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Actual for You - Get FREE Web Tips From Your Competition
Future Relevance - Will They Still Find You Tomorrow?How viable is your organization in the future? Do you know whom you should be
speaking to now in order to succeed down the road? The Baby Boomers time has
passed and we are faced with the most technically savvy, socially responsible
generation to ever walk the planet and they do not look at their world with Baby
Boomer eyes.According to the US Census, Generation Y (those born between 1980 and 1990) will
outnumber both Generation X and the Baby Boomers combined. If you are not
preparing your marketing and products to engage this generation now then you will
certainly have no future relevance when they swing into full power. To put it quite
frankly, your business will not survive their expectations.This generation’s media habits and culture call for a transformation of marketing,
advertising and product development practices. If you are counting on your
organization being relevant in the future you must learn how and where to speak to
them or you will quickly find your marketing investments washed and your sales
force out of an audience.Generation Y is not just an age range, it’s a mindset developed out of growing up
with technology and generations of marketing hype and false promises. Seeing
where their parents went wrong, the bust of the dot com era, and companies such
as Enron swindle millions; this generation seeks authenticity, relevance and a
conscience. Speaking to this generation is not about using trendy words or cool
graphics in your branding efforts, they can see right through those tactics. It is
about how you go about reaching them, where you speak to them and th ipt type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> Other Recent EzineArticles from the Business:Marketing Category: - Article Submission Strategy - Read Before Your Submit Another Article!
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- Security Tips for Trade Show Exhibitors
When thousands of people descend upon a trade show exhibition hall with their co-workers, customers and client prospects, the good news is that there is a lot of sales prospecting and high-powered networking going on. The bad news is that the conference site may become a Mecca for theft. Not only are the Hershey Kisses left on the trade show booth counters at risk, but also your company’s sensitive top-secret information may also be in danger of being stolen if left unattended or unsecured.The big issue, then, is how can you safeguard against theft of company equipment and knowledge during a trade show exhibit?According to Karla Krause-Miller, Director, Cappa and Graham, Inc., the event planning company in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, it starts with the security guards who are hired to check trade show attendance. They are busy making sure that all visitors are legitimate and have the proper badges. The guards do not have the responsibility of insuring that your equipment is safe. You must be aware that it is up to you to protect against any trade show booth theft. With that in mind, there are certain rules and precautions one must take at the trade show exhibit hall in order to insure your trade show booth is secure.The first rule is to keep your valuables either locked away or in your line of vision at all times. This goes for purses, briefcases, cell phones, laptops, company manuals, price lists, and anything that may be of interest to your competitors. Theft happens extremely fast. You need to keep your eyes focused on protecting your vulnerable assets at your trade show display.Be awareI knew this one would get your attention. How can you, the savvy business entrepreneur, get FREE ANYTHING from your competition? The answer is simple: Google!
Yes, there are many things that Google can solve. As listed above, they are providing their users with endless utilities to help you in your web search. So how can they help you with your site? Watch this:
Go to Google (http://www.google.com) and type in the following, exactly as shown, using your business URL in place of the example
link:www.yourwebsite.com
The results show you a listing of all sites that link to your site. While chances are your competition will not be listed, you can get an overview of the 'type' of websites that link to you. If there are a bunch of similar sites, that can help you with your marketing and target advertising in the future.
Now here's where the fun begins. Now that you know who links to you, check out the competition. Put in those guys down the street who provide the same service you do.
link:www.theirwebsite.com
Who's linking to them? Are there some big names listed that you WISH were linking to you? You may find out that getting your name on that list is easier than you thought. Sometimes a simple email to the webmaster will get you added to the list. The more quality businesses that link to you, the higher your search engine results climb.
Are there businesses that link to your competition that you didn't know exist? Maybe you can get a cheaper rate on parts, or better service from a vendor on that list. The possibilities are there, investigate!
Want another idea? Go to your competition's website. Are they offering a service ONLINE that you only wish you could? Are they offering a custom login or other special feature that you don't have? Maybe you should consider offering those items to your customers.
Give your customers something that keeps them coming back. Whether it’s an online newsletter, a simple coupon, or other feature, get it online.
Have fun learning from your competition, and good luck on increasing that bottom line!
About the Author Will Hanke is a self-proclaimed geek who owns and operates Lighthouse Technologies (www.techlh.com), a web development and hosting company based in Arnold, Missouri. For questions or comments, email him at will@techlh.com. And buy yourself a good virus program so he doesn’t have to fight your emails with anti-virus spray. | |
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- How Your Business Can Save $6500 per Year
If you run a small business, you probably have a hidden expense that’s eating your time, and your business’s money: Tracking employee time and productivity.When businesses are small, traditional practice is to use some sort of manual time keeping system to log employee hours. Each employee fills out a paper time sheet, the payroll administrator goes over the time sheets, cuts the checks, handles the deductions and government paperwork, and deals with requests for time off, overtime and vacation days.As businesses grow and add employees, this manual system becomes more and more cumbersome. The steps to automation start out small – an automated punch clock and pre-printed time cards, and a rapid switch from manual time keeping to using a spreadsheet.But even this level of automation requires manual re-keying of data, and as the number of employees grows, the more demanding the needs are for your time and attendance and payroll systems. A lot of businesses end up “trapped” with a legacy system, usually cobbled together out of several different parts, perhaps even with custom programming in the mix.Payroll accounting is a repetitive and aggravating task which takes up valuable administrative personnel who could be serving your business in other revenue generating capacities. Even with all the automated steps described above, payroll calculation errors account for nearly 10 billion dollars in assessed fees and lawsuits annually in the United States alone. Some estimates say that one in four employers make regular and habitual payroll errors, mostly dealing with withholding or insurance deductions. Others
ize: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Now here's where the fun begins. Now that you know who links to you, check out the competition. Put in those guys down the street who provide the same service you do.
link:www.theirwebsite.com
Who's linking to them? Are there some big names listed that you WISH were linking to you? You may find out that getting your name on that list is easier than you thought. Sometimes a simple email to the webmaster will get you added to the list. The more quality businesses that link to you, the higher your search engine results climb.
Are there businesses that link to your competition that you didn't know exist? Maybe you can get a cheaper rate on parts, or better service from a vendor on that list. The possibilities are there, investigate!
Want another idea? Go to your competition's website. Are they offering a service ONLINE that you only wish you could? Are they offering a custom login or other special feature that you don't have? Maybe you should consider offering those items to your customers.
Give your customers something that keeps them coming back. Whether it’s an online newsletter, a simple coupon, or other feature, get it online.
Have fun learning from your competition, and good luck on increasing that bottom line!
About the Author Will Hanke is a self-proclaimed geek who owns and operates Lighthouse Technologies (www.techlh.com), a web development and hosting company based in Arnold, Missouri. For questions or comments, email him at will@techlh.com. And buy yourself a good virus program so he doesn’t have to fight your emails with anti-virus spray. | |
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Give your customers something that keeps them coming back. Whether it’s an online newsletter, a simple coupon, or other feature, get it online.
Have fun learning from your competition, and good luck on increasing that bottom line!
About the Author Will Hanke is a self-proclaimed geek who owns and operates Lighthouse Technologies (www.techlh.com), a web development and hosting company based in Arnold, Missouri. For questions or comments, email him at will@techlh.com. And buy yourself a good virus program so he doesn’t have to fight your emails with anti-virus spray. | |
Other Recent EzineArticles from the Business:Marketing Category: - Article Submission Strategy - Read Before Your Submit Another Article!
- The Vital Point of Joint Ventures
- Can You Smell Trouble
- Get Smart - Offer a Proposal
- Marketing With Promotional Items
- I'm So Unpopular I Could Cry
- Writers and Businesses - Why Is The CAN-SPAM Act Important?
- 3 Online Sales Tactics to Stop Using Now
- 6 Tips to Tame Technology in Your Mortgage Business
- Your Next Practice Manager
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- So You Want To Be A Criminal Profiler?
When you teach forensic psychology, the question students ask the most is how do I become a profiler? This question also appears on the frequently asked questions section of the FBI website.Given the popularity of the CBS drama criminal minds, the how do I become a profiler question is going to be asked more than ever. The aim of this article, therefore, is to address whether becoming a criminal profiler is a realistic career aspiration.Criminal Profiling in the USAThe FBI doesn't actually have employees with the job title profiler. However, special agents at the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) at Quantico, Virginia do construct profiles of unknown offenders as well as offering case management advice, threat assessments and interviewing strategies to law enforcement agencies both home and abroad.You cannot simply apply to the FBI and immediately become a NCAVC agent. A basic requirement is three years service as a FBI special agent. However, such is the competition for places, successful candidates tend to have up to 10 years of service behind them along with experience investigating violent and sexual crimes and abductions.In terms of educational requirements an advanced degree in a Behavioral or Forensic Science is often listed as preferred qualification.It is possible to work at the NCAVC without being a special agent. these professional support positions include Intelligence Research Specialists, Violent Crime Resource Specialists, and Crime Analysts. These are essentially research positions so an in-depth knowledge of research methodology, data collect
email him at will@techlh.com. And buy yourself a good virus program so he doesn’t have to fight your emails with anti-virus spray.
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