What is Market Basket Analysis

Market Basket Analysis is a modelling technique. The basket enables us to diagnose on who is buying what product and what he/she 'may' 'most probably buy'. Based upon the theory that if you buy a certain group of items, you are more (or less) likely to buy another group of items. To put it simply it is Affinity Analysis.It is a technique that discovers co-occurrence relationships among activities performed by (or recorded about) specific individuals, groups, etc.

In the case of retailers with stores, market basket information enables the retailer to understand the buyer's needs and rewrite the store's layout accordingly, develop cross-promotional programs, or even capture new buyers (much like the cross-selling concept).

The set of items a customer buys is referred to as an itemset, and market basket analysis seeks to find relationships between purchases.

The challenge has been how to leverage this data to produce business value. Most have already figured out a way to consolidate and aggregate their data to understand the basics of the business: what are they selling, how many units are moving and the sales amount. However, few have ventured far enough to analyze the information at its lowest level of granularity: the market basket transaction.

At this level of detail, the information is very useful as it provides the business users with direct visibility into the market basket of each of the customers who shopped at their store. The data becomes a window into the events as they happened, understanding not only the quantity of the items that were purchased in that particular basket, but how these items were bought in conjunction with each other. In turn, this capability enables advanced analytics such as:

• Item affinity: Defines the likelihood of two (or more) items being purchased together.
• Identification of driver items: Enables the identification of the items that drive people to us that always need to be in stock.
• Trip classification: Analyzes the content of the basket and classifies the shopping trip into a category: weekly grocery trip, special occasion, etc.
• Store-to-store comparison: Understanding the number of baskets allows any metric to be divided by the total number of baskets, effectively creating a convenient and easy way to compare stores with different characteristics (units sold per customer, revenue per transaction, number of items per basket, etc.).

When Bad Buzz Happens to Good Companies

It seems almost inevitable these days: You run a search on your company's name or product and a negative review, remark or blog post appears in the top listings. What do you do? Don't  ... lose your cool and try to retaliate, It often does more damage than good. Instead what you probably could do is:

Do your best to resolve the issue with the dissatisfied person—publicly. It shows that you are persistent and take your customers' satisfaction seriously.

Take action to push the negative reports down in search-results pages. Submit a press release to PR distribution sites, or start a new blog about your company's products or services. Make sure you share the good information about your business, such as favorable stats or testimonials. All that good news will likely be listed in search results before the bad stuff.

Use social networking to build—and spread—positive buzz. People will refer your site if it has appeal for their peers. So provide pertinent and buzz-worthy info.

So in short: Hold your head up high. With proper planning and a few positive strategies, you can mitigate any damage done to your rep by a few bad comments—and you may boost your goodwill in the process.

Maximize Your Social-Networking Investment

You don't get to be a social-networking superstar without paying your dues. You ought to try to maximize the value of the time spent.You should talk about others eight times for each thing you say about yourself. There's a good reason for doing so: The more you discuss what others say and do, the more likely they are to reciprocate. You're going to be more successful in social networks if people have an idea of the real you—not just the business you, not just the consultant you. But beware of sharing TMI [too much information], a common mistake in the world of social networks. Some people go crazy and they're all out in the ether, talking about weird stuff.

Make your brand talk. But not chatter away.

Home Office writer

If you're working out of your home, you most likely have some sort of a home office. No matter what type of home office you have, there are some things that every office should have. Get ready to get rid of the clutter and get your home office looking more modern and better than ever!

Essential Home Office Tools:

What do you need for an effective home office? Don't fall for all of the high-tech, fancy gadgets on the market today. To have an effective home office for general business that will meet your everyday needs, you only need the following:

•  An all-in-one printer, fax, copier, and scanner
• Either a desktop computer or laptop computer
• A working landline or cell phone

Those three things mentioned above are the essential tools needed
in your office. Get rid of that old scanner, the dated fax, and the
crappy copier and pick up an all-in-one. This saves space and
leaves no room for clutter, not to mention how easy it is to
operate. Throw away the filing cabinet and scan documents and save
them onto a hard drive. Get rid of your old bulky CRT monitor and
turn it in for a new flat-panel LCD.

A Separate Space For Work

Get out of your bedroom office (if you can) and use that spare
bedroom to convert it into the ultimate office space. You need a
space dedicated to work, so that way your work won't invade your
personal area, as each day you will technically be "commuting to
work" when going to your own personal office.

A separate space is also beneficial because if gets you away from
distractions. This way, you go in, do your work, and leave. Very
similar to a job away from home, except the commute is much shorter!

Keep It Clean - Keep It Simple

There's no need to go overboard when dressing up your office. Keep
the walls a dark color. Avoid bright painted walls. Avoid excess
clutter on the walls, such as too many picture frames or paintings.
Also make sure your desk is clean and organized. A cluttered desk
is a distraction, which will eventually lead to you not getting
done what you need to get done.

Take some of these things into consideration when getting your home
office ready. I can assure you that these tips will make for a
better, more modern home office.

Tweet Like You Mean It

Lots of companies are trying out to see how they can use Twitter to promote their products and services. The fact is a few good tweets can also provide great customer service. 

Send out tips on maintaining your products. Your years of experience can help you gain credibility on Twitter as a leader in your profession,

• A jeweler can tweet a few tips on cleaning and maintaining that wedding ring. "How often should you have the prongs checked?" .
  
• A dry cleaner can tweet advice about attacking a stain before you bring a garment in to be cleaned. Or he could talk about treating stains on a variety of fabrics, one tweet and one fabric at a time.

Announce new arrivals of inventory. These tweets can be particularly effective when targeted to customers who have registered their product preferences.

Twitter isn't the sole solution to surviving the recession, but it can be one of the many strategies you employ to reach new and current customers.

So go on, Reach out and tweet someone. If you make a list of 10 or 20 tips, you can send one out each day, Ross says. What a great, free way to provide active customer service during the downturn.

Economical methods to touch your customer

Start with e-mail
If you can get your e-mail through and read, it can be a quick and cost effective way to generate responses and identify qualified leads. However, e-mail experts will tell you that most unsolicited commercial e-mail is now blocked, and they privately admit that from 20% to as much as 70% of opt-in e-mail never gets through the spam filters, or past the delete key, to be read by prospects. If you want to generate the maximum number of leads from your database, you need use other lead generation tactics too.

Reach customers and prospects with direct mail
If your budget is tight, consider personalized, laser-printed letters or postcards. These formats are some of the lowest cost-per-touch mail formats and are a way to reach prospects you can't e-mail. These mail pieces are getting through and getting the attention of your prospective customers. They also are cost effective (if the other tips are followed) on a cost-per-lead basis.

Use search engine optimization or paid search if you want more leads that represent short-term sales opportunities
You need to increase the likelihood of being found at the top of the search engine results when buyers are actively searching for products or services like yours. Despite what the SEO experts say, optimizing your pages can be as easy as putting the right words or phrases in the right places on your Web pages. If you can't get to the top of the results that way, consider spending a portion of your limited marketing funds on carefully targeted pay-per-click ads.

Leverage social media as another inexpensive way to stay in sight and in mind with your prospects
Being in sight and in mind at the right time is often the key to generating qualified, sales-ready leads. All it costs to use social media, like LinkedIn or Twitter, is time. Start by investing an hour a day to read whatever you can find on the subject. Soon you'll know more about social media marketing than most. Then, join appropriate LinkedIn groups and search in Twitter for terms related to your products or services. Observe for a while to get a feel for what's working, and then jump in and start contributing to the conversation. And even if it doesn't get you lots of leads, it will keep you from twiddling your thumbs because you have no budget to do marketing.

Use multi-touch direct marketing to increase your chance of being in-sight and in-mind at the right time with your prospective customers

You'll generate more by touching 1,000 prospects three times with your direct marketing, than you will by touching 3,000 prospects once. Each contact is another chance to be in the right place at the right time.

Make offers that your prospective customers can't refuse

Compelling offers or calls-to-action are the key to getting prospects to identify themselves and take the next step in their buying process, from awareness to inquiry to consideration to qualifying as sales-ready leads. With this in mind, create a suite of offers each designed to address those different stages of your prospects' buying cycle. Be sure to include some "buy-now" offers intended to incentivize prospective customers to buy now rather than later.

Avoid one-size-fits-all messaging

Group your prospects and customers by similar industries, company sizes, applications or job functions. Then tailor the messages to address each group accordingly. For example, use jargon that demonstrates a familiarity with their industry. Address a specific problem that is widespread in companies their size. Make relevant offers that address their unique application for your products or services. Use testimonials from others with similar job functions. These tailored messages will increase the number of sales-ready leads generated.

Focus first on your existing prospect and customer database

The in-house database is often the most productive source of short-term leads and sales. That is because the people in the database have already expressed an interest in your products or services by responding to previous marketing programs, inquiring or buying. They also may have been added to your prospect database because they were similar to your best customers, or they appeared likely to have problems or needs your products or services can solve. That makes them the right people to target with lead generation campaigns.

Marketers weave web of loyalty

Many multichannel merchants are investing in the e-commerce customer experience as a way to drive results even as economic pressures force them to cutback in other areas. These retailers are also delving further into the connection between online customer experience and customer loyalty.

While most areas are being cut, and online efforts are not immune, retailers see the online experience as an investment which can increase sales through better conversion rates and decrease costly customer service calls.

In general, retailers understand that a good user experience will enhance loyalty. Companies are just starting to really explore how to merge channel behavior with loyalty programs. Major retailers are considering giving good customers a coupon for the e-commerce Web site after an in-store purchase is made as a way to stimulate multi-channel behavior. 


For now, most retailers are focused on ensuring that customers can find what they are looking for without encountering problems. A smooth shopping experience that keeps them coming back and encourages them to recommend the site to others is the goal. These efforts run the gamut from site optimization to bells and whistles such as product recommendations, video product descriptions, live chat and customer reviews. 


There's a high degree of correlation between good customer experiences and consumers' willingness to make subsequent purchases from a company, according to the recent Forrester Research report The State of Customer Experience, 2009. 
One of the key areas for improving online customer experience is relooking at product landing pages; Often, consumers come to a 
product page through a search engine, so the product page becomes a default landing page. This requires many firms to rethink content and layout of pages.And as companies put more content and functionality on their Web sites, it has become harder for customers to find what they are looking for.


Retailers are looking into what are the barriers to buying online and trying to address these. Whether it's a new customer or an existing one, the goal is to make it easy for people to shop, transact and keep coming back to the site. The issue is similar to what retailers face with their offline stores. If a shopper has to wait online or can't find what they're looking for in a bricks-and-mortar store, they're not going to come back or recommend the store to someone else.

Live chat is also being used to improve the customer experience online. In a recent survey by live chat software company BoldChat. Sixty-two percent said they are more likely to buy again from the site because of the live chat interaction.

Getting it write

You may still be thinking, "That's okay - I know how to write!" But do you? You may know how to put sentences together and you may understand the basic rules of grammar - but that's not the same as writing effective copy.

If you write marketing materials without a thorough understanding of good copy, you could be doing your business a disservice. This is because you might not be using the best ways of getting your points across.

If you want your business to succeed (and who doesn't?), it's vital that whatever is written about your business shows you in the most favourable light possible. So choose your words carefully!

Copwriting tip 1
Write short words, short sentences and short paragraphs! This will make your marketing words more readable. Writing short sentences, in particular, will make your copy flow.

Copywriting tip 2
According to the old adage, 'The more you tell, the more you sell'.  So, the more you write - the more you will sell. Hence the requirement for 'long body copy' (i.e. more words). Remember that it's only the people who are actually in the market to buy - who will avidly read every single word you write.

Writing for your audience

You might enjoy esoteric word choice or complicated sentence structure, but you don't want to lose your readers or send them reaching for a dictionary. Likewise, consider their perspective—what they value and what will interest them.

Differences between Social Channels

Social sharing sites. From written reviews to rich media, users share information of all forms on social sharing sites. This includes videos, photos, and more. And all of this user-generated content can be made instantly available to millions of users and site visitors. Think YouTube, Vimeo, and Flickr. These are three popular examples of social sharing sites.

Social networking sites. If you've ever heard of a little site called Facebook, you are familiar with a social networking site. Basically, these sites build communities of users that share a common interest -- hobbies, high school, ex-girlfriends, you name it. They serve as a means for people to meet new people and stay connected with friends and families (and even enemies). They also allow businesses to connect with other businesses or individuals. Communication is a huge part of social networking sites and includes tools such as email, instant messaging, and real-time posts on an individual's profile. Today's other popular social networking sites include LinkedIn and MySpace.

Social news sites. Just as the name says, the main purpose of a social news site is to exchange newsworthy information. Digg, Technorati, and Reddit are good examples. On these sites, users submit photos, videos, news articles, blog posts, and more for others to view. Often, other users can vote on which pieces of newsworthy information they like the most. The submissions with the most votes will usually appear on the social news site's front page, increasing the chances that others will see it.

Social bookmarking sites. One example of a social bookmarking site is Delicious. Users of Delicious can store, organize, search, and manage their favorite web pages online. They can also make their bookmarks public, or choose to share them with just a few specific individuals or groups. Other examples include Diggo, Blinklist, and Simpy.

Social review sites. These are sites that give consumers a platform to be heard. Users can submit reviews on specific products and companies, including advice, testimonials, and personal recommendations. Examples of popular social review sites include Epinions, Viewpoints, Yelp, Omgili, and Buzzillions.

Be focused

Vagueness is often our first impulse when we're getting things down.But it's specificity that gives our descriptions power.In your first draft, use as many clichés as you need to, just get the story down. In your revision, however, treat every single cliché as an opportunity for brilliance. Ask yourself how you can describe this in an entirely new way.

Part of being specific in description is also being original, avoiding the usual path. But there may be times when you use a mix of vague and specific details to highlight certain qualities in your characters.To work on this: Ask yourself the most naïve questions possible to access the sensory cues that conjure the situation for a reader (and that in life we absorb subconsciously): What sounds evoke the scene for you? What smells? What images? What physical responses would you have to this situation? And if questions don't work for you, find some other way to visualize the scene. If you can't picture it, how will you enable your reader to do so?

In fiction, description should not only paint a picture for the reader, but also contribute to the plot and reveal something about character. Choose your details carefully. There's a fine line between lush description and the kind that chokes the reader.If you fear you're in danger of crossing that line, consider which elements of your description serve the primary elements of your plot and which are gratuitous.

Direct marketing - a measure to tracking

Direct marketing is a sub-discipline and type of marketing. There are two main definitional characteristics which distinguish it from other types of marketing. The first is that it attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, without the use of intervening media. This involves commercial communication (direct mail, e-mail, telemarketing) with consumers or businesses, usually unsolicited. The second characteristic is that it is focused on driving a specific "call-to-action." This aspect of direct marketing involves an emphasis on trackable, measurable positive (but not negative) responses from consumers (known simply as "response" in the industry) regardless of medium.

If the advertisement asks the prospect to take a specific action, for instance call a free phone number or visit a website, then the effort is considered to be direct response advertising.

Sales Diagnosis

Most sales reps think that they're uncovering customer needs by merely asking about them.  Unfortunately, most of the time, the customer is either too close to the problem, or lacks the knowledge required to figure out what's wrong.  As a result, the wrong needs are surfaced, resulting in a solution that won't work.

The analogy between a B2B sales rep interviewing a customer and a physician interviewing a patient.  Here are three conversations:

VERSION 1:
Patient: My stomach hurts.
Doctor: No problem. I have a special introductory offer…

VERSION 2:
Patient: My stomach hurts.
Doctor: What do you think is causing the pain?
Patient: I ate too much last night; I need a strong antacid..
Doctor: No problem. Here's a prescription…

VERSION 3:
Patient: My stomach hurts.
Doctor: In what way and at what times?
Patient: After I eat pizza, I get this burning sensation.
Doctor: Have you noticed an itchy mouth when this occurs?
Patient: Well, now that you mention it, yes.
Doctor: It sounds like you may have an allergy.
What kind of pizza have you been eating?
Patient: Actually, it's been pepperoni the last few times.
Doctor: We'll run a few tests, and if it's from the pepperoni,
a change in diet will take care of your stomach problem.

Most sales reps tend to have conversations with their customers that are either like version 1 or version 2.   Version 1 is the old "pitch whatever you've got" routine.  Version 2 is what usually passes for "consultative" selling — it assumes that the customer knows the problem and simply needs a solution to that problem.

Version 3 corresponds to the way the B2B sales world really works.  Most of the time, the stuff that you're selling is outside of the understanding of the customer and probably addresses problems that the customer doesn't really understand.

Therefore, it's your job to correctly diagnose those needs and, only then, figure out what's good for what ails them.

Direct Marketing

Direct marketing is a form of marketing most commonly done via leaflets, brochures, letters, catalogs, or print or digital ads mailed, emailed, or distributed directly to current and potential consumers.

The direct marketing process should also include database management, telecommunications, and digital media access.

Marketers should take full advantage of the technological advancements made to enhance direct marketing outreach.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a free service which enables its registered members to send and read other members' updates or short text-based messages known as 'tweets', of up to 140 characters in length. Members can share URL's of web pages as well.

A member can post messages which will be displayed on his profile page, but to receive messages from other members or friends, a member has to follow or subscribe to their Twitter accounts. This way, members can follow and start receiving messages from each other. Members can send and receive 'tweets' through mobile phones as well.

Twitter.com, which received about 1.2 lakh unique visitors in India as per comScore data released in February 2009, is still nascent in the country and not many brands are using it.

Some of the brands which have started experimenting with Twitter are Zapak.com, Naukri.com, Business Line, The Times of India, Mint and DNA, but these are still striving to get traction on it.

Brands using Twitter to converse with and inform consumers is not an India specific phenomenon. Some of the brands which are using Twitter effectively in the US include Dell, JetBlue Airways, Pizza Hut, Samsung Mobile, Ford Motors and Kodak.

Why do we need Online Reputation Management

Online Reputation Management, ORM, is the practice of managing an individual or business reputation within online media. Online media, including search engines, are managed to make positive information visible to the public and downplay any information which could negatively affect the individual or business. Reputations are earned. Years of hard work and building trust can be destroyed online, often anonymously.

The net has given us a huge opening to broadcast any kind of information that we intend to share. Well, the same net enables our competitors, angry customers, upset employees to also announce their negative viewpoint towards us. Just the way we have freedom to mention what we like they too can exercise the same freedom and can mention what they like ...rather don't like. The advent of social media, communities, and networking sites, has been useful to many companies. They have positively affected the majority of businesses by allowing them to directly communicate with consumers about products and services they offer. However social media has also opened doors to malicious behavior of the minority, which has proven to be damaging to individual and corporate reputations. Individuals and the small business to the fortune 500 companies have been harmed by malicious online postings. Part of this pain is self inflicted and some is the handiwork of unhappy customers, disgruntled former employees or chronic complainers.

Due to the number of people who use search engines as a research tool, online reputation management is becoming a big industry. Ruthless competitors and angry clients now have open access to blogs and web sites. They can define a person or company's online identity. Their words have far reaching effects- whether they are true or not.

This is why ORM is necessary. Because it is difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate traces of thoughtless actions or malicious attacks on the web, online reputation firms disseminate positive information on their clients. The goal in online reputation management is to bring public attention to positive blogs, articles and other online media written on behalf of the company. The positive online publicity takes the higher search engine result rankings, thus minimizing the damage of any attack.

So happy writing!

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Online managing editor

Lynn Hazan & Associates - CHICAGO , IL

Online PublishingOnline Managing EditorJob 0571Chicago trade Association embarking on a major strategic initiative to reach consumers directly using web 2.0 technology. Need Online...
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freelance writer

Beyond.com

Are you looking for an opportunity to get your ideas and articles published and build your network of contacts? Do you want to share your expertise, observations and opinions with...
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Freelance writer

PCMS LLC

We are looking for skilled freelance writers with at least 2 years of experience in academic, essays, research papers, term papers, case studies, and business plans.Please provide a...
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korean bilingual freelance writer

Zagat Survey - NEW YORK , NY

Zagat Survey is seeking an experienced New York-based freelance writer who is bilingual in Korean and English to write Seoul restaurants reviews based on surveyors? comments in Korean....
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Freelance writer

Today.com - MORRISVILLE , PA

Today.com, one of the fastest growing blog communities on the web, is looking for new bloggers of any skill level. Whether youre a novice blogger, or have been at it for a while, this job...
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Freelance writer

Today.com - MORRISVILLE , PA

Today.com, one of the fastest growing blog communities on the web, is looking for new bloggers of any skill level. Whether youre a novice blogger, or have been at it for a while, this job...
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Freelance technical writer

Connexion Systems and Engineering - SALEM , MA

Connexion Systems & Engineering, a Boston based IT and Engineering Solutions Company immediately seeks individuals with the following skills: Job 11131AFreelance Technical WriterWe are...
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senior editor/writer-technology

The American Institute of CPAs - DURHAM , NC

Senior Editor/Writer-Technology Durham, North Carolina Return to Search ResultsSend job to a friend Company Overview: The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants is the...
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Ny1 news writer - freelance

Time Warner Cable - NEW YORK , NY

PostingJob Title NY1 News Writer - FreelanceRequisition 111893BRLocation United States - New York - New YorkArea ofInterest Cable Television ProductionEditorialNetwork Television...
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Freelance staff writer

Heritage Web Solutions - PROVO , UT

Freelance Staff WriterTelecommute - Work from Home anywhere in the Nation! Earn $25-$50/hour or more! Heritage Web Solutions is an IT Industry Leader ranked in the top 1% of web hosting...
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Freelance writing is being a specialist

Today the demand is for good 'niche writers'. Restrictive though it is, like everything else, even here, the need for specialization is at an all time high. Travel writers, Creative writers, Copywriters, Resume writers, Content writers, Technical writers, Essay writers, you name it, and there is a market for it. If you are slowly able to, after a few initial experiments, carve out a niche for yourself by specializing in any one such field and you get published (usually without payment first!) you are almost there. Once you manage to sell your ideas, you are home and running.

Freelance writer - How to get started

Your best bet is to email/call up editors and constantly surf the net for opportunities. Make Search Engines (google, yahoo) your trusted lieutenants and use them to help you seek, search and finally apply to advertised or possible opportunities.

If you find good websites you could write for, look for submission guidelines or send in your query. A query letter is not a waste of time. On an average three out of every five will elicit some kind of a response that will take you forward.

Though it is usual practice in established writing circles not to start writing till an understanding is reached, you the newbie can take no chances. So, till you have sufficient work, give them what they've asked for, quickly, whatever the subject, or send them something you have already written. Odds are that they will use it and pay you with a nice "Thank you for your submission' letter or not at all, but if rejected or if you don't hear from them ever again, which is highly likely, don't lose heart. Move on. Just keep those articles as ready-reckoner samples for later use. Stockpile them in a folder for the future, to be sent on to other editors who may seek samples of your written work.

If they are freelance writing markets, narrow in on the popular ones. Subscribe to their newsletters. Most of them are free. It will give you a fair idea of their reliability. Generally avoid those that promise you the moon. Look for those that seem sincere. But do not subscribe or pay for anything till you are sure of a website's credentials. Also, remember to check out the various published lists of dishonest and fly-by-night operators often. Soon you will be able to sift the wheat from the chaff.

Emails or SPAMS?

When trying to sell on the net what is most necessary is a good healthy active database. If you meet this requirement then you can send your emails easily. If you send to the right people you have almost made it across half the battle.

Normally when your emails go to wrong people, or when your email message on the subject line and withing the internals of emails are not so good be prepared to face with the below:

Are YOU faced with these challenges...?
1. Almost NOBODY subscribes to your email list... You've posted a web form on your site, but no one ever seems to enter their name and email address like they're supposed to... and you have no idea why!

2. You get hardly any response to your email offers... You send out promotions that you think are pretty good -- but you never see more than a handful of sales or leads... Frequently, your subscribers don't even OPEN your messages!

3. Your subscribers don't receive the email you send them... As far as you can tell, hardly any of your subscribers are even getting the emails you're sending them. You think it has something to do with spam filters, but you have no idea what to do...

4. People are complaining, asking to be taken off your list... And you're getting frustrated because people who ASKED to be subscribed are sending you angry, threatening messages, demanding to be removed! What's their problem, anyway?

5. Your list-management chores are "out of control"... You know you need to remove people who request to be "unsubscribed"... and you know you shouldn't mail the same subscribers twice with the same promotion... or send customers ANOTHER offer for a product they already own. But you have no idea how to "automate" these time-consuming tasks!

6. You want to send email -- WITHOUT looking like a spammer! You're confused about what's acceptable and what's not when it comes to mailing to your list. After all, once you've mailed them ONCE, you can't just send them the same offer again, can you? So then what?

7. You haven't even TRIED sending email campaigns yet... Sure, you know you're missing out on massive income and profits, but where should you even begin?

Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing is the practice of promoting products and services using digital distribution channels to reach consumers in a timely, relevant, personal and cost-effective manner.

Whilst digital marketing does include many of the techniques and practices contained within the category of Internet Marketing, it extends beyond this by including other channels with which to reach people that do not require the use of The Internet. As a result of this non-reliance on the Internet, the field of digital marketing includes a whole host of elements such as mobile phones, SMS/MMS, display / banner ads and digital outdoor.

Previously seen as a stand-alone service in its own right, it is frequently being seen as a domain that can and does cover most, if not all, of the more traditional marketing areas such as Direct Marketing by providing the same method of communicating with an audience but via a digital touchpoint.

Your web and blog simple analytics

You take special care to develop your blog and web. Especially when you are interested in monetizing it. You may wish to earn from this, or giveaway information etc. What you would require to know is how is your blog or your website interacting and relating to your visitors. For this you may want to track the site / blog.

The aim is to use your website traffic statistics to figure out how well or how poorly your site is interacting with its visitors, and then take the actions to improve your website's performance.

What you need to do:
1. Study your statistics, those that are important for your particular site.
2. Set your goals.
3. Formulate a strategy, based on your goals and current website's statistics.
4. Implement your strategy, making the necessary changes on your site.
5. Measure the effects of your implementation, comparing current statistics with previous ones, after a given period of at least 1 week.
6. Start again at step 2.

This process is ongoing and continuous.

What will your web / blog counter give you?

Complete and easy to understand statistical information. Tracking multiple Web sites (With one account you can have independent statistics for an unlimited number of Web sites/projects.) Summary with Page loads, Unique visitors, First time visitors and Returning visitors. Referring URL's. Search engine keywords used to reach your website. Popular pages. Most active countries. Visitor browser, screen resolution. And more...

So Happy tracking!

Social Networking Sites

Online networking and online social bookmarking are more popular now than ever. But its hard to know which social network is right for you if you haven't tried all of them. This is why many Internet users find social network reviews valuable.

When reading the reviews, however, you may find vastly different judgments about their content. Many folks fight for their choice of online social networking sites vehemently. That may be due, however, to being unaware of all the available options, so they invested all their time without further investigation. Some people defend their choice without even knowing the differences Online social networks , like LibraryThing have book reviews and other features created just for people who love to read.

Many social media users arent aware of the difference between one form of social networking and another because there is a tremendous amount of cross-over in the platforms. Sites such as MySpace can be used just for fun or for serious business networking, or both! And there are literally tens of thousands of Ning sites, such as bookmarket.ning , which specialize in narrow niches. These type of [online social networking] sites are significant because theyre completely user-driven and allow focused conversations surrounding peoples interests. Interests can be as specific as book aficionados, who now have many online communities geared just to them. social networking is social bookmarking, which has become very popular. Sites that feature social bookmarking, such as Mister Wong, allow logged-in users to save their online bookmarks for free. Social bookmarking sites also are a great help to Web searchers, because keyword tags that allow for easy searching can be assigned to each bookmark. Keyword tagging also makes social bookmarking sites of great interest to online marketers, because they know they will lead to backlinks for their sites. One social bookmark doesnt really mean anything in terms of backlinks but when you add them all together, they become influential in search engine rankings. Also, like with Digg, if a blog post is entered on one of these sites, it can often achieve high search engine rankings if the keywords were researched and the listing was entered correctly.

Be A Guest Writer Here

Hi,

Am sure when you read this blog there would be your idea that you may want to express as well. If this is the case then why not be a guest writer. Submit your article here related to this blog and who knows you will have people reading and following you. So go on write and share your article with me. If it is good i will publish it here mentioning your name. Go on be a guest writer here.

When you send me your article ofcourse mention "authorized to publish in your blogs" . I will publish if i have this mentioned from your end.

Happy writing.

If at all you want to be furnished with more information on other topics then do visit the sites given here on your right hand. Check the two sites under the head "

Check this!".

Are you a Shopaholic?

Do you often wonder who would be a typical Shopaholic? What is it that drives them? And why are they so stuck onto it? Well, for few of us the bug would be within us as well!

You Know You're a Shopaholic When You or lets put it midly shall we we say others.....
• See shopping as a hobby, activity, and sport.
• Spend every last penny in your coin purse, go over your overdraft and max out all your credit cards. Well almost do.
• Buy something just for the free gift.
• Make up excuses so you feel less guilty buying your 8th pair of blue jeans.
• Do not feel satisfied unless you're carrying 2 bags in each hand.
• Have items in your closet that you dont remember purchasing and have been out of date for quite a while.
• Secretly like and can't avoid perfumes.
The uses of being a Shopaholic!
• You have something to do for hours during the purchasing time – you can look around past time and no compulsion / obligation to buy – most of the time
• You have something to tell the next day!
• You have grabbed the right offer and discount at the right time
• Stress buster
Well there is use to most of the evil

Happy shopping!

Email and Mobile - what blasts better?

The recent understanding goes that email blasts are obsolete - when you compare this with mobile SMS.

Naturally mobile is more on the move. It goes wherever one takes it. BUT how much can you feed into the mobile? How much colourful can you make it? How much easy on the eye can you really bring it?

And then does email really work inspite of it rating above than mobile on certain parameters.

The truth is that the possibilities of what mobile can offer are only growing, and rapidly. The channel offers direct marketing at its best: reach to a mass or targeted audience virtually anywhere, a remarkably high "open-rate," and the ability to drive specific, instant action. It is unfiltered. It is intimate. It is relevant. And it is quite understandable why marketers who so often turn to email are uncomfortable. Instead of shunning it and living in denial, a better approach is to add mobile as a weapon to your consumer interaction arsenal, and make both avenues collectively stronger.

Mobile and email: Complementary, not competitive.
Mobile offers what marketers have long wanted: direct access to the consumer any time. It acts a strong ally to the email channel, which will continue to be a primary digital communication mechanism, with a richer interaction. Combining the two paths can give a brand a cohesive strategy that naturally deepens awareness, drives stronger engagement, and in the process, delivers increased value to the consumer.

What say?

Lead generation is actually “bad lead elimination.”

Almost every lead generation program operates under the assumption “the more leads, the better.” Hey, want a lot of leads? Buy a booth at a trade show and run a raffle for a new iPhone. You’ll have business cards coming out your ears. But your cost of sales will go through the roof because the sales reps will be chasing geese. Effective lead generation only results in as many leads as the sales team can close, and only leads that are likely to close.

What is Freelance?

A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is a self-employed person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any particular employer. The term "freelance" was first coined by Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832) in his well-known historical romance Ivanhoe to describe a "medieval mercenary warrior" (or "free-lance"). The phrase later transitioned to a figurative noun around the 1860s and was then officially recognized as a verb in 1903 by various authorities in etymology such as the Oxford English Dictionary. Only in modern times has the term morphed from a noun (a freelance) into an adjective (a freelance journalist), various verb forms (a journalist who freelances) and an adverb (she worked freelance), and then from the verb into the derived, now commonly-used, noun form "freelancer".

You Too Can Tweet

Define Your Goals.
A marketing campaign's just alchemy until you know what your objectives are. Once you know what you hope to achieve on Twitter, you can better assess how to represent yourself, who to "follow," and what kind of content you want to share with the vast community of tweeters.

Target the Right People. Apart from its obvious SEO benefits, your Twitter stream's only as valuable as who's reading it. Run keyword searches on search.twitter.com for topics relevant to your brand or industry, then add influencers, evangelists, haters and interesting people that may not have heard of you to your cadre. Acknowledge them from time to time, and be sincere; they'll dig that.

Supplement blog posts by tweeting your topic du jour and promoting it with a tinyURL. Twitter marketing tool HootSuite also has a URL shorting feature that enables you to frame the page with a subtle ad.

The Po!nt: To tweet well is easier than you think. Once you match your brand and your goals to a little technology, and start linking to your current Web content, it soon becomes second nature to join the daily Twitter conversation.

As a writer be aware of words

1. Simplicity: use small words. The more simply an idea is presented, the easier it is to understand – and, therefore, the more credible it will be.

2. Brevity: use short sentences. This is less about self-restraint than it is a matter of finding exactly the right piece of the language jigsaw puzzle to fit the precise space you’re trying to fill.

3. Credibility is as important as philosophy. If your words lack sincerity, if they contradict accepted facts, circumstances or perceptions, they will lack impact. Tell people who you are or what you do. Then be that person, and do what you have said you would do.

4. Consistency matters. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Remember, you may be making yourself sick by saying the same exact thing for the umpteenth time, but many in your audience will be hearing it for the first time.
5But offer something new. If something doesn’t shock us or bores us, we move on to something else. If what you say generates an ‘I didn’t know that’ response, you have succeeded.

6. Sound and texture matter. The sounds and textures of words should be just as memorable as the words themselves. The rhythm of language is in itself musical.

7. Speak aspirationally. Messages need to say what people want to hear, to touch people at the most fundamental, primal level, by speaking to their deepest hopes, fears and dreams. The best speeches make idealists of us all.

8. Visualise. Paint a vivid picture. Take M&M’s: ‘Melts in your mouth, not in your hand’. The slogans we remember for a lifetime almost always have a strong visual component, something we can see and almost feel.

9. Ask a question. A customer complaining to the shop manager that her meat has too much fat in it is less effective than if she asked: ‘Does this look lean to you?’. Similarly, asking ‘What would you do if you were in my shoes?’, puts direct pressure on the recipient of your complaint to see things your way. Making a statement in the form of a rhetorical question makes the reaction personal.

10. Provide context. You have to give people the ‘why’ of a message before you tell them the ‘therefore’ and the ‘so that’.

Your words make the difference

1. Simplicity: use small words. The more simply an idea is presented, the easier it is to understand – and, therefore, the more credible it will be.

2. Brevity: use short sentences. This is less about self-restraint than it is a matter of finding exactly the right piece of the language jigsaw puzzle to fit the precise space you’re trying to fill.

3. Credibility is as important as philosophy. If your words lack sincerity, if they contradict accepted facts, circumstances or perceptions, they will lack impact. Tell people who you are or what you do. Then be that person, and do what you have said you would do.

4. Consistency matters. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Remember, you may be making yourself sick by saying the same exact thing for the umpteenth time, but many in your audience will be hearing it for the first time.
5But offer something new. If something doesn’t shock us or bores us, we move on to something else. If what you say generates an ‘I didn’t know that’ response, you have succeeded.

6. Sound and texture matter. The sounds and textures of words should be just as memorable as the words themselves. The rhythm of language is in itself musical.

7. Speak aspirationally. Messages need to say what people want to hear, to touch people at the most fundamental, primal level, by speaking to their deepest hopes, fears and dreams. The best speeches make idealists of us all.

8. Visualise. Paint a vivid picture. Take M&M’s: ‘Melts in your mouth, not in your hand’. The slogans we remember for a lifetime almost always have a strong visual component, something we can see and almost feel.

9. Ask a question. A customer complaining to the shop manager that her meat has too much fat in it is less effective than if she asked: ‘Does this look lean to you?’. Similarly, asking ‘What would you do if you were in my shoes?’, puts direct pressure on the recipient of your complaint to see things your way. Making a statement in the form of a rhetorical question makes the reaction personal.

10. Provide context. You have to give people the ‘why’ of a message before you tell them the ‘therefore’ and the ‘so that’.

Rejection - not a problem

To be successful at sales, you need to be able to cope with rejection — an even to turn it into a goad that creates more success. Rejection is essentially a subjective experience. Once you understand this, rejection loses is power over you, and your ability to sell.

According to masters, your experience of rejection depends entirely upon three qualitative, subjective measurements:

1. Frequency. Everyone can deal with some rejection, but how much rejection can you experience before you start taking the negative feedback to heart? How many times can you contact a qualified prospect and get a negative response before you begin to take it personally? Increase your tolerance, and rejection loses its hold over your future performance.

2. Emotional Involvement. How emotionally involved can you become with somebody before you feel that the other person might know you so well that criticism hurts? For example, you might be reluctant to close because you’re afraid that your customer might feel “buyer’s remorse” and stop liking you — a form of rejection.

3. Perceived Importance. As a sales rep, you’re likely to feel most comfortable contacting people who are of a similar (or lower) social class or educational background. However, you might find yourself avoiding people whom you feel are more important than yourself, because their rejection of you might seem to carry more weight or authority.

Each elements is easily changed, fortunately. Here’s how:

1. Frequency. To make yourself less vulnerable in this area, you must differentiate between valid and invalid rejection. If the rejection is based upon something valid (like your basic approach), then you blame your approach and then change it. If the rejection is invalid — as when a prospect “dumps” frustration — it has nothing to do with you, so you can easily ignore it.

2. Emotional involvement. The cure for this subjective ailment is to believe in yourself and in your product. If you truly believe in both, then there is absolutely NO reason why you shouldn’t want your true friends to be your customers. If it turns out that your friend doesn’t want or need your offering, it’s not a rejection of you, but of the product and firm. So it should have no power over you.

3. Perceived importance. Look: most bigwigs are exceedingly average people who’ve stumbled into their success. Their opinion means nothing in the long run, so don’t let it have any power over you.

What is Skype

Skype is a little piece of software that lets you make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world. And even though the calls are free, they are really excellent quality. If you and your friends, family or business contacts are using webcams, you can also make free video calls. You can even call landlines and mobile phones at really cheap per minute rates.

Happy chatting!

Consumer complaint book

I have found this amazing website that actually helps consumers. It is called complaintbook.com.

If you have a complaint against an individual, an organization or a government, then this is where you should register it.

So go on and set you voice online

Status of complaints as of today.
Resolved 9%
No action required 1%
Forwarded 21%
Details requested 5%
Pending action 64%


What are people Complaining against?
An Individual 7%
A Community 2%
A Government 5%
A Service 68%
A Product 17%
Nobody in particular 1%

Elance.com or any other freelance site

To have an idea on how Elance works and what kind of projects people are posting. Visit this link:

Elance.com

There are plenty of great resources to hire a freelancer. These are:

• http://www.rentacoder.com/
• http://www.guru.com/
• http://www.ebookhelper.com/GhostWriting.html/
• http://thewritetouch.no-frills.net/
• http://www.theghostwriter.net/

To post your project on Elance.com or any other freelance site you should first open a free account with them, and then open a bid request. Your bid request should include:

• A clear description of your project without giving a lot of details.
• Maximum Bid. This is the highest bid offer you will accept. Freelancer can bid lower to gain your business, but not higher.
• Bidding Close Date. This is the date (in U.S format--mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss) you want to close bidding and not accept any more bids.
• The number of days the freelancer have to work on the project and deliver the final work. If you omit a deadline, then the he is under no time obligation to deliver!

Before accepting any bid you should verify that the person you are selecting is apt to handle the project effectively. You can do this by:

• Asking the ghostwriter for his references.
• Asking for a sample of his work.
• Visiting his profile page, where you can find more information about him and also what people who worked with him have to say about his work.