Add You - Business

Marketing for the Amateur
Not everyone is a marketing guru. Even some who claim to be. But that’s another story for another time. The goal here is to provide some basic help for the growing number of small business owners – many with start-up ventures – who have to market their own products and servicesThe first question I’m usually asked in seminars and workshops – even by some of the business owners I coach – is, “How much should I be spending for advertising?” My answer’s always the same, “Zero!” Why? Because advertising dollars should be an investment, not something you “spend.” Advertising should bring in more dollars than the price of the efforts – many more dollars.Notice how we switched from marketing to advertising? That’s because many business owners believe the two are the same. They’re not. Marketing includes advertising plus other activities – sales promotion, public relations, plus research and development. The latter to learn what would-be customers want, what your competition’s doing, plus how to improve what you sell.OK, so how much should you invest in marketing? For every $100 you plan to take in – we’re talking sales, not profits – your minimum marketing investment should be between $7 and $10. For a new business, that range should be $11 to $15 because you have to introduce your business plus what your selling.If your written business plan – yes, you need one – forecasts $200,000 in sales for the year, set aside at least $22,000 for marketing, even up to $30,000. I’d use the high end figure because you can’t run a newspaper ad, for example, unless someone creates it…writes the words, lays out how the ad will look, photographs or draws the items to appear in it.Oh, and please don’t buy into the idea that your newspaper, magazine or phone directory wil

es supplying free product for insertion into "goody bags" which are handed out as 'thank you' gifts to celebrity presenters and award nominees at the now-countless awards shows and charity benefits that dot the entertainment landscape.

At last year's Academy Awards, for example, one of two Best Actress gift-bags featured Gucci sunglasses, a Sprint PCS phone, Christian Tse 18-carat gold Iris earrings, and more. The Best Actor bag featured Gucci eyewear, a Maurice Lacroix Swiss watch and assorted other goodies. According to news reports, the retail value of one such group of bags at the Oscars exceeded $110,000 each!

But how effective is this practice? If the goal of Celebrity Product Placement is to get press coverage, can we measure the value of gift-bag placements? What types of products are suitable and which are not? And what level of control does this strategy offer marketers both in terms of demographics and reach?

There is no denying the value of being associated with these glitzy events, and by extension, the celebrities who populat

Buying Radio? Read This and Don't Waste Your Money
Pay close attention and make it work the best for you.No doubt you’ve listened to, and then quickly deleted, messages from account execs from your local radio stations. Maybe you’ve even entertained them in your office. Hopefully you didn’t have to sanitize your phone or office afterwards.Well, radio can be great way to garner awareness cheaply... ahem, inexpensively... if you do it right. Remember... 97.823% of all radio ads S-U-C-K. That leaves you to carry the banner for great radio advertising. And when you do, you will get noticed. Believe me, you will get noticed.Why do so many radio ads suck? Between the screaming car ads, nasally voiced business owners who should never get anywhere near a microphone reading their own ads, and the next “turnkey” business opportunity, they are all dressed in their plaid suits and resorting to hucksterism. They want your money and they want it now.They forget one thing. Well, actually a lot of things, but the main thing they forget that people are not tuning in for their ad. Listeners want Rush, Rome, Al, Laura, music, sports, news, or whatever. People aren’t saying, “Gee, I gotta hear great heating and air conditioning ads today!”Your ad is interrupting what they listen for. By nature, you are already behind the eight ball before you start in radio. But there is hope.First off, do NOT let a radio station employee write your ad.If your exec isn’t a writer (you may luck out in that some radio execs are copywriters in training looking for an agency gig) and you don’t speak up, your ad will probably get written by either: the station producer- who may have already written 4 or 5 other ads that same DAY,who doesn’t have enough time to fully attend to your needs,

With more and more companies wanting to integrate their products into the lives of celebrities, now seems like a good time to take a closer look at Celebrity Product Placement, describe three common approaches, and outline what steps can be taken to guarantee results.

The term "Celebrity Product Placement" is used to describe several related techniques, but its definition applies to each: free products are distributed to celebrities in expectation of a promotional benefit. Unlike the more overt, paid-for endorsement, it offers a distinct advantage. It can appear like a product choice made on individual preference.

Most marketers are unaware of their options in this category (one form features contracts with celebrities, guaranteeing performance and allowing marketers to actively leverage celebrity patrons in the media) and therefore many overlook a very powerful influencer-marketing technique.

In this article, I will describe each of the three main approaches and discuss their relative merits by listing their pros and cons. I also hope to quash any misconception that Celebrity Product Placement has to be a gamble, and show you how best to secure a return on investment (R.O.I.).

But first, a little history...

Celebrity Product Placement (sometimes called "Celebrity Seeding") has been with us since the dawn of marketing. Centuries before Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped into his first Hummer, an 18th century potter named Josiah Wedgwood began supplying his wares to England's Queen Charlotte. Being given the title "Potter to Her Majesty" led to a huge amount of publicity for Wedgwood which he took advantage of using the term "Queen's Ware" wherever he could.

It wasn't until the 20th century that marketers keyed-in on America's "royalty": Hollywood. But more often than not they met with disappointing results. Some companies responded only to occasional requests for products ("gifting"), while others made half-hearted attempts to distribute them without first devising a means to guarantee results ("seeding"). In the end, most companies seeded product "to the wind" and failed to grow anything of value.

Those efforts that did succeed, however, were so successful that independent specialists emerged to help companies achieve better results. But the services they offer vary and so do the results.

What's It All About?

Marketers have long known the power of celebrity to influence consumer- purchasing decisions. The term "borrowed equity" has been used to describe how a celebrity endorsement can bestow upon a product special attributes and cache it might not otherwise have.

The same concept applies to Celebrity Product Placement. But unlike celebrity endorsements, where a highly compensated personality appears in commercial advertising, Celebrity Product Placement offers marketers a more subtle and highly effective means of reaching the public - via the media they consume by choice.

Indeed, Celebrity Product Placement is as much about placing products with celebrities as it is about getting stories about those relationships into the press. Regardless of the approach, Celebrity Product Placement strategies have a common aim: to tie celebrities (thought-leaders, influencers) with consumer products in the public consciousness.

Three different techniques offer three different levels of control over that placement: gifting-the-talent (this usually involves supplying products for gift bags at live events); product seeding (products are distributed more widely in hopes of securing a promotional benefit and kicking off a trend); and, barter relationships (individual celebrities agree to participate in custom programs in exchange for valuable products).

Let's take a look at each one in greater detail.

GIFTING-THE-TALENT

"Everybody" knows that celebrities own all the coolest stuff, and well before everybody else. Celebrities travel the world and every minute detail of their daily lives pervades the media. As style-leaders, they are perhaps our most powerful influencers. It's no wonder then that companies are lining up to give them the latest gifts and gadgets for free.

One method to do this is called "Gifting-The-Talent." This generally involves supplying free product for insertion into "goody bags" which are handed out as 'thank you' gifts to celebrity presenters and award nominees at the now-countless awards shows and charity benefits that dot the entertainment landscape.

There is no denying the value of being associated with these glitzy events, and by extension, the celebrities who populate

Branches of Accounting, Uses of Accounting and Limitations of Financial Accounting
Accounting vs. Book-keepingBook-keeping concerns itself with the recording (correctly and in a set of books) of those transactions that result in the transfer of money or money's worth. Whereas accounting is comprehensive in perspective. It extends to classifying, summarizing, presenting and even analyzing accounting information .Accounting vs. AccountancyBody of knowledge (consisting of principles, postulates, assumptions, conventions, concepts and rules) governing the science of recording classifying and analyzing financial transactions is accounting. Whereas the practice and art of the science of accounting is termed as accountancy.To meet the ever increasing demands made on accounting by different interested parties (such as owners, management, creditors, taxation authorities etc.) the various branches have come into existence. Financial AccountingThe object of financial accounting is to ascertain the result (profit or loss) of business operations during the particular period and to state the financial position (Balance Sheet) as on a date at the end of the period.Cost AccountingThe object of cost accounting is to find out the cost of goods produced or services rendered by a business. It also helps the business in controlling the costs by indicating avoidable losses and wastes.Management AccountingThe object of management accounting is to supply relevant information at appropriate time to the management to enable it to take decision and effect control.In this web primer, we are concerned only with financial accounting. The objects of financial accounting as stated above can be achieved only by recording the financial transactions in a systematic manner according to a set of principles. The recorded information has to be classified, analyzed and presented in a ma

quash any misconception that Celebrity Product Placement has to be a gamble, and show you how best to secure a return on investment (R.O.I.).

But first, a little history...

Those efforts that did succeed, however, were so successful that independent specialists emerged to help companies achieve better results. But the services they offer vary and so do the results.

What's It All About?

Let's take a look at each one in greater detail.

GIFTING-THE-TALENT

There is no denying the value of being associated with these glitzy events, and by extension, the celebrities who populat

Marketing Apathy Solutions: 10 Solutions for Overcoming Apathy Beginning Today
Are you suffering from feelings of indifference or a lack of concern when it comes to marketing your business? Do you lack the passion that’s necessary to attract customers to your business?Marketing apathy, characterized by feelings of passiveness, disregard, and a lack of interest is widespread among today’s businesses. This attitude is like putting a roadblock between you and your success. Fortunately, there are a number of solutions for overcoming apathy that you can start implementing today. Try one or more of these.1. Do something. The best way to take a blah attitude and turn it around is to do something. You may have heard the phrase, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”. The same goes for your business. Apathy often disguises itself as procrastination – lack of action. In the case of your business, an idle business can mean financial disaster. When you find yourself not wanting to do anything, do something. Pick up a book and read for a while, call a client or two and ask them how things are going, or contact your coach to get yourself moving. If you have to, get up and do jumping jacks or take a walk around the block. When you engage your physical body, it’s usually easier to engage the rest of you. Once you get the energy moving on your end, you’ll be able to take it and channel it into a number of avenues that can lead to business success.2. Gather your support team. A support team is critical to our personal and professional well-being. A support team can consist of our friends, business colleagues, family members, a loving partner or spouse, or even groups that we belong to – like business or civic groups. When we experience rough days in our business we can call on these folks for uplifting conversation, brainstorming, or just to share

grow anything of value.

Those efforts that did succeed, however, were so successful that independent specialists emerged to help companies achieve better results. But the services they offer vary and so do the results.

What's It All About?

Let's take a look at each one in greater detail.

GIFTING-THE-TALENT

There is no denying the value of being associated with these glitzy events, and by extension, the celebrities who populat

Marketing Ideas Without Action Will Get You Nowhere!
Marketing Ideas Without Action Get You NowhereYou want to grow your small business, but how do you do that? Many of the small businesses I work with are not really sure what works best, or how, or where to get started.We're all familiar with the term Marketing, but what in the heck is it really supposed to do for us?* Build brand awareness * Build name recognition * Increase market share * Get more clients * Generate referrals * Create more repeat businessMaybe you've tried some things in the past like brochures, yellow pages advertising, Chamber of Commerce networking but were disappointed with the results so you stopped doing them. And it seems that others are always willing to give you advice. Never mind that they have no idea what they're doing either.You know you need to be marketing, so why isn't it getting done? There are just so many other things to take care of when you are trying to run and grow a business.Maybe you have a lot of ideas, but still nothing happens. Are you guilty of any of these common small business symptoms - over analysis? perfectionism? fear of failure?If you can relate, there's a good chance that your ideas never get off the drawing board and put into action. And your visions of taking your business to new heights never materialize.Action Without Ideas Is No Good EitherThere is an opposite end of the spectrum which is also quite dangerous to the long-term health of your business.Action without ideas can lead to a lot of busy work without a lot of new business growth. You might get lucky because at least you're taking action. But, the results are more likely to be less than what you expect or need.You Need A Plan To Put Ideas Into Action

a common aim: to tie celebrities (thought-leaders, influencers) with consumer products in the public consciousness.

Let's take a look at each one in greater detail.

GIFTING-THE-TALENT

There is no denying the value of being associated with these glitzy events, and by extension, the celebrities who populat

Do You Need a War Room? Life in the Command Center
A command center, sometimes referred to as a war room, can be a competitive differentiator for a business, non-profit or other organization. The key elements for any command center are: centralized location, key personnel, time frames (project, crisis or on-going), mission definition, primary activities and finally, resources as related to organizational commitment. Each on of these points will be outlined below to better portray whether an organization does in fact need a command centerLocation. There are two schools of thought in this area. One is that the command center should be near the hub of action such as the corporate, non-profit or other organizational headquarters. The other is that the command center should be at a remote location and not co-located with the headquarters to keep it safe and to avoid too much executive interference in its workings. If the command center is to serve as an executive “dog and pony” or show facility, then it should be at headquarters. It is then convenience for both executives and for other visiting dignitaries. If the goal is a critical information hub, then the command center can be anywhere. Ideally, not in or even near the headquarters facility.Personnel. The kinds of people who are best for a command center are not necessarily the movers and shakers on their way up in any organization. There are three categories of people who are valuable in the command center environment. The first is the candid veteran leaders or manager. This individual must be fully committed to the center and willing to tell it like it is regardless of the consequences. The second is the expert. There need to be functional experts – the top in their areas – in each of the primary functional areas that the command center supports for the corporation

There is no denying the value of being associated with these glitzy events, and by extension, the celebrities who populate them. On the plus side, they offer a rare opportunity to get close to the biggest stars in the world. On the minus side, the marketer has no control in matching up celebrities who hold sway over their particular demographic. They have to play the cards they are dealt.

Gifting-the-talent at award shows virtually guarantees mentions in the celebrity press at the time of the event; but without permission to associate the celebrity's name and likeness with the product, marketers don't have the leeway to truly leverage those relationships in their own press activities.

Gifting-the-talent in this way has other limitations: first-movers snap-up desirable categories and, of course, not all products are deemed appropriate. You won't find an energy drink in these bags.

PRODUCT SEEDING

Product Seeding offers marketers more control over whom to place products with but, conversely, less control over how (or if) those products get used. And, while virtually any product - from bottled water to consumer electronics - can be seeded with celebrities, marketers are playing the odds here. But the payoff can be huge if the seeding is supported by a creative strategy.

Product Seeding is the oldest form of Celebrity Product Placement. Products are distributed more widely. They can be aimed at celebrities who are most compelling to your demographic. And they can be delivered directly to the celebrity without the filters imposed by events. Of course, working with a specialist who can get your product directly to celebrities becomes paramount here. Film and television product placement agencies are NOT set up for this practice.

Taken by itself, Product Seeding is a gamble. If you send enough freebies to Hollywood but you don't have a creative strategy, a celebrity might be photographed using your product or evangelizing it on a talk show. But if one looks at Product Seeding as one tactic in a larger Celebrity Product Placement effort, it can pay big dividends - particularly in identifying celebrities who have a true affinity for your product.

Energy Brands, makers of the Glaceau Vitamin Water line, discovered this in 2004. As a result of its long-time strategy to "home deliver" the vitamin-enhanced drink to celebrities (including Sean "Puffy" Combs and Tom Cruise), the company gained a fan in 50 Cent. Having mentioned his preference for the product in a series of interviews, the Hip Hop star - who is well known for his fitness-centered lifestyle - became an obvious choice for brand spokesperson.

Speaking to Ad Age magazine, Energy Brands' VP of marketing, Rohan Oza, said "We've seen that when 50 Cent incorporates [Vitamin Water] into his daily routine ... the brand gets on the airwaves and we create a lot of trial." Making vitamin water a visible part of the rapper's healthy lifestyle worked so well the company launched a new "Formula 50" variety named for the artist.

Such "organic" relationships can grow from Product Seeding. Not only can marketers benefit from press mentions, but the process can be used to uncover promotional opportunities and, in some cases, identify the most ideal product endorsers.

Product Seeding remains a gamble but, if executed properly, one well worth taking. Relatively speaking, it is a very low-cost marketing program. And the return on investment - though difficult to forecast compared to barter relationships discussed below - can be big. But what if your goal is limited to getting press mentions? Can a publicist hedge his or her bets in this category?

One of the great things about Product Seeding is how creative you can get. For Trident White chewing gum, the company commissioned a Harris poll asking the public to vote on the best "celebrity smiles." My company, which specializes in celebrity product placement, delivered gift baskets of the product to the Top 6 winners, allowing Trident to plug the celebrities in their press materials.

On another occasion, Electrolux - maker of a new high-end, super-quiet vacuum cleaner - wanted to align their product with celebrities. We identified 6 celebrity moms who had recently given birth and - touting the fact that these vacuums would not wake a sleeping baby - made gifts of the product to each. Her

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If you want to find the top work at home jobs you have to go to the source, the real sites where people exchange job opportunities or positions. An example of one of those sites is craigslist.org

Communication plays a fundamental role in business continuity, in a crisis or in corporate reputation. Good communication enhances organizational productivity. Communication is absolutely fundamental to a successful outcome.

You might be asking, what's the importance of press releases? After all, you advertise your business and spend good money to get the word out about the invaluable services you are providing your customers. You might be thinking that you have no need for press releases or the media; you're not in the business of making news, but of making money. Make MORE money, use the media to to do it.

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