Marketing Is King

Black Business Space - Where Networking and Money Meet "Its not WHAT you Know or WHO you Know its WHO KNOWS YOU" That's just the way it is ... Marketing is king. There are plenty of them, but let me just give you two examples: Case 1: Coca Cola vs Pepsi Since 1975, Pepsi has been running "The Pepsi Challenge" where they hand 2 unlabeled cups to bystanders in malls – one containing Pepsi and the other one, Coke, and then they'd ask which tastes better. The result? Pepsi topped the challenge. But Coca Cola is still the number one soft drink. Why? ....... Advertising. Case 2: McDonalds Let's face it. They don't have the best tasting burgers. They don't have the best tasting french fries. But they do know where to put their branches. A marketing buddy of mine once said "McDonalds is not in the fast food business, they're in the real estate business." Content is just a part of marketing The way I apply it to my businesses ... content – is just a part of marketing. Marketing is everything a potential customer sees, hears, tastes, smells, feels, experiences, learns, believes and knows about a company. It includes everything from the color choices in your logo to the packaging of your products to customer service, the way you answer the phone, use email and company guarantees. It is seen in your advertising, branding, content and promotions. It is your website, blog, stationary, business cards, product line, sales reps and public relations. There are a lot of people out there who are topping the charts but are not really "the" best or don't really posses the best skills – but they know how to market themselves. Another quick example: Bruce Lee, not the strongest, not the quickest but the most popular martial artist ever. There are a lot of people too who have "the" best content, but are unknown. Of course, I'm not saying that you should just put all your efforts into marketing – again, content is part of marketing – you have to deliver. Not necessarily the best content, but "good enough" content is necessary to keep them coming back. So in conclusion: Marketing is king. For more free information: http://www.leegreenonline.com/recommends/marketingonline

Paper Back Dreams

The birds are singing, the sun is peeping out and I am sitting on my bed with a mud mask on my face thinking of you and your future. I'm also thinking of me and my future as a successful entrepreneur who uses the internet for nearly everything !!


The internet isn't going anywhere and the sooner you claim your piece of it the better off you'll be. I believe that, I preach that and It's evident. So, I'll share with you the link to the program I just watched on wttw prime. Yes, I watch wttw prime and now that I'll be 30 in a few months I'm no longer ashamed to admit it.


You can learn a lot from wttw. WATCH !!














http://www.filmbaby.com/films/3389

Back up your files

Protect what you love ! 


I've had to learn the hard way and I'm sure some of you have as well. When you work on the computer there is no escape from protecting your computer and protecting your work. After spending countless hours planted in front of this screen you want to have some thing to show you have been productive.

How many Hard drives can you fill up in a year...? Hmm, now I wonder how many hard drives does the average webmaster, graphic artist, photographer or blogger fill up in a year. Knowing that can probably help you and I adjust our productivity ! Maybe I'm on  to something here. 
But the reality is I'm just too darn busy trying fill up drives to take the time to actually conduct a study about other people filling up drives. ! If you should stumble across the answer feel free to share it. 
Now back to the matter at hand. You need nearly two of everything if working online accounts for most or all of your income. Don't make the mistake of relying solely on one computer to do all that heavy lifting. It can absolutely bring you to your knees to find out that all your hard work has been wiped away and you were too darn busy working to back it up or set it for automatic backups. I do realize that everyone has their own preference I've decided to give western digital a try and I'll be sure to keep you posted with what I love and what I hate. So far the software updating seems to be a bit much. The instructions state that you must update the firmware before you update the software or you could mess something up. 
Computers are computers every process should be so simple a dummy can do it. I mean there is really no need to make a computer, computer device or software anymore intimidating then it already is. GEEZ


http://astore.amazon.com/lovelydent-20/detail/B002KG2LOA

What a flight attendant taught me about business

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What a flight attendant taught me about business Posted: 25 Mar 2010 01:00 PM PDT Over the past few years I have been traveling on airplanes a lot. So much that I started to pay attention to the flight attendants because although they are taken for granted, they are actually pretty smart. Here is what you can learn about business from them: Customer service is important When you first hop on a plane, you'll notice that you are usually greeted. And when you are about to take your seat and put away your luggage, the flight attendant is there to help you if you need it. In addition to that, once the plane takes off, they give you beverages and light snacks to keep you happy. And if that's not enough, you can request almost anything from them without even leaving your seat. All you have to do is push the "call" button and the flight attendant will come to you and ask you how they may be of assistance. So what's their purpose of doing this? Well if you are happy you are most likely to keep on flying on that airline, right? Happy customers means repeat customers, which means more money for the airline company. Customers aren't that smart Before the plane leaves the ground, what's one thing that the flight attendant does? She gives you step by step instructions on what you need to do before the plane can take off. For example she walks you through buckling your seat belt and how to put on an oxygen mask in case the cabin pressure decreases. And just in case things get really bad, she even shows you how to put on and use a flotation device. Now although you probably already know everything the flight attendant is telling you, you can't assume that everyone else does. With your business you need good instructions and documentation in case users are confused. This is a good way to make sure your customers are getting the most out of your product or service. Options aren't always good With the beverage service the flight attendant usually tells you what drinks are available. And although there are multiple options for you, typically they limit the number of them. For example if you are interested in drinking juice, your options are orange or apple. Here are the reasons flight attendant don't give you hundreds of options: More options equal higher costs – it's cheaper to buy a 12 pack of coke than it is to buy 12 different flavors of soda. Time is money – if you give someone a hundred different options, it may take them a while to choose one. On the other hand if you give someone two options, it's a lot easier for them to make a choice. Less is more – it's proven that if you give someone too many options, it won't increase their satisfaction. If you want to increase your profit margins and have customers that are more satisfied don't give them too many options. Some of the most successful businesses like Craigslist are very simple. Sometimes you have to be strict If you are a geek like me, you love to check your emails on your cell phone right before the plane takes off and you probably even try to text message while you are in the air. And to top it off, you probably don't want to wait until the plane reaches 10,000 feet before you can pull out your laptop. If you try breaking any of these rules, the flight attendant comes over and tells you nicely that you can't do it. And if you still don't listen, they usually come back and tell you again in a stricter voice. At this point you'll probably end up listening to them because you're afraid of what's going to happen if you don't. With your business you can't always let customers walk on you. Although you want to keep them happy, you need to understand that customers aren't always right. And if you let one walk on you, there is nothing stopping the rest from doing the same thing. The best up sell, don't seem like an up sell I fly on a lot of airlines, but the one that seems to be best when it comes to up selling customers is Alaska Airlines. Here are some of the things that the flight attendant up sells you on when you don't realize it. First class – flying in first class comes with a lot of perks, but it isn't cheap. For example first class passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight get free food and a portable movie player. If you happen to fly coach like me, you can also get food and a portable TV, but you have to pay extra. So when they announce this on the loud speaker, they make sure that coach passengers know that first class passengers get a free meal and portable TV, while the coach passengers only have an option to purchase them. Free trip – one of the most successful up sells that I have seen is a free trip in the continental US. To get this free trip all you have to do is apply for an Alaska Airlines credit card. And although Alaska is giving you a free trip, they are making money on you because the credit card companies are paying them more money for each customer that signs up. Free can convert into paid – on Horizen flights flight attendants typically offer one type of beer and wine for free. If you want a better brand of alcohol, you have to pay 6 dollars. The flight attendant doesn't really push you to buy the higher quality alcohol, but a popular trend I have noticed is that someone will drink the free, mediocre alcohol, and when the beverage cart comes around the second time they'll pony up the 6 dollars for the "good stuff". Remember, when most people drink alcohol, they typically don't stop at 1 drink. If you are trying to up sell your customers, be smart about it. Don't just push them into paying you more money, but instead ease them into it. There isn't anything wrong with giving your customers a trial of additional products or services you offer in hopes that they'll purchase them. It's the small things that keep people happy The best flight attendant I have ever met was on a JetBlue flight. From take off to touch down, he was entertaining and literally had almost every passenger smiling. Right before the plane took off, he said all of the standard stuff that most flight attendants say, but he told us that our estimated flight time to Las Vegas, Nevada was 2 hours and 30 minutes. The problem with that was everyone on the plane was expecting to go to Los Angeles, California and not Las Vegas. People started panicking, but when he said he was kidding passengers started laughing. To top it off, when we landed another plane was still at our gate so we had to sit in the plane for an extra 10 minutes. In most cases passengers would have been angry, but the flight attendant started asking us trivia questions, such as how many international flights leave Los Angeles every day. Passengers started to throw out random numbers and within seconds everyone started to play along. And to make things even worse (better), right before the plane got to the gate the power turned off for no reason, so the pilot had to restart plane. Right when this happened the first thing the flight attendant said was, "I'm glad that didn't happen while we were in air" and once again everyone started laughing. So if you want to please your customers, you also have to focus on the small things. Having a perfect product or service is great, but that personal touch really makes a big difference. Conclusion Reading a Harvard Business Review is a great way to learn about business, but it isn't the only way. Look around you, the things you take for granted can teach you a lot about business. You didn't expect to learn anything from an flight attendant, right? I didn't either, but both of us did. So don't take people for granted as you can probably even learn something from a 5 year old. Quick Sprout neil@neilpatel.com

Enterpreneur Spotlight : Thias Mills

I first came across the profile of Thias Mills on myspace about two years ago and instantly I was impressed and inspired. 

Thias Mills is the founder, voice, and columnist of Lipserviceink.com a hip and fresh radioshow full of exclusive celebrity interviews. She is someone that every writer, youth advocate and entrepreneur should know. Whether you are a writer, avid reader or a youth advocate with a mission take advantage of the opportunity to spread Lub and Literacy with Thia's Mills Lub (love) Literacy Campaign.



 

clipped from: www.lipserviceink.com   

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When her world was unexpectedly erased by a devastating storm, what else could fiery Columnist / Poet / Artist / Entrepreneur Thais Mills do but pick her pencil up to INK the next chapter.

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Thais's first dot-com venture, Enticing Objects emerged spotlighting her hand painted crafts which today have expanded to include Office Art, Craft Magnets, Photo Clips and The Little Canvas Collections with charity beneficiaries attached.  Developing her already savvy writing skills at Southern University in New Orleans, Thais began transposing her words in three prominent publications, Data News Weekly, Offline and Sisterhood Magazines in columns spanning from romance to entertainment. She now utilizes those skills on LipServiceInk.com an eclectic portal which fuses her custom column creations with innovative celebrity interviews music and literacy education. 

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LipServiceInk.com smartly uses bookmarks as its marketing tool and to date more than 4 million bookmarks have been distributed across the globe.