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  • Fast Business Loans – 3 Strategies to the Right Choice

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    Entrepreneurs and business people alike are finding themselves in need of a fast business loan to help shore up working capital as the economy continues to falter. While a loan at a commercial bank may be an option for some, there are a number of factors that prohibit businesses from going this direction for their capital funding needs. Chief among them is the low approval rate and lengthy application process. While these loans may have the best rates and terms, many businesses find themselves with urgent capital needs.

    Consequently, many lenders have entered the marketplace that purport to be “fast business loans”. It is important that all business owners take a very sober and honest appraisal of these types of loans in order to make a decision that will positively affect the outcome of their business.

    1.)Read the Fine Print- Any lender that is claiming to offer “instant business loans” should be viewed with skepticism. Most of these lenders may be traditional “payday” type lenders or signature loan lenders that are trying to capture some of the business market. Usually the loan amounts are very small, often under $5000, and the interest rates and fees may be exorbitant. Never pay a fee upfront to apply for any loan, online or off.

    2.)What is the Loan Purpose?– It may seem obvious, but any business looking for a quick business loan may not be actually considering this question other than “paying a past due bill” or something like that. If the loan is not being used to generate additional revenue, or consolidate bills that will open up additional cash flow, a business person should strongly consider against it, even if they do have an over due bill. Moving debt from one lender to another, often at higher interest rates is a dangerous shell game for any business.

    3.)What is the interest/factor rate?– This one simple fact usually holds up in all forms of lending. The faster you get the money, the more you are going to pay for it. The reason is simple. True dedicated underwriting which helps a lender understand their risk and set the interest rate for the loan accordingly requires documents from the prospective borrower. If a lender is going to forgo this and underwrite the loan purely on electronically available means, it usually means you will be paying a very high interest rate to compensate the lender for this additional risk. Luckily there are options now that can get loan fundings to business owners in 7 to 10 days without paying extremely high interest rates.

    The bottom line for a those seeking fast business loans is, do not let your sense of urgency override good judgment and common sense. Take the time to understand all the terms correctly, and keep asking questions until you get an answer. The consequences may be disastrous for your business and business lenders do not necessarily have your best interest in mind.

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    Source by Neal Coxworth

    Views: 0

  • Internal Customer Service: Guidelines for Suppliers and Contractors

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    Change management and organization development experts talk about ‘creating alignment’ – aligning organizational strategy with daily business needs. And a big part of this is creating alignment between customer needs and employee actions as customer service providers. But we also have to take note of internal customers – those people within the organization that service us – as internal customers and who we service as internal customers. “There is a remarkably close and consistent link between how internal customers are treated and how external customers perceive the quality of your organization’s services. It is almost impossible to provide good external service if your organization is not providing good internal service.” R. Zemke and K. Anderson, Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service, 1981.

    And it’s not just about internal customers within the walls of your organization, it’s also about those arms-length internal customers and customer service providers – suppliers and contractors – those people who either supply your organization directly or come into contact with your external customers, directly, as your representative. These suppliers and contractors should be considered an integral part of your organization and the service they provide should be measured as accurately and frequently as you measure the service level you provide.

    To my mind, servicing others, whether internal or external (customer, supplier, colleague, peer, supervisor, contractor), should reflect the values of your organization and the process to retain the best customers – again, whether internal or external – can be applied across any of these groups. Suppliers and contractors should be selected and retained based on their commitment to servicing your customers – and your employees – as you require them to be serviced. Although you do not ‘own’ these suppliers and contractors, you have the right to demand the equivalent level of service you provide to your customers. When selecting your suppliers and contractors, or measuring the ones you currently are associated with, the following guidelines may help ensure that internal service meets the standard.

    Recruit suppliers and contractors as you would your employees.

    You should be seeking out the best person for the job, the high performer who will be able to deliver on your business expectations and drive up results for your company. Why not utilize some of the recruiting tools you use when conducting a search for an employee? Think about it. You will be paying this supplier or contractor to perform services for you or your customers so you should expect them to be of the calibre you expect from a new employee. Consider requesting a resume of their qualifications and experience, customers they have serviced, certifications that may be required, and if available, customer testimonials. Interview them in a similar fashion to the way in which you interview for employees. Check their references and make sure you put in place a contractual arrangement that clearly documents what you expect from them and what they can expect from you (this is just another version of position profiles and expectations for the role).

    In these cases, you are seeking high performers capable of servicing both your customers and your employees. And you have a responsibility to provide them with the information, resources and possibly, tools, they will need to service both these groups accurately and professionally.

    Provide clear expectations of performance.

    Even if your suppliers and contractors have worked with your organization for a long period of time, it is critical to periodically review your expectations of their role and how you expect them to service your customers. Customers are retained because they have developed a good relationship with their supplier and any contractor or supplier who is dealing with your customer directly, is seen by the customer to be an employee of your company, and hence; representing your company.

    When I was a general manager for an energy distribution company, one of our contractor service technicians accidentally cut the customer’s phone line. The first issue for the customer was, of course, the cut phone line and the inconvenience associated. The second issue was that the contractor apologized but told the customer he would have to call our company to secure satisfaction regarding the cost and inconvenience of having the line repaired. The third issue was the response the customer received from the Branch Manager when he called our company office to complain. He was told we were not responsible since it was a contractor that had cut the line! Yes, I too, was shocked when the customer got through to me to complain and told me what the Branch Manager had said. Even more distressing was the fact that the Branch Manager defended his position when I called him about the complaint!

    No doubt we did not clearly identify to our contractor our customer service expectations. To me, they were simple. Apologize to the customer, call our office immediately to request a solution and then work with the customer to get the solution implemented. Simple to me but certainly not to our contractor or, I quickly discovered, to my Branch Manager.

    So my next step was to build a contractor customer service agreement and develop a customer service training program to implement with both our employees and our contractors. We then implemented it across my region. We still had customer service issues with both our contractors and our employees, periodically,but this was a great first step.

    Conduct frequent performance reviews.

    Providing your suppliers and contractors with regular, specific feedback will not only give you confidence that they are meeting your needs but will also provide opportunities for them to discuss any customer service challenges, issues, or problems with you before they result in lost customers. These regular reviews should be part of the contract between you and the contractor and they should be implemented on schedule. During these reviews you should include their primary employee contacts to ensure all partners are clear about the issues and able to participate in developing the solutions. This secures commitment to the solutions.

    Reward and recognize customer service excellence.

    At a minimum, providing them with a reference signifies that you are pleased with their customer service performance. But, without a doubt, the best reward for suppliers and contractors is securing more work from you.

    Following these guidelines will go a long way to ensuring alignment between your company, your employees and your suppliers and contractors – to the business goals and strategy. All sectors can then be focused on delivering the expected level of customer service to the customer base you want to retain.

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    Source by Donna Stevenson

    Views: 0

  • Teaching Entrepreneurship To Children: Should We Do It?

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    Should we be teaching entrepreneurship to children? When you were a child did you ever have a stand where you sold soft drinks like sodas? Did you ever offer cakes and candy to other students at school in order to make some money?

    Not everybody is bitten by the entrepreneurial bug when they are kids however. I truly believe that it’s vital teaching entrepreneurship to children. The harsh realities of entering into the workforce in a difficult economy presents a lot of challenges. The alternative of being an entrepreneur and working for yourself is something that should be explained to children and young people.

    Making then Aware of an Alternative

    The main thing working against our children having an entrepreneurial mindset is our education system. With only a few exceptions, most of the teaching we get from the time we are in kindergarten to the day we graduate from college is…

    * Make sure you get a good education

    * Study hard and graduate with your degree

    * Get a wonderful job with great additional benefits and you’re set for life!

    There are a number of issues with this.

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with working and getting a good job with for a terrific company. A lot of people end up doing this and a some enjoy it and make a huge contribution to their company.

    The real truth is that there is a HUGE portion of people who are not pleased with their jobs and are in fact totally dissatisfied. This can be due to the fact that they either do not like the work they do, who they actually work with or they may not get paid enough being just one paycheck away from being broke.

    The Second problem is that it is very RARE in these modern times to find anybody that works at one specific job for more than 3 to 5 years. Switching between jobs regularly has actually become the “brand-new standard”.

    That’s why it’s so essential in teaching entrepreneurship to children and revealing to them that there is an option to having to go out into the workforce to make a living. Would it not make more sense to instruct children about entrepreneurship and show them a that there is a very real alternative to living a life in the corporate world.

    Teaching them about things like beginning their own home-business… particularly an online business. We have to remember that the younger generation now invest most of their time online nowadays. So,when they are young, why not instruct them about how to make money with a medium like the internet that they are so comfortable using.

    Keeping it Real

    Understanding that children these days can truly benefit from finding out how to begin their own business, how do we begin teaching them about it?

    I think it’s extremely important to set the right expectations early on. Having your own business can be an amazing experience, however children should be taught that it does also include hard work and dedication. This is something that children (and adults) in some cases choose to skip over.

    The reality is beginning an online business has the possibility to make you a lot more money than most everyday jobs.

    It’s essential to offer children choices. Make them understand the benefits and challenges of working in the “Rat Race” and the alternative of working for themselves in their own business.

    To be really practical we have to remember that children will regularly want to select the most simple and “Safest” method rather than something that might present a greater challenge and require a little additional effort even though in the long-term they could be much better off.

    Keep Their Dreams Alive

    The last thing to keep in mind is to be supportive of children who wish to start their own company. You see most children still have dreams and goals when they are young.

    As time goes and life presents some obstacles to their dreams in various forms, children then start to lower their goals and become more willing to settle for mediocrity. That is unless they have someone to look up to and admire and to learn from. Be the kind of individual who motivates and supports those children to dream big and work hard to realise their ambitions.

    With it becoming harder to find a good job nowadays, young children (and lots of grownups) need to be aware of the option of a home based business as a vehicle to achieve their dreams and objectives. Teaching entrepreneurship to children and assisting them in preserving their dreams can help pave a path on their journey to financial freedom and a life filled with passion.

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    Source by Merv Stevens

    Views: 0

  • Book Review Of Millionaire Fastlane

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    Book Review of Millionaire Fastlane by M.J. Demarco

    This book is one of the best books on Entrepreneurship in which the author lays out five commandments to be on the Millionaire Fastlane. According to the author, until and unless the business complies with the five commandments, they are not destined to be successful. These commandments are:

    Commandment of Need, Entry, Control, Scale and Time (NECST).

    Commandment of Need:

    Millionaires affect lives of millions of people by adding some values to their lives and hence are millionaires. If the marketplace does not care about your product or service then it is not going to add value to the marketplace and it is a failed venture before it takes off. So, every business should first figure out if there is a need for the service or product your business is going to deliver or not.

    So, we have seen test products being sold for free to test the water. All they are doing is trying to figure out if there is any demand or not.

    People often start business with wrong reasons. They are good at something and very skilled and open a business about it. But if the marketplace does not care about it, it’s going to be a failure because marketplace is a selfish place. It does not care what you want, what you have, how good you are. All it cares about it is what is it for them. If it adds some value to their lives then they will buy it otherwise not. So, it’s a big eye opener for me and could be for so many budding entrepreneurs.

    Commandment of Entry:

    This is the second commandment to successful business. If the barrier to entry is very easy it means millions will be doing the same thing and you will not have the ability to scale your business but rather will have to decrease the price and compete those millions. Usually war of price harms all the parties. For example if creating a website and writing a blog and generate income is your business then there is not enough barrier to entry unless you try to add something extra value to the marketplace which not anyone else has added yet. An example which the author gives few times is when he thought about starting Limo business. He found it failed both the first and second commandments. There was no need for one more limo business and barrier was very low to enter into this business.

    Commandment of Control:

    If you have no control over your business and you have given entire authority to another party, you are doomed to failure.

    Many entrepreneurs start a company and then hire a CEO or CFO to completely take control of operation or finance. They know nothing about what is going on and that is the recipe to failure. Especially when entrepreneurs do not have any basic financial knowledge like what is loan mortgage, how to calculate simple interest but hire an expert to help them make decisions. Since they themselves cannot take a second look at the decisions made by their advisers, chances are that they might screw up and entrepreneur will have to bear the loss.

    One of the examples given in the book about the benefit of controlling the business is given as the following. If you are a doctor working at a private-care facility it’s natural to think that you are on the fastlane because your magnitude (price/unit) is large and that will increase the net profit and hence wealth. But, the control of the private care facility is not held by the doctors but by the owner. So, it’s him who is on the fastlane not the doctor who depends on his intrinsic value to increase the wealth.

    Commandment of Scale:

    The author gives an example of a burger stall outside a supermarket. No matter how much the owner tries, he cannot scale his business and reach out to customers outside of the supermarket. So, this business violates the commandment of scale. But an e-store that sells some product in the internet has unlimited number of customers and hence has the capacity to scale his business to unlimited level. However, if the entrepreneur can create franchise of any burger store then he has the ability to scale and will be on the fastlane.

    The author gives an example of a quote by the billionaire Mark Cuban who said it only one business to be successful. So, it’s important that we undertake projects which can be scaled up. In baseball terms, take swing for home runs not singles. If you do decide to play singles, you have to replicate the effort many more times.

    The Fastlane wealth equation is:

    Wealth = Net Profit + Asset Value

    Net Profit = Units sold * Unit Profit

    The leverage is created by the units sold. If you are selling burgers on the supermarket lot, you are limiting the leverage and hence you are on the speed limit of 15 mph road. Also, you cannot increase the price of the burger so the unit profit cannot be controlled as well.

    So, either you have to be able to reach millions of people to increase the Units Sold quantity or sell at very high price to extra wealthy clients to increase the unit profit values.

    Commandment of time:

    Time is the scarcest resource we have. Most people spend money frugally and time freely. That according to the author is exactly the wrong way to the road to wealth. Time is limited and money is abundant. Only difference between successful and unsuccessful people is the way they spend their time. The former value each moment of their life and spend it to increase their self-worth. The latter waste it on fulfilling their immediate desires like watching TV series, indulging in games etc. for long period of time etc.

    As per the author, fastlane is not an easy path but sure it should be a fast way to earn wealth.

    As a fastlaner, our goal should be to automate the travel. If you have a business which requires you to dedicate each moment of your life all the time and always have to trade time for money, it’s a job masked as a business. It’s a money tree that never grows.

    It’s normal to work more than 80 hours per week in the starting phase of a business but it’s not normal to work like that for the rest of the life which is a normal for most of the people working normal life. One of the famous quotes from the book which is often used outside as well is about how most of the people define as normal. Normal is to wake up at 6 am, fight traffic, work 8 hours or slave 8 hours Monday to Friday, save 10% and repeat for 50 years. Normal is to believe that stock market will make us rich and fastest car and bigger house will make us happy. The definition of normal is corrupted by the society and we are conditioned to believe that. In short, the author believes, normal is modern day slavery and that’s why only few have the courage and the intelligence to come out of normalcy and drive on a millionaire’s fastlane.

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    Source by Manju Pradhanang

    Views: 0

  • Five Distinct Mindsets of an Entrepreneur

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    I have written in this column before about whether entrepreneurs are made or born (January 18). As I noted in that column, the issue is no longer the subject of debate. Entrepreneurs can be made, that much is clear. Unfortunately, the culmination of that debate begs a new question: What do aspiring entrepreneurs need to learn?

    The most fruitful research into this question has identified a number of cognitive skills that “expert entrepreneurs” possess. Cognitive skills are, in short, unique ways of thinking. Entrepreneurs who have been examined to reveal the cognitive skills they possess are usually NOT able to articulate them. They are aware that they’ve developed capabilities to convert disparate resources into profitable opportunities, but they can’t exactly say how they do it.

    Research has identified distinct patterns in the thought processes in an exceedingly diverse set of entrepreneurs. Scholars have translated these patterns into terms that can be used by people who teach entrepreneurship and, more importantly, those who practice it.

    In another field of study, Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner wrote a book titled “Five Minds for the Future”. The rationale for Gardner’s work is that: “One cannot even begin to develop an educational system unless one has in mind the knowledge and skills that one values, and the kinds of individuals one hopes will emerge at the end”. His book focuses on the five “mindsets” that he believes essential to general education: the disciplined mind, the synthesizing mind, the creative mind, the ethical mind, and the responsible mind.

    While Gardner’s minds are debatable, his perspective that the way people think largely defines who they become is instructive. In light of his work, it seems natural to wonder whether it is possible to identify five specific “mindsets” that are important to entrepreneurial success. My own research has identified five such mindsets: the opportunity recognizing mind, the designing mind, the risk managing mind, the resilient mind, and the effectuating mind.

    The opportunity recognizing mind is cultivated by identifying “pain points” in industry-specific value chains. Expert entrepreneurs rapidly go from spotting a pain point to analyzing the size of the market opportunity. Aspiring entrepreneurs, in contrast, are more likely to extrapolate from limited experience, and they tend to neglect analyzing the SIZE of the opportunity.

    The designing mind has learned how to create repeatable production processes that consistently create valuable output for an identified market. In fact, one of the main differentiators between entrepreneurship and small business is the entrepreneur designs and develops of production processes that do not require his or her constant attention. Small business owners generally enjoy working in their business. Entrepreneurs prefer the design approach of working on their business.

    Risk management is a too-often overlooked element of entrepreneurial expertise. A common belief is that entrepreneurs are risk takers. In reality, entrepreneurs have learned to be highly effective risk minimizers. Where others see intolerable risk, the expert entrepreneur has learned to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. For example, expert entrepreneurs operate according to the “principle of affordable loss” when launching a new venture. They don’t risk more than they can afford to lose.

    The resilient mind is simply the ability to bounce back from the inevitable failures and setbacks that all entrepreneurs encounter. Expert entrepreneurs have learned to distinguish their business failures from personal failure. Without question they still experience disappointment and frustration, but they don’t turn their negative emotions inward. They view their business experiences objectively, and they strive to learn as much or more from their failures than they do from their successes.

    Finally, the effectuating mind is simply the ability realistically to assess one’s talents, situation, and prospects. Any particular entrepreneurial opportunity could be pursued by anyone, but not everyone can pursue each opportunity. Some people simply will be better prepared to capitalize on an opportunity than others. This may be due to their life history, family circumstances, genetic gifts, or other factors. Expert entrepreneurs have learned honestly to assess their own unique talents and to leverage them in pursuit of opportunity. They do not care that others may be better suited to pursue other, potentially more lucrative, opportunities.

    The five mindsets entrepreneurial expertise are targets for lifelong learning and development. No matter your current level of expertise in any of these mindsets it is likely that you have room for improvement. If you deliberately practice and develop skills in these specific mindsets over time, the chances for your entrepreneurial success inexorably will improve.

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    Source by Dr. Thomas Duening

    Views: 0

  • Understanding WineShop At Home: Can You Really Make Money With WineShop At Home?

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    WineShop At Home began in 1995 and offers a large variety of wine and wine related products in addition to a business or income opportunity for those that would like to make an income stream marketing their company or products. However, can you really make money with WineShop? To answer this question, we will take a look at their compensation plan. I will also explain the products and give specific explanations of a few of them while also going over the cost it’s going to take to actually join the company itself and start making money all from home, if possible.

    The Thing:

    You guessed it, wine! Other than wine, they also offered wine related products and gifts. Categories of items offered by WineShop At Home are Wine Related Accessories, Gifts, Specials, Stemware, Personalized Wines, and of course, Wines. I will give a brief explanation of a few of the products offered by the company below.

    1. Adagio 2014 Sonoma Country Pinot Gris – You can get a bottle of this wine for $24.00 and flavors in the bottle consist of Mango, Pineapple, Grapefruit, Meyer Lemon, and Bergamot.
    2. Wine Country Chefs Apron – This apron is also $24.00 and is listed in the gift category. It comes in black and with the WineShop At Home Logo in addition to the slogan “Bringing The Wine Country To You” printed on the front.
    3. Artisan 5 Star “Sparkler Stem” – This is a set of 4 and cost $69.95 and is in the Stemware category. It is designed to develop persistent bubbles and forms a crown at the surface.

    The Opportunity:

    If you become involved with this company, you will be given the title “Wine Consultant”. Now is time for the big question! Can you really make money with WineShop At Home? In order to answer this, as mentioned before, we must take a look at their compensation plan. For this company, their compensation plan is pretty basic so let’s go ahead and get the ball rolling.

    1. Personal Commissions – As a wine consultant you will be able to earn a Base Commission of 20% and will be eligible to earn bonuses up to 35%.
    2. Team Commissions – As for most network marketing companies, you can build a team to leverage even more income. You can earn up to 44% commission from your teams generated sales and will be eligible to earn cash bonuses up to $3,500.

    To Conclude, Yes, You Can Make Money With WineShop At Home!

    The Cost:

    Yes, there is a cost! It’s important to remember, if you get involved or affiliated with this company you are opening up your own business! All businesses require some type of start-up fee. However, in the industry of Network Marketing, Affiliated Marketing, Multi-Level Marketing, or whichever name you decide you enjoy more, it is generally much more affordable than starting a traditional company in which can range from $5,000 to $10,000 easily.

    If you want to get involved with WineShop At Home, you must purchase one of the three kits offered!

    1. Mini Kit – $79.00. This kit includes a Wine Tasting Guide, Wine Tasting Training DVD, WineShop At Home Corkscrew, 3 Posi-Pours, 5 Host Planners, 10 Interest Forms, 5 Host A Wine Tasting Brochures, and a Guest Wine Tasting Tablet.
    2. Starter Kit – $149.00. This kit includes a WineShop At Home Logo Messenger Bag, 2 Bottles of Wine Club Select, A Wine Tasting Guide, A Wine Tasting Training DVD, WineShop At Home Corkscrew, 10 Order Boards, 3 Posi-Pours, 10 Interest Forms, 5 Host Planners, 5 Opportunity Brochures, and a Guest Wine Tasting Tablet.
    3. Premium Kit – $299.00. This kit includes an Insulated 6-bottle Wine Carrier Bag, A Launch Tasting Sampler, 4 Bottles of Wine Club Elite, Personalized Wine Sampler, WineShop At Home Apron, Wine Tasting Guide, Wine Tasting Training DVD, WineShop At Home Corkscrew, Wine Away, 15 Order Boards, 6 Posi-Pours, 20 Interest Forms, 10 Host Planners, Host Postcard Invitations, 10 Opportunity Brochures, and a Guest Wine Tasting Table.

    Final Thoughts:

    I’m not a big drinker. Matter of fact, I don’t drink expect maybe once a year. However, I would still consider marketing their products just for fun. I know a ton of people enjoy drinking, alcohol, and more specifically, wine! Therefore, I believe this company has a Massive Market! A massive market is very important to look for before joining any company like this and if it doesn’t have a massive market you will likely become frustrated before making any actual money!

    The opportunity affiliated with the company is honestly pretty weak. They only offer two different payouts. I was unable to find any referral bonuses, any leadership bonuses, any Match-Up Bonuses, etc. This company started in 1995 and it doesn’t seem they have expanded their compensation plan very much which is a problem. I like companies and feel secure and motivated about companies that constantly expand. This does not seem like a constantly expanding company, at least in terms of their compensation plan. You can definitely make money with WineShop At Home but how much depends solely on two different payout systems.

    The cost is nice. I like the fact that they have 3 different ways to begin. The price can be either expensive or inexpensive depending on your budget and what kind of business builder you are. In comparison, a traditional company has a much higher start-up fee regardless of which kit you choose from WineShop At Home. Additionally, in terms of Network Marketing the cost is also quite affordable and you are able to get a good amount of items with each kit.

    *Dustin Hale is NOT affiliated with WineShop At Home or their business/income opportunity

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    Source by Dustin Hale

    Views: 0

  • e-Marketing Strategy: 7 Dimensions to Consider (the e-Marketing Mix)

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    What is e-Marketing?

    e-Marketing is still quite a controversial subject to talk about, since no one succeeded to unify the various theories around it; however there is one thing upon which there is no doubt – that e-Marketing first appeared under the form of various techniques deployed by pioneer companies selling their products via the internet in the early 90’s.

    The frenzy around these new marketing techniques created by e-tailers and supported by the internet rapidly gave birth to a new dimension of what we knew as Marketing: the e-Marketing (electronic Marketing).

    There are many definitions to what e-Marketing is, the simplest and shortest one being formulated by Mark Sceats: e-Marketing is Marketing that uses the internet as manifestation media. A working definition is that coming from a group of CISCO specialists: e-Marketing is the sum of all activities a business conducts through the internet with the purpose of finding, attracting, winning and retaining customers.

    e-Marketing Strategy

    The e-Marketing Strategy is normally based and built upon the principles that govern the traditional, offline Marketing – the well-known 4 P’s (Product – Price – Promotion – Positioning) that form the classic Marketing mix. Add the extra 3 P’s (People – Processes – Proof) and you got the whole extended Marketing mix.

    Until here, there are no much aspects to differentiate e-Marketing from the traditional Marketing performed offline: the extended Marketing mix (4 + 3 P’s) is built around the concept of “transactional” and its elements perform transactional functions defined by the exchange paradigm. What gives e-Marketing its uniqueness is a series of specific functions, relational functions, that can be synthesized in the 2P + 2C+ 3S formula: Personalization, Privacy, Customer Service, Community, Site, Security, Sales Promotion.

    These 7 functions of the e-Marketing stay at the base of any e-Marketing strategy and they have a moderating character, unlike the classic Marketing mix that comprises situational functions only. Moderating functions of e-Marketing have the quality of moderate, operate upon all situational functions of the mix (the classic 4 P’s) and upon each other.

    1. Personalization

    The fundamental concept of personalization as a part of the e-Marketing mix lies in the need of recognizing, identifying a certain customer in order to establish relations (establishing relations is a fundamental objective of Marketing). It is crucial to be able to identify our customers on individual level and gather all possible information about them, with the purpose of knowing our market and be able to develop customized, personalized products and services.

    For example, a cookie strategically placed on the website visitor’s computer can let us know vital information concerning the access speed available: in consequence, if we know the visitor is using a slow connection (eg. dial-up) we will offer a low-volume variation of our website, with reduced graphic content and no multimedia or flash applications. This will ease our customer’s experience on our website and he will be prevented from leaving the website on the reason that it takes too long to load its pages.

    Personalization can be applied to any component of the Marketing mix; therefore, it is a moderating function.

    2. Privacy

    Privacy is an element of the mix very much connected to the previous one – personalization. When we gather and store information about our customers and potential customers (therefore, when we perform the personalization part of the e-Marketing mix) a crucial issue arises: that of the way this information will be used, and by whom. A major task to do when implementing an e-Marketing strategy is that of creating and developing a policy upon access procedures to the collected information.

    This is a duty and a must for any conscious marketer to consider all aspects of privacy, as long as data are collected and stored, data about individual persons.

    Privacy is even more important when establishing the e-Marketing mix since there are many regulations and legal aspects to be considered regarding collection and usage of such information.

    3. Customer Service

    Customer service is one of the necessary and required activities among the support functions needed in transactional situations.

    We will connect the apparition of the customer service processes to the inclusion of the “time” parameter in transactions. When switching from a situational perspective to a relational one, and e-Marketing is mostly based on a relational perspective, the marketer saw himself somehow forced into considering support and assistance on a non-temporal level, permanently, over time.

    For these reasons, we should consider the Customer Service function (in its fullest and largest definition) as an essential one within the e-Marketing mix.

    As we can easily figure out, the service (or assistance if you wish) can be performed upon any element from the classic 4 P’s, hence its moderating character.

    4. Community

    We can all agree that e-Marketing is conditioned by the existence of this impressive network that the internet is. The merely existence of such a network implies that individuals as well as groups will eventually interact. A group of entities that interact for a common purpose is what we call a “community” and we will soon see why it is of absolute importance to participate, to be part of a community.

    The Metcalf law (named after Robert Metcalf) states that the value of a network is given by the number of its components, more exactly the value of a network equals the square of the number of components. We can apply this simple law to communities, since they are a network: we will then conclude that the value of a community rises with the number of its members. This is the power of communities; this is why we have to be a part of it.

    The customers / clients of a business can be seen as part of a community where they interact (either independent or influenced by the marketer) – therefore developing a community is a task to be performed by any business, even though it is not always seen as essential.

    Interactions among members of such a community can address any of the other functions of e-Marketing, so it can be placed next to other moderating functions.

    5. Site

    We have seen and agreed that e-Marketing interactions take place on a digital media – the internet. But such interactions and relations also need a proper location, to be available at any moment and from any place – a digital location for digital interactions.

    Such a location is what we call a “site”, which is the most widespread name for it. It is now the time to mention that the “website” is merely a form of a “site” and should not be mistaken or seen as synonyms. The “site” can take other forms too, such as a Palm Pilot or any other handheld device, for example.

    This special location, accessible through all sort of digital technologies is moderating all other functions of the e-Marketing – it is then a moderating function.

    6. Security

    The “security” function emerged as an essential function of e-Marketing once transactions began to be performed through internet channels.

    What we need to keep in mind as marketers are the following two issues on security:

    – security during transactions performed on our website, where we have to take all possible precautions that third parties will not be able to access any part of a developing transaction;

    – security of data collected and stored, about our customers and visitors.

    A honest marketer will have to consider these possible causes of further trouble and has to co-operate with the company’s IT department in order to be able to formulate convincing (and true, honest!) messages towards the customers that their personal details are protected from unauthorized eyes.

    7. Sales Promotion

    At least but not last, we have to consider sales promotions when we build an e-Marketing strategy. Sales promotions are widely used in traditional Marketing as well, we all know this, and it is an excellent efficient strategy to achieve immediate sales goals in terms of volume.

    This function counts on the marketer’s ability to think creatively: a lot of work and inspiration is required in order to find new possibilities and new approaches for developing an efficient promotion plan.

    On the other hand, the marketer needs to continuously keep up with the latest internet technologies and applications so that he can fully exploit them.

    To conclude, we have seen that e-Marketing implies new dimensions to be considered aside of those inherited from the traditional Marketing. These dimensions revolve around the concept of relational functions and they are a must to be included in any e-Marketing strategy in order for it to be efficient and deliver results.

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    Source by Otilia Otlacan

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  • I Quit Wealthy Affiliate! – Are You One of These Quitters?

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    There are some people who quit Wealthy Affiliate and that’s just normal because not everyone aren’t going to be comfortable with their learning system. You know that earning some serious money online is a possibility right? It’s not your fault if you’re not having results because the so-called gurus would like you to believe that there’s a magic pill to online success.

    In this article I would like to share with you my observations of those people who are quitting Wealthy Affiliate. If you’re looking for some information on why people quit WA then this is going to be an important article that you must read. You really don’t want to be wasting your time and money on something that you’re not prepared for.

    One group of people who quit WA is those who are looking to get rich quickly online. This group of people will always exists because let’s face it, almost everybody wants some instant gratification and sadly they’re not willing to work hard for it. If you think that you belong in this group then you better start snapping out of it.

    If you were in my place you would get really shocked because there were really some members complaining about the system inside Wealthy Affiliate. Some of them have been inside for only a few days up to a few weeks and yet they had the nerve to call WA a fraud. But that was back when the membership was under $40 per month.

    Back when the monthly fee was lower, many people jumped right into WA because they were seeing a lot of positive reviews from other successful members. I hope that you already know that it’s ultimately up to you whether you’re going to be successful online or in any areas of your life. Don’t let anyone take care of your destiny.

    Another group of individuals who give up Wealthy Affiliate are those who are in a rush to learn everything all at once. You can spot them because they will complain about the slow pace of the WA action plan which is roughly 2.5 months before you can finish it. They think that it’s WA’s way of making them stay longer but it’s really not.

    Now if you’re someone who has some urgent expenses or bills to pay then you shouldn’t dive right into Wealthy Affiliate or into making money online. You’re going to have a real difficult time into learning this business if you’re in some kind of pressure to make some money. If you have the right type of mindset then your success is inevitable.

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    Source by Raymond Selda

    Views: 0

  • How to Uncover Your MLM Prospect’s Motivation

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    When talking to a MLM prospect or a new team member it is vitally important to discover their primary motivating factor. What makes them want to join your business? Or if they have already joined why did they join?

    In order for anybody to succeed in MLM they must have a big enough “Why” – why did they join? What is it that they are trying to achieve? It’s all well & good if they say “financial freedom” is their goal, but what exactly does that mean to them, & why is it so important to them? After all, the phrase “financially free” can mean a multitude of things to different people. Some people may think they have achieved financial freedom if they have their mortgage paid for along with their monthly expenditure such as utility bills & groceries. However others will think they have achieved financial freedom when they can travel the world first class, never look at the prices on menus when eating at top class restaurants or the price tags on clothes. To others it would be sending their kids to private school & not having to worry about not having enough money to provide a roof over their heads.

    Of course it’s not always about money it could be that money is not a problem but time is, time to spend with the kids, time to take a relaxing break, time to take their partner out for a nice dinner…

    Without knowing what motivates your MLM prospect or new team member you cannot help them reach their goals. I’ve mentioned this in other articles, if you help enough people get what they want then you will get what you want, but how do you do this if you don’t know what it is that they “want”?

    In his book “Questions are The Answers” Allan Pease* describes a great method to find out people’s primary motivating factor. Ask your prospect or new team member “do you know why people start a Networking Business”? If they say “No” then you simply say “let me show you”. If they say “yes” you ask them to tell you why, listen to what they have to say & when they have finished you ask “any more” They will say “no” then you say “let me show you” and you produce the following list;

    Extra Income

    Financial Freedom

    Have Own Business

    More Spare Time

    Personal Development

    Helping Others

    Meeting New People

    Retirement

    Leave a Legacy

    Then ask them the following questions;

    1. WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER 1 PRIORITY?

    2. WHY DID YOU PICK THAT ONE?

    3. WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU?

    4. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT HAVING THAT OPPORTUNITY?

    5. WHY WOULD THAT WORRY YOU?

    Make sure after every question that you listen to what they have to say without interruption or comment, just go through the questions one after the other in the order above. When you have finished you will have identified their primary motivation.

    You can now tailor the rest of your talk to describe how your MLM opportunity can help them get exactly, what it is that they want. Don’t be surprised if some people become emotional when going through the above questions, after all you are delving deep into what is important to these people & what motivates them. The reasons are often very personal & so some people will inevitably become emotional.

    Finding out someone’s primary motivating factor is essential if you want to help them build a successful MLM Business, if you fail in establishing their “why” then it is very unlikely that you can help them & in turn yourself to succeed.

    *Questions are the Answers by Allan Pease, Published by Manjul.

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    Source by John Mac

    Views: 0