of a Mobile Website

Whether you’re creating a single application or an entire mobile Web strategy, the first step is understanding what makes mobile different from regular Web, and finding the unique opportunities of the mobile space – both practical and technical.

Think about it – you’re using your mobile phone in a special way. Your traditional Web development techniques and even your sales conversion methods may not translate directly between platforms. Trying to throw a “stripped down” version your company’s online presence on to a phone is usually a recipe for poor customer experiences.

Here are four of the most important practical concerns for every mobile site:

1. Screen Size: Your normal, content-rich web pages are going to be difficult to read on a mobile device. A good mobile site will require no side scrolling. Remember, mobile sites are always read top down – this should be what dictates your mobile layout.
2. Network Speed: Smartphones are smart – yes and with the ever-evolving technology, it’s only getting better, but network coverage isn’t universal just yet. That means pages that are heavy with content or images aren’t going to load the same for everyone.
3. Navigation: Not everyone is using an iPhone or even a touch screen device. Make it easy for your visitors to navigate through your mobile device.
4. Content: Customers are looking for something very specific when they conduct mobile searches. Give it to them. Don’t fill your mobile site with tons of sales copy and images. Keep the content relevant to the search.

Implementing just these few tips will provide your visitors with a positive mobile experience and keep them coming back time and time again.

Social Media - How to Market With Facebook

There’s few people that haven’t heard of Facebook, but with a billion users you need to learn how to market with Facebook. There are so many ways you can use Facebook to market your products or services, yet few people are aware of all these opportunities.

Every business owner, freelancer, and marketer needs to learn about the importance of having a Facebook fan page. It’s a quick and easy way to first make Facebook users aware of what your product(s) and/or service(s), then draw them in and keep them coming back.

Keeping them coming back to your page does not have to involve a bunch of hype. You’ll do far better by providing your “Likes” with information they can use. Tips that can help people, policies, sales that you might be running, and just general conversation. You can work in loyal customer promotions, offer coupons, contests, weekly giveaways, and the list goes on. Facebook users won’t forget about contests and free stuff. They’ll keep coming back to see what’s going on.

Engaging and interacting with the people that Facebook users that like your page is the best way to move those same people into paying customers, and paying customers that join your page can help give your business a boost when they confirm what a great business you have. Remember your goal is to attract Facebook users to your page and keep them there, and not just for the short term. Customer service begins long before you turn a visitor into a customer.

Facebook isn’t new but the full potential of the marketing tool that is right there at your fingertips isn’t understood by many. Why not be one of the first to really reap the benefits of this opportunity. It will put you miles ahead of the competition. You’ll be growing your business to new levels in no time.

Mobile Marketing Trends and How They’ll Affect Your Business

Mobile marketing is a brave new world, daring to take businesses where they have never been before. If you're not using a marketing guide, chances are you're going to end up lost in the shuffle. We've compiled what appears to be the hottest trends currently setting the mobile marketing world on fire.

1. Mobile advertising spending is going up, up and away. This year alone, mobile advertising spending has reached the billion dollar mark - on its way to $2.5 billion by 2014.
2. Smartphones are taking over the world. Ok, a little dramatic, yes, but you get the idea. It's expected that by the end of 2011, smartphone users will reach nearly 74 million or 23% of the mobile phone population. By 2015 that number jumps to 43%.
3. Keeping up with the iPads. Nearly every cell phone manufacturer has jumped on the tablet bandwagon in an effort to keep up with the popularity of the iPads.
4. Mobile websites are becoming the rage. With the increased need for reaching customers and prospects via mobile phone, web design has been forced to go mobile. New innovations are springing up in an effort to maximize websites for user ease.
5. Mobile meets social. Americans spend one of every six minutes online in a social networking environment and it's estimated that by 2015, the mobile social network population will hit 79 million. Yet another window of opportunity for marketers to increase their exposure via the power of social media.
6. Check-In Please. It's no longer enough for social media junkies to update their status. Now, they want to update their status with their exact location and who they're with. You have Foursquare, who experienced tremendous growth this year, and now Facebook has added their Places Application - all of this will lead consumers to expect mobile sites that can keep up with them.
7. Make it accessible. Consumers no longer need to rely on their desktops or even laptops. In fact, research shows the average cell phone user spends 6 minutes on their mobile browser. That means that these same consumers want mobile websites that are optimized for speed and efficiency and give them what they want NOW.

There's no doubt about it, folks, Internet users are fast becoming dependent on mobile sites for information and deals. If you're a business owner and hoping to succeed, it's imperative that you put mobile marketing on the front burner.

The Mobile Marketing Revolution Has Begun. How Will I Affect Your Business?

Today's marketplace is ever-changing and it's becoming harder to separate yourself from the competitors. From QR Codes to check-ins based on your location, mobile marketing is quickly changing the landscape of business. Consider these statistics for a moment:

• 96% of adults own cellphones - 37% of those are smartphones
• 82% of local searches result in offline action;
• There are 5 billion+ cell phone users vs. only 1.8 billion Internet users. Of those 5 billion, 51 million are using smartphones;
• Almost 1/3 of smartphone users who search for local businesses via mobile end up calling or visiting the location;
• The typical mobile phone user now sends more text messages than mobile phone calls. Furthermore, 73% of new mobile phone buyers report that text messaging is the most important feature on their phone. Text open up rates are 95% - and all are within the first five minutes of receiving.

Still think mobile isn't going to do anything for your business? Think again.

Mobile marketing brings your products or services to the customer in a fast way. We live in an "I want it now" society and mobile marketing satisfies the desire we all have for instant gratification. The already widespread acceptance of this new form of marketing is showing its value to brands worldwide. So if you're not on the mobile marketplace bus - prepare to be run over by your competitors.

Folks, the Yellow Pages along with other forms of traditional print advertising were great in their time but are now on the brink of going by the way of the dodos. The new marketing mindset is mobile marketing and communicating on the go. Your customers or clients want the convenience of communicating with you on THEIR terms - offer them that convenience through mobile marketing.

Remember - any product or service that has any type of commercial value can be marketed through mobile marketing - are you ready to get on board?

Mobile Marketing Trends and How They’ll Affect Your Business

There's no doubt that Mobile Marketing is here to stay. But just as with any new technology that comes down the pike, there is going to be a learning curve that goes along with it. This is no more true than when it comes to creating a Mobile Marketing campaign or a series of these campaigns if you're really feeling ambitious. We've done our homework and gone through the trials and tribulations of developing new mobile campaigns and have come up with the following tips to help you avoid the pitfalls.

• Know your goals and know your target audience. Just as with any other marketing strategy, it's important to know what goals you want to reach with your Mobile Marketing campaign. If you are looking for some type of customer feedback, crowdsourcing has become a hit (i.e Hershey letting consumers pick the next M&M color) so an SMS (text messaging) campaign would be a good start.
• Determine your budget. Mobile Marketing isn't as expensive as you may think, but there will be some overhead involved. There's no real right or wrong answer as to much how to allocate, however, for your first campaign especially, you may want to plan for a little more than consecutive campaigns to allow for list building, mobilizing your website, etc.
• Plan for ongoing engagement with your customers and prospects. It's important to give your campaigns, especially the first one, time to build. A key point to remember is successful business is all about building solid relationships - Mobile Marketing is no different. It's about building long-term relationships so always be on the lookout for ways to weave campaigns together over long periods of time.

Mobile Marketing, at least for now, is the most personal marketing platform for businesses that consumers can engage in. Make sure you have a plan in place to make the most of the opportunity.

Are You Already Marketing On The Internet?

Take a moment to think about how you would really answer this question. If given enough thought just about any business owner who utilizes the Internet for any purpose will likely find that whether or not they intentionally organized an Internet marketing campaign, they may already be marketing their products and services on the Internet. This article will examine some subtle ways business owners may already be marketing their business on the Internet.

Do you have a website for your business? Business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their products or services online just by virtue of the fact that they have a website online. Having a live website means there is the potential for curious Internet users to access your website. You may not be actively promoting your website but you may still find that your website generates interest in your products despite the lack of promotional endeavors; this is a form of passive marketing.

Do you participate in message boards and include a link to your website in your signature? Again business owners who answer yes to this question are already marketing their website online. Savvy business owners realize the importance of participation in industry related message boards to create an interest in their products and services, establish themselves as knowledgeable about the industry and offer a link to their own website even if it is in the signature line of their posts. However, even business owners who do not realize this may already be inadvertently enjoying the benefits of Internet marketing which result from message board participation just by doing something they enjoy and may be doing as a form of leisure activity.

Do you include keywords which are relevant to your business in the content of your website? Business owners who answer yes to this question are also already marketing on the Internet by optimizing their website for these keywords. These search engine optimization (SEO) affects the websites whether or not they were even aware of the concept of keyword density and how it can help to SEO a website. Business owners will likely use certain words often depending on the type of products and services they offer just because it is natural and logical to do so. This tendency, however, can result in search engines boosting your website rankings for these particular keywords. The concept of SEO is much more involved and complex than simply using keywords frequently but business owners can gain some benefit just by naturally applying relevant keywords to their website.

Do you solicit feedback from your customers online? This is yet another example of how business owners may be accidentally marketing their business on the Internet. Most business owners realize the importance of soliciting feedback from customers for business purposes and business owners who offer products online might solicit feedback in the form of online surveys. Although the business owners may be doing this simply for a business purpose the fact that it is done online makes it fall into the category of Internet marketing.

We have already discussed several ways in which business owners may already be marketing online but what about business owners who want to have an increased online presence? Business owners who may already be marketing online accidentally may wish to launch a full scale Internet marketing campaign. The best way to do this is to hire a consultant with experience in Internet marketing to assist you in creating a campaign which is effective for your target audience.

5 Techniques To Hyperforming Employees

 As a manager strides into the office among the staff, he has the power to positively shift the outlook of the employee for the entire day.

Words, gestures, even the expression on your face spell the difference in how an employee perceives your opinion of them. These unconscious actions tell the employee what they mean to you and how valuable they are to you as a manager and to the organization.

Letting the employee feel needed and appreciated is a key factor to maintaining maximum employee morale and motivation. If your employees feel that they play a key role in the company by the work they provide, then they are much more likely to say that they like their job and to strive to better themselves at that job. For many, feeling valued is just as important as high pay, and promotions.

Let's build zest with these tactics:

1. Let them feel your presence. Coming to work and announcing your arrival is a great way to motivate employees and get them upbeat on the first hour of the day. Striding through the doors and simply saying good morning with a smile on your face can make all the difference in the world.

2. Verbal Acknowledgement. This kind of commendation doesn’t have to be over dramatic or exaggerated; most times showing respect for your employees by saying simple things like please and thank you are easy and effective ways to motivate your employees. Praise like “you did a great job” when the employee deserves it is sure fire way that verbal praise can work to motivate employees.

3. Lay clear expectations. Communicating deadlines, milestones, and job objectives are essential to completing company mandates efficiently. Sometimes these things are reported very well but they may change. These changes may not be discussed in detail and therefore causes employees to feel that they are either not important enough to be told why the changes are taking place, or that the manager has made a mistake. Neither of these thoughts will lead to a motivated employee. One way to prevent this is to always get some kind of feedback from the employee about the job so that you are certain that he knows what is expected. If there is a change in a project, inform the employee why. Keep them part of the solution to the problem.

4. Provide employees regular feedback. Let the employee know when he is doing a commendable job. On the flip side, let the employee know when you are not pleased with the outcome and state your reasons. This is a great opportunity to let the employee know how they can do better next time. Ask the employee if there is anything that you as a manager can do to help with the change. Solicit feedback from the employee. Talk it over and enjoy a real discussion. This will make the employee feel like you are not offend about the job, but that you are genuinely concerned and willing to help rectify the problem.

5. Generate consequences. Make sure to not only tell the employee when you are satisfied with the work, but also provide recognition for marvelous work. A personally written thank you card is an effective and inexpensive way to do this. When an employee fails to meet company expectations, it is demotivating to other workers, after all, they may think, “If he isn’t doing it why should I?” That is why it is so important to broadcast consequences for those who do not perform as expected. Be consistent with consequences among the staff.

Employees will love working with you and you will enjoy working with them as you take a few minutes out of your day to butter their emotions. Spend time with employees during and after work. Demonstrate that you care and value them as important members of the company.

Take control of stress in the workplace

If your work is so pleasant that you spend all weekend looking forward to Monday morning, you probably don’t have to read this. But if your job is a source of stress and tension—as it is for many people at least some of the time—you need to get control of the frustration before it turns you into a wreck. Here’s some advice for keeping stress at bay:

• Identify the cause(s). Pay attention to what makes you nervous or angry at work. Try keeping a log of your emotions throughout the day, positive as well as negative, and look for trends. This can help you avoid stressful situations, or at least deal with them better when they hit.

• Manage your time. Pressure is a common source of stress, and it usually results from a lack of time to do everything you want or need to do. Track how much time you spend on your daily tasks, and look for ways to delegate or eliminate anything that doesn’t really add value. Set realistic goals for yourself so you’re not trying to do everything. Learn how to say no.

Identity thieves lurk everywhere

While we fret over the possibility of having our personal information stolen online, the truth is we’re more likely to have our identities filched offline. Online identity theft methods constituted only 12 percent of fraud in cases where the victims knew how their identity was stolen, according to the “2008 Identity Fraud Survey Report” by Javelin Strategy & Research. The majority of cases of identity theft (79 percent) took place through traditional methods, such as stolen or lost wallets, checkbooks, credit cards, mail tampering, or “shoulder surfing”—where the thief looks over the shoulder of the victim at an ATM or cash register. Seventeen percent of the victims reported “friendly thefts”—those perpetrated by friends, family, or in-home employees.

Here are some tactics Javelin recommends for safeguarding your personal information and preventing identity theft:

• Password protect all your digital devices, including computers, PDAs, and mobile phones.

• Choose passwords and PINs that can’t be easily guessed.

• Shred all documents that have personal information on them before disposing of them.

• Use a locked mailbox for incoming and outgoing mail.

• Monitor your online accounts frequently.

• Avoid mailing checks to pay bills or deposit funds. Move your financial transactions online.

• Review your credit information no less than once per year. To receive your free annual report from one or all of the national credit agencies, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877.322.8228. Other methods of accessing your reports may charge a fee.

• Never provide personal information to anyone unless you initiated the contact.

• Install and regularly update firewall, antispyware, antivirus, and browser security software.

• When shopping online, check that you are using a reputable firm.

• Reduce access to your personal information wherever possible. Be aware of your surroundings when you conduct transactions in public.

Connecting With Video

Think for a moment about all the websites that you visit when you’re on the web. Do the majority of them have some sort of video incorporated into their website? I bet they do! There are constantly new ways to incorporate video into your website. If you’re not using video yet in some way, maybe it’s time to jump on the bandwagon because it is surely not going away.

Interviews

One of the easiest ways that you can produce content on the web is to conduct an interview. Now who you conduct the interview with is entirely up to you, maybe it’s your favorite blogger, an expert you know personally within an industry, or maybe you can even get a best-selling author to do an interview with you for your website. To me the best way to conduct these interviews is through video, possibly using Skype or some other video type of platform. The benefit of doing a video interview is it takes less time and you can have a casual conversation with other individuals and pump out some really great content for your website viewers, versus the text format interviews which can take a long time if there are tons of questions. Plus with video you really get a sense of the personality and passion the person you’re interviewing has which helps to create a real connection with your viewers.

Testimonials

Why not spice up your testimonials by having those who provide them to you do a video instead of submitting text? Again, it creates more of a connection for the viewers since they can actually see the person and see how much they have benefited from using the product or service you’re offering. One company that is really doing this well is bigcommerce.com. They have a handful of testimonials submitted by satisfied customers of their product and I found them to be really interesting to watch. They were short and to the point of why the product works for them. So if you have some customers who are not shy about video why not go this route?

Video tutorials

Now this is somewhat similar to the how-to videos, but video tutorials are more for explaining and demonstrating the product that you are offering. Video tutorials are a huge asset to have in the help center for your customers. Speaking from experience as being a customer, I always try to solve the problem myself and if I run into a problem or have a question the first thing I do is go to the company’s website in search of the help center. Within that help center the one thing that I hope to find the most is a video tutorial series showing me how to effectively use the product. In the end it saves me the hassle of having to call you for help or e-mail you and it saves you, the product provider, the time of having to help me solve the problem; plus answer the same question or problem for others. 

What You Need To Make Your Own Videos

Online video websites; there is a good chance that you have heard of them before. In fact, there is a good chance that you have even used them before. When it comes to using online video websites, most internet users only view the videos that are available. Did you know what you could also do more than that? A large number of online video websites will not only allow you to view videos, but make and share you own.

Making and sharing your own videos, sounds exciting doesn’t it? If it does there is a good chance that you would like to get started right away. However, before making plans for your next online video, you are advised to think about how the process works. This is important because it will let you know what type of equipment you will need to get started.

Before uploading and sharing you newly created online video, you will first have to shoot it. To do this, you will need video recording equipment. Video recording equipment can include camcorders, webcams, cell phones, and digital cameras. If you are looking to produce a quality video, you may want to think about using a camcorder or a webcam. Cell phones and digital cameras will work, but many only provide you with a limited amount of recording time. In addition to a limited amount of time, not all digital cameras and cell phones will record sounds. Although these sounds can be added in later, it may be time consuming.

Once you have created your online video, you will need to find a way to get it to your computer. Most recording devices, including camcorders, webcams, digital cameras, and cell phones will come with the necessary equipment. This equipment often includes computer cables. Once you hook your recording device up to your computer, your video should begin to load. However, for this to be done you will need to have moving making software installed on your computer.

When it comes to movie making software, you will likely find that your computer already has a program on it. Most computers, especially ones made within the last few years, have the software programs preinstalled. If your video does not automatically load, once your recording device is hooked up to your computer, it may be a sign that your computer does not have a movie making program. If this is the case, you will need to purchase some. Movie making software programs can easily be purchased online or from a wide variety of different retail stores.

Once your video has been loaded onto your computer and recognized by movie making software, you have a number of different options. If you are satisfied with your video, as it is, you can save it and then move on. If you would like to make alterations, now would be the time to do so. Depending on the type of moving making software you have, you should easily be able to edit your video. This editing may include, but should not be limited to, deleting scenes, adding captions, and the adding of music. Once you have made all of your edits, you will need to save your movie.

The final step to making an online movie is to find an online video website that you can upload your video to. Popular online video websites including YouTube and Goggle Video; however, you can find additional sites by performing a standard internet search. After you follow the directions, provided by each individual online video website, your video should be displayed for the rest of the world to see.

Reputation

"Your reputation is in the hands of others. That's what a reputation
 is. You can't control that. The only thing you can control is your
 character." Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

7 "Quick Fixes" Every Marketer Needs To Know About

When your profits begin a downhill slide or just seem at a stalemate, you scratch your head and ask a thousand times, "What am I doing wrong?" Well, the truth is that you may not be doing anything "wrong", but there may be some things you could do to bring about a change. The next time you're up against a brick wall, try implementing these techniques into your marketing campaign, and watch those blues disappear!

1. Change Your Advertising Focus

Hey, everyone is a prospective customer, but let's face it... not everyone is interested in what you have to offer. Why waste advertising dollars on those who don't even pay attention?

Find your niche. Identify the audience with the greatest need for what you have, and learn all you can about them. Become a specialist who knows what they need, and advertise directly to them. You're customer conversion rate will soar!

2. Be Unique.

There are plenty of copy cat marketers out there trying to mimic the success of those around them. Sometimes it works... sometimes it don't. But the fact of the matter is that the more unique you are the more attention you will get.

What isn't your competition doing? Yeah, try that! Chances are they can't or aren't willing too. That's your key to success!

3. Offer a Bonus.

Who will pass up a freebie? Add these "on the house" products to your sale to sweeten up the deal. The freebie doesn't need to be anything too big, or cost you anything. Just the idea of the bonus will increase the perceived value of the purchase in the consumers eyes. And yeah, they're all looking for the best buy for their buck!

4. Gather Follow Up Info.

Most customer don't make a purchase the very first time they walk through your door, but don't let them escape your clutches. Find out who they are, and how to contact them in the future. The longer you keep a line of contact open with them, the more trust you build up. Sooner or later they'll be back and ready to buy this time!

5. Wipe Out The Risk Factor.

The biggest reason people hesitate before making a sale, is the lack of confidence that they are making the best choice. Hey, no one wants to invest in a product that doesn't live up to its name. In fact the fear of making a bad choice is greater than the desire for the product.

You can totally eradicate the risk factor for consumers by providing an unconditional money back guarantee. When you guarantee satisfaction, they won't be so hesitant to get out their wallets and commit themselves to the purchase.

6. Be Diverse.

The buzz word in the Internet Marketing realm is Affiliateships. Affiliate marketers find products that are related to their own products, and offer it to their customer. The customer wins because he can learn more about the product he is investing in, and you win with commissions for an easy sale. After all, it's much easier to sell to a customer with his wallet out and open than to build a relationship with a brand new customer.

7. Keep Your Eyes Peeled.

Marketing is an ever changing entity. The Internet has brought tremendous change to the way we do business and advertise. It's wise to keep your eyes peeled for new advertising methods that will add to your profit margin. A word to the wise: don't go too far out on the limb. Keep 80 percent of your marketing budget working on the tried and true methods that have made you successful, but use the remaining 20 percent to test for ways to increase your advertising success.

These seven tactics can bring even the most sluggish marketing problem to life. Try one or all of them and watch your sales begin to climb once again... or even for the first time!

Google Video – What Is It?

Are you an individual who loves using the internet? If so, what do you use the internet for? Many individuals use the internet to do homework, to do work, to research a particular topic, to shop online, or even for entertainment purposes. If you are an individual who loves using the internet for entertainment purposes, there is a good chance that you have heard of Google Video before. If you haven’t heard of Google Video before, you are encouraged to familiarize yourself. Google Video is one of the best ways to seek entertainment online.

Google Video, as you can probably tell by the name, is an online video website. Online video websites are rapidly increasing in popularity and so is Google Video. With online video websites, in the general sense, you are able to view free online videos, buy online videos that may be available for sale, or make, upload, and share your own homemade videos. Of course, different online video websites have different rules and restrictions; however, you will find that Goggle Video allows you to do most of the things mentioned above.

With Google Video, it is encouraged to that you register with the program. Registration is free and will only take a few minutes of your time. As with many other online video websites, you will have more access to special features once you are officially registered. Although you will not need register with Google Video or sign into your account to watch a free video, you will need to if you want upload your own video or buy a video that is available for sale. Buy a video for sale? If you are wondering why it is not completely free to use Google Video, you are not alone.

A large number of online video website are completely free to use, so why isn’t Google Video? When it comes to online videos, there is something that you need to know. Online users can post their own videos online because they own the rights to do so, but the same cannot be said for many movies, music videos, and television shows. With Google Video, you may be able to find a select number of free television shows, movies, and music videos, but most you need to pay for. This is perfectly normally considering it is illegal to post videos online without first getting permission or paying for the copyright.

With most other online video websites, you can easily search for videos, to watch for free or to buy, by performing a search. Once at the main Google Video webpage, you should be able to use the search function to find whatever you are looking for, whether it be a how-to video, a recap of your favorite television show, or your favorite music video. The good thing about Google Video is that you will know right away whether or not you must pay to see a particular video. This may help to prevent you from getting excited that you found your favorite television show online, only to later learn that you must pay for it.

As previously mentioned, Google Video also allows you to make, upload, and share your own videos with other internet users. Making, uploading, and sharing your videos with other Google Video users is as easy at it could be. In most cases, you will need to load your video onto your computer, edit it if you want, save it in one of the many accepted movie formats, and then upload it to the Google Video system. In a few simple steps, you could be well on your way to sharing your video with the rest of the world.

If you are interested in learning more about uploading and sharing your own videos or if you want to watch free online videos, you will want to visit the Google Video website. That website can be found at http://video.google.com/.