What else do you have to know?

• Keep your strategic information to yourself: You don’t need to (and should not) give everything away. Any specific information you uncover that gives you an advan
  Difference Between Online And Offline Stock Trading
  The introduction of the Internet has surprisingly changed our way of life as a society. It has defined the way we do business and the way we correspond. The Internet has opened many opportunities for online trading. The financial industry revolves around the Internet. Every thing is just a few clicks away. This makes online trading most convenient. But there are still investors who prefer the old fashion way of offline trading and they mainly prefer offline trading for security reasons.Internet has introduced a way for consumers to manage their money online. Not to mention, Internet has transformed the way investment companies operate their business and has made it easy for private investors to gain straight access to a range of different markets and online tools that were at one point only reserved by the use of investment professionals. Consumer
  Marketing research isn’t just a way to collect opinions, measure awareness or test positioning statements any more. Packaged correctly, your research itself can be your message. You can turn your results into media stories that attract favorable publicity and establish you or your business as an authority. Or you can craft compelling premiums – reports, guides or booklets – with must-have information that generates leads.

  Case in point: I worked with an agency that promised its client, a software provider in the mergers and acquisitions field, 500 qualified leads for its sales team. The entire campaign, from print ads and direct mail to e-mails and telemarketing was built around a booklet of insights on how to do better deals. The substance of the book came from one-on-one interviews with the client and its customers. The offer worked: we ultimately pulled at least 1,200 qualified leads, more than doubling the client’s expectations.

  Another case: One my other clients, a franchise marketing agency in New Jersey, initiated research to poll franchise executives regarding agencies and agency relationships. But the interviews proved deeper and richer than they had anticipated, yielding a wealth of insights on franchise marketing and franchisor-franchisee communications. The resulting report has become the foundation for a press campaign and a major component of the agency’s branding and lead-generation efforts, which are pulling in clients as I write.

  I talked to Rich Higginson, president of The Princeton Research Group, the firm that executed the research on behalf of the franchise marketing agency. We put our brains together and came up with a few pointers on who should leverage research and how they should go about it.

  Who can package research to their advantage?

  • Businesses with big “brain capital”: Think professional services and consulting firms. Or industries such as financial services, insurance or healthcare. Here, knowledge is money. Any insights you can provide on how customers think, feel, hope and fear has an immediate value your clients will appreciate.
  • Non-profit organizations: In any major fundraising campaign, the real money comes from a handful of big contributors. But before the big players pony up, they want evidence that the need is real, the goal desirable and the organization effective. A third-party report based on objective data can be the story you need to win over major contributors.
  • Political organizers: Gathering support for a referendum, such as a tax override, can be tough work. But you can soften the ground by distributing research that lets voters know what their neighbors are thinking. Likewise, incumbent parties can package data regarding constituent desires – what voters said they want from their government – with facts on how the government has responded to their concerns.

  What do you do with the research you’ve gathered?

  • Pepper your press releases: Reporters are often too busy to conduct deep investigations on their own. That’s why editors really appreciate press releases loaded with fresh, objective information that can form the core of new stories. Example: “In a survey of leading American textile manufacturers, 85% believe that competition from China will cripple the nation’s textile industry in the next five years.” Or: “Consumer surveys indicate that CD music sales still run strong in the 50+ crowd.”
  • Share it in your own bylined articles: Consultants and other service providers looking to establish “thought leadership” are always eager for ideas on which they can build bylined articles. One good research study can become fodder for a half-dozen substantive articles based on the data you’ve gathered. These may be placed in industry-relevant publications. Or you can bypass traditional media and distribute your articles online through a syndication site such as EzineArticles.com.
  • Put together a premium to attract leads: It’s one of the perennial problems of business-to-business marketing: how do you get the attention of the big decision-makers and top executives you must persuade to make the sale? Here’s your ace-in-the-hole: they’re hungry for information. They want to know what the market’s up to; what their competitors are doing; what their colleagues think; what their customers desire. Consider packaging your research into white papers, reports or guides you can use as offers in a lead-gen campaign: “Call today for our free guide, 8 Things You Must Do to Engage Hispanic Consumers.” These same reports make excellent downloads from your website (in exchange for basic contact information, of course).

  What else do you have to know?

  • Keep your strategic information to yourself: You don’t need to (and should not) give everything away. Any specific information you uncover that gives you an advan
    12 Secrets of Sticky Ideas
    Forget cold calls.Do away with direct mail.And for the love of God, PLEASE stop wasting your money on advertisements.This stuff doesn’t work.Allow me to introduce you to your company’s greatest marketing ally: Word of Mouth.She’s very pleased to meet you.FACT: if you leverage, monitor and practice word of mouth through interaction, (not interruption) marketing, you win.And you win BIG.There’s a reason I know that. See, my entire career as an author/speaker has been built (and continues to be built) on word of mouth.If you’re a first time reader, allow me to explain:My name is Scott. I’m that guy who wears a nametag 24-7 to make people friendlier. (Faithfully since November 2, 2000.) I write books, give speeches and publish online learning tools that help businesspeople make a name
    ncy in New Jersey, initiated research to poll franchise executives regarding agencies and agency relationships. But the interviews proved deeper and richer than they had anticipated, yielding a wealth of insights on franchise marketing and franchisor-franchisee communications. The resulting report has become the foundation for a press campaign and a major component of the agency’s branding and lead-generation efforts, which are pulling in clients as I write.

    I talked to Rich Higginson, president of The Princeton Research Group, the firm that executed the research on behalf of the franchise marketing agency. We put our brains together and came up with a few pointers on who should leverage research and how they should go about it.

    Who can package research to their advantage?

    • Businesses with big “brain capital”: Think professional services and consulting firms. Or industries such as financial services, insurance or healthcare. Here, knowledge is money. Any insights you can provide on how customers think, feel, hope and fear has an immediate value your clients will appreciate.
    • Non-profit organizations: In any major fundraising campaign, the real money comes from a handful of big contributors. But before the big players pony up, they want evidence that the need is real, the goal desirable and the organization effective. A third-party report based on objective data can be the story you need to win over major contributors.
    • Political organizers: Gathering support for a referendum, such as a tax override, can be tough work. But you can soften the ground by distributing research that lets voters know what their neighbors are thinking. Likewise, incumbent parties can package data regarding constituent desires – what voters said they want from their government – with facts on how the government has responded to their concerns.

    What do you do with the research you’ve gathered?

    • Pepper your press releases: Reporters are often too busy to conduct deep investigations on their own. That’s why editors really appreciate press releases loaded with fresh, objective information that can form the core of new stories. Example: “In a survey of leading American textile manufacturers, 85% believe that competition from China will cripple the nation’s textile industry in the next five years.” Or: “Consumer surveys indicate that CD music sales still run strong in the 50+ crowd.”
    • Share it in your own bylined articles: Consultants and other service providers looking to establish “thought leadership” are always eager for ideas on which they can build bylined articles. One good research study can become fodder for a half-dozen substantive articles based on the data you’ve gathered. These may be placed in industry-relevant publications. Or you can bypass traditional media and distribute your articles online through a syndication site such as EzineArticles.com.
    • Put together a premium to attract leads: It’s one of the perennial problems of business-to-business marketing: how do you get the attention of the big decision-makers and top executives you must persuade to make the sale? Here’s your ace-in-the-hole: they’re hungry for information. They want to know what the market’s up to; what their competitors are doing; what their colleagues think; what their customers desire. Consider packaging your research into white papers, reports or guides you can use as offers in a lead-gen campaign: “Call today for our free guide, 8 Things You Must Do to Engage Hispanic Consumers.” These same reports make excellent downloads from your website (in exchange for basic contact information, of course).

    What else do you have to know?

    • Keep your strategic information to yourself: You don’t need to (and should not) give everything away. Any specific information you uncover that gives you an advan
      Gmail & Me
      Prelude: My initial thought "Jus' b'cos it offers more space it does not have to be good". It was jus' another mail account, the only difference "1GB"! [the marketing team of google has got my attention :-)]. I Started using gmail with some initial reluctance, as the loading time was much similar to yahoo. The user interface :-( was not catchy enough, to get the attention of first time usres.The "speed" was something that caught my attention first. These guys seemed to offer the service over a scalable grid. I did not see anything new there!. Then the labels feature was something hmmm hmm... it kind of aroused my interest. Still I was apprehensive whether it would scale with 10,000 mails.After this, I started to play with it, enabled the stars, applied the labels etc. The user interface response was very good! The threading of mails
      ance or healthcare. Here, knowledge is money. Any insights you can provide on how customers think, feel, hope and fear has an immediate value your clients will appreciate.
    • Non-profit organizations: In any major fundraising campaign, the real money comes from a handful of big contributors. But before the big players pony up, they want evidence that the need is real, the goal desirable and the organization effective. A third-party report based on objective data can be the story you need to win over major contributors.
    • Political organizers: Gathering support for a referendum, such as a tax override, can be tough work. But you can soften the ground by distributing research that lets voters know what their neighbors are thinking. Likewise, incumbent parties can package data regarding constituent desires – what voters said they want from their government – with facts on how the government has responded to their concerns.

    What do you do with the research you’ve gathered?

    • Pepper your press releases: Reporters are often too busy to conduct deep investigations on their own. That’s why editors really appreciate press releases loaded with fresh, objective information that can form the core of new stories. Example: “In a survey of leading American textile manufacturers, 85% believe that competition from China will cripple the nation’s textile industry in the next five years.” Or: “Consumer surveys indicate that CD music sales still run strong in the 50+ crowd.”
    • Share it in your own bylined articles: Consultants and other service providers looking to establish “thought leadership” are always eager for ideas on which they can build bylined articles. One good research study can become fodder for a half-dozen substantive articles based on the data you’ve gathered. These may be placed in industry-relevant publications. Or you can bypass traditional media and distribute your articles online through a syndication site such as EzineArticles.com.
    • Put together a premium to attract leads: It’s one of the perennial problems of business-to-business marketing: how do you get the attention of the big decision-makers and top executives you must persuade to make the sale? Here’s your ace-in-the-hole: they’re hungry for information. They want to know what the market’s up to; what their competitors are doing; what their colleagues think; what their customers desire. Consider packaging your research into white papers, reports or guides you can use as offers in a lead-gen campaign: “Call today for our free guide, 8 Things You Must Do to Engage Hispanic Consumers.” These same reports make excellent downloads from your website (in exchange for basic contact information, of course).

    What else do you have to know?

    • Keep your strategic information to yourself: You don’t need to (and should not) give everything away. Any specific information you uncover that gives you an advan
      CNC Router Machine
      The CNC router machine cuts in three directions at once. The precision of the router’s cutting relies on the design software, software that provides a two-fold advantage to the router operator.To begin with, the CAD software gives the operator of the CNC router machine the ability to create the design that will be cut into the solid plate.After the operator creates the design, that same operator relies on the computer to send the proper operating instructions. The instructions from the software send signals to the router motor drive. These signals, termed tool path files, allow the motor controls to direct the precise motion of the router drive system.The router bits perform the cutting of the CNC router machine. These bits are similar to drill bits. As mentioned above, the cutting can proceed along three different axes simultaneousl
      you’ve gathered?

      • Pepper your press releases: Reporters are often too busy to conduct deep investigations on their own. That’s why editors really appreciate press releases loaded with fresh, objective information that can form the core of new stories. Example: “In a survey of leading American textile manufacturers, 85% believe that competition from China will cripple the nation’s textile industry in the next five years.” Or: “Consumer surveys indicate that CD music sales still run strong in the 50+ crowd.”
      • Share it in your own bylined articles: Consultants and other service providers looking to establish “thought leadership” are always eager for ideas on which they can build bylined articles. One good research study can become fodder for a half-dozen substantive articles based on the data you’ve gathered. These may be placed in industry-relevant publications. Or you can bypass traditional media and distribute your articles online through a syndication site such as EzineArticles.com.
      • Put together a premium to attract leads: It’s one of the perennial problems of business-to-business marketing: how do you get the attention of the big decision-makers and top executives you must persuade to make the sale? Here’s your ace-in-the-hole: they’re hungry for information. They want to know what the market’s up to; what their competitors are doing; what their colleagues think; what their customers desire. Consider packaging your research into white papers, reports or guides you can use as offers in a lead-gen campaign: “Call today for our free guide, 8 Things You Must Do to Engage Hispanic Consumers.” These same reports make excellent downloads from your website (in exchange for basic contact information, of course).

      What else do you have to know?

      • Keep your strategic information to yourself: You don’t need to (and should not) give everything away. Any specific information you uncover that gives you an advan
        Dealing with Difficult Clients
        Sooner or later, if you work as a virtual assistant, you are bound to come in contact with at least one Difficult Client. These are defined by the following behaviors:1. Impatience & Irritation2. Angry Emails3. Yelling4. Irrational Demands5. Threats6. Late Payments, or Not Paying at AllBefore you get too scared, and think about ditching your comfortable work-at-home living, let me tell you that there are several ways to work with these Difficult Clients, and even possibly train them to your way of thinking.Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. had it right when they said that the best way to solve a conflict is with non-violence. Yelling at a difficult client is only likely to yield even worse results than you're already getting. You may lose this client forever
        as EzineArticles.com.
      • Put together a premium to attract leads: It’s one of the perennial problems of business-to-business marketing: how do you get the attention of the big decision-makers and top executives you must persuade to make the sale? Here’s your ace-in-the-hole: they’re hungry for information. They want to know what the market’s up to; what their competitors are doing; what their colleagues think; what their customers desire. Consider packaging your research into white papers, reports or guides you can use as offers in a lead-gen campaign: “Call today for our free guide, 8 Things You Must Do to Engage Hispanic Consumers.” These same reports make excellent downloads from your website (in exchange for basic contact information, of course).

      What else do you have to know?

      • Keep your strategic information to yourself: You don’t need to (and should not) give everything away. Any specific information you uncover that gives you an advantage over your direct competitors – and would likewise help your competitors if they should get their hands on it – you should keep to yourself.
      • It’s not that expensive: Some people balk at the cost of research. But think about it – what’s a few thousand dollars to survey a few hundred people? For the amount of money you’d spend on a modest media buy (and for a short period at that), you could gain raw material for articles, press releases, premium guides, Web content, direct mail, e-newsletters and more. In the greater marketing context, the right marketing research is a downright bargain.
      • The Web is changing everything: Back in the old days (meaning: just a few years ago) your opportunities to disseminate information were limited to your influence with the media. But the Web has evolved into an extraordinary messaging platform that often leaves the traditional media players behind. Think of what’s available now to help you distribute your information: blogs, e-newsletters, virtual networks and communities, press release syndication sites, article syndication sites, e-book downloads, Web-specific publishing sites. These and other online mediums can help you get the word out. And through the power of hyperlinks and search engine robots, your word can spread must faster in bits and bytes than it would in ink or broadcast signals.

      Make research part of your message Before you begin your next big PR or marketing campaign, think about conducting research first – not simply as a guide for your campaign, but as the very substance of your offers, your message, your brand. Because the best way to rise above the clutter is to give your prospects something better than more clutter – honest-to-goodness information and insight they can really use.