If You Didn’t Measure It – You Didn’t Do It! Part 1

If you’re going to spend money doing something, the only way to know if you accomplished your goal is to measure it. Here is a tool that works well to both define the problem and provide a yardstick against which to measure results.

The analysis breaks down into three main components:

  • Need – What is the problem, and what is the result we expect from the money we are about to invest?
  • Content – How will we move people to the desired result?
  • Measurement – Did you actually meet, or better, exceed, the goals?

Need drives the entire process. You are not going to spend the money to do something that doesn’t need to be done. You have a situation or a problem – and it usually has a measurable cost – and you need to solve that problem, to eliminate, or at least significantly reduce that cost.

We may have to invest time or money to solve the problem, but if the problem is well defined and quantified, not only can we reduce or eliminate the problem with appropriately targeted communications; we can measure how well we did it. It could be increased sales, increased signups for a new program, or broader support within a community for a new service or idea. Whatever it is, it must have the necessary yardstick for success.

Let’s use an example to illustrate how this process functions and how well it can work.

Several years ago, a company was planning to introduce a new product into a saturated marketplace. The new product represented major innovations, and would likely have been very successful by itself, but the company needed to ensure that success and overcome several other issues. We’ll start the story of the launch in this article, and follow it through two more articles.

The NEED – The situation or problem:

  • Moderate existing market share for existing product, #2 in sales
  • Lack of respect for the company because of “me too” parity products in the past
  • Low company sales force morale from carrying unexciting products
  • Lack of personal contact by company executives with dealers across the country
  • An exciting new product to launch, including many firsts, under a new brand umbrella, based on a new and very unfamiliar technology

The GOALS – what were the desired measurable results?

  • Capture #1 sales position in the marketplace, as measured by published industry data
  • Establish the new brand with dealers and consumers
  • Build new levels of respect for the company brand and their sales force in the market place
  • Dealer owners pleased with personal contact with company executives
  • Retail clerks educated and excited about the new product, and motivated to sell the product and the company
  • A memorable event to keep the company “top of mind” for the foreseeable future.

The Obstacles:

  • Low respect for company in the market place – would dealers even listen?
  • Large number of outlets and clerks to be informed/trained/motivated across the market, preferably in as short a time as possible
  • The introduction would be in January/February, the worst time to travel a show around the country.

You can see how all of these elements defined the measurement criteria. Sales can be plotted against the launch. Market share is a standard industry published statistic, and can be plotted against the time of the launch. Respect will be reflected in the attitudes of the retail clerks to the sales representatives calling on the stores and the how the products and the company are received after the launch. This, and how well the event was remembered, would show up in weekly sales call reporting.

Observable, accurate, and actionable. The hallmarks of good metrics.

This is the first of Three Parts of this story.

Part 2 is here: http://www.EzineArticles.com/?id=899065

Part 3 is here: http://www.EzineArticles.com/?id=886852

Copyright 2008 Dan Davenport

Dan Davenport is an award-winning business communications producer: Multimedia, video, print.

Goal: Bring excitement to business communications.

Look to http://blog.smallofficecommunicator.net to blog with us about small office communication ideas and answers – share your own experience with others and get answers to your questions.

Blackberry Curve 8900 Javelin – Keep the Balance Between Work and Play

The BlackBerry 8900 Curve smartphone comes with impressive 2.4 “display a captivating window and a full QWERTY keyboard makes it easy to communicate with one or two-thumb typing. Targeted at business users BlackBerry javelin provides Internet access and calls that you have everything you need to follow up on work. You have all the features you need and want at your fingertips with the flexibility and freedom to manage your busy life and to have some fun along the road.

The new BlackBerry Curve 8900 is a smartphone with a touch of elegance. The pixel display this mobile phone is amazing. The screen is 480 x 360 pixels and offers many of the parties to all their communications needs. With the BlackBerry Curve 8900 Javelin, you can access tons of features including video, images, text and do not forget those maps, but you will also have tons more features for this phone.

The phone offers a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2.4-inch screen with 480 x 360 resolution, a microSD slot supporting up to 16GB, WiFi and GPS. Equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity for high-speed browsing and downloading ‘curve’ lets you search through Google or access social networking sites like Facebook at any time. Javelin BlackBerry Curve also includes a media player with a standard 3.5 mm jack so users can listen to your music through your own headphones instead of those provided.

The small size of the BlackBerry allows you to just slip in your pocket and forget about it until you need to use it. The phone is not much weight at all. Gone are the days when we had cell phones that were heavy and hard to put up.

The BlackBerry Curve provides GPS satellite navigation technology with BlackBerry Maps to find routes, attractions and travel planning, while in motion, with built-in GPS and the ability to BlackBerry Maps you text-based step by-step directions to help you find out where and how to get to where it needs to be. The phone measures the dimensions 109 x 60 x 13.5mm. The battery of the BlackBerry 8900 is a lightweight, weighing only 110g.

Lucy Brightly is a content writer and writes about latest gadgets. For mobile phone deals you can go to leading online shops.

The Various Benefits of Using Mobile Phones

How important is the mobile phones in human life nowadays?

Billions of people in the world today realize how essential mobile phones are their lives. Mobile phones have become a part of everyday life for many individuals and some could not even manage to last an hour without them. This is also the fashion trend nowadays. If you do not own a cellular phone, you are not in. They turned out to be the personal dairies of a lot of people. Mobile phones have even become the timepieces as people are more likely to check the time in their handsets. This device calculates, wakes people up, and reminds them of all occasions and appointments.

Many of mobile phone models feature FM receivers and the user can just turn on the music to be calmed while traveling or driving. (Just don’t make a call while driving!) And if you like videos and games, mobiles have them, too. They also feature cameras, making it easier to capture crucial moments. This technology enables mobile phone users to access the Internet.

In choosing the right mobile phone for you, needless to say you want something that can give you the best features, with easy and convenient attributes. The fantastic benefits of mobile phones are in store, yet they also have certain challenges. For instance, travelers aren’t so sure whether handsets will work when they are traveling from one place to another. However majority of mobile phones companies offer international roaming technology wherein one can get in touch with anyone from anywhere in the world. With roaming features, sending text messages and calls can be inexpensive and less stressful. The price per call is cheaper than when using landline phones for long distance calls.

One of the most remarkable values of mobile phones is during emergencies, may it big or small. We never know when we or our loved ones may need to make an emergency phone call. In situations when finding public phone is difficult, mobiles are the answer to your need. These devices are also very functional for businesspeople and trading companies because they can easily get in touch with their clients.

Both SMS and calls are exploited by business people to market and promote their products. Through mobiles, one can do finances updates and banking these days. They help find out the latest news through text messages sent by means of subscribing to certain services. There are mobile phones that provide you the information such as names, number, and even the exact map of who is calling you.

Mobiles are of use to the elderly and handicapped, as well. Like for example, the visually impaired have their “talking mobile phones” wherein they can read the text messages. These special talking mobile phones are feature phones installed with software to make it “talk”. Since the unit talks, the visually impaired can read his messages without having a sighted person read it for him.

Mobile phones also provide the user the confidence to get out and go places because they know they can avail assistance if needed. The cost of the mobile phones is similar to other models of communication. If you can have a family plan, your expense for monthly cell phone service can be much cheaper than the cost for using landline service. You can have the chance to call anytime, anywhere.

For more information on SMS jokes and Christmas SMS lease visit our website.

Art Workshop Holiday in Thailand?

Most people who vacation in Thailand have a similar pattern with respect to their sightseeing choices; they usually visit the same places and participate in the same traditional tourist activities. Now, this phenomenon can applied to almost any tourist destination, not only Thailand. By no means am I putting down Joe Average Tourist in his choices, but sometimes JAT feels uncomfortable about deviating from the norm and finds a comfort zone in following the pack.

As an example, the typical tourist to Bangkok stays only a couple days in this large metropolitan city; his itinerary usually includes an all day highlights tour visiting the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Jim Thompson’s House and a river boat cruise including dinner on the Chao Praya River. Now that’s comparable to a tourist visiting New York City whose sightseeing itinerary includes the Empire State Building, the Statute of Liberty, World Trade Center, Central Park and Broadway. In addition, the ladies usually love to go on a shopping spree at one Bangkok’s sprawling shopping centers like MBK, in addition to shopping for bargains at Bangkok’s colorful night market.

Now if the tourist were aware of some of the alternative activities available besides the conventional sightseeing expeditions, he would really have an opportunity to have a unique singular experience. For those people with an artistic bent, they may want to consider taking a special 2 day /1 night watercolor workshop with Pe Seenam, an internationally renowned watercolorist from Bangkok The workshop takes place in the rural countryside alongside a beautiful river, about an hour’s drive from Bangkok.

While in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s 2nd largest city and the gateway to Northern Thailand, a good option for the artistically inclined would be a special 3 day/2 night Terracotta workshop at a rustic homestay, located in the mountain village of Mae Rim, about a 30 minutes away from Chiang Mai. While you’re in Mae Rim, you can visit one of the area’s elephant camps and go on a little elephant trek into the countryside. What a thrilling adventure!

As a sidenote, in defense of about JAT (Joe Average Tourist), many times the JAT has a very limited time in a popular destination spot. As.a result, the most viable option for him is to do “the popular city highlights tour”.

Bus Goldberg is a seasoned world traveler and the director of Calypso Island Tours, a travel company that specializes in botanical adventures and nature tours to such diverse destinations as Costa Rica, Thailand and the Caribbean. He also maintains his own travel blog, Calypso Island Chronicles

Eight Things to Do in a Recession

1. Don’t panic. The first thing you should do is not panic. By panic, you are making things worse. This is not the end of the world. Business activity, stocks, and real estate will all bounce back eventually.

2. Save money. You can save in many areas like entertainment, Food and drink, and travel. You can find out 100 ways to save money here.

3. Hold More Cash. When things get bad, cash is king. Cash is a lot safer in these days. Get your cash position to at least a year’s worth of living expenses.

4. Manage your debt. Examine your short-term liabilities. Cut your debt especially with high interest rate. You can also refinance your debt, because in recession, interest should be low to spur growth. Thus you can switch from high interest rate to lower interest rate.

5. Work harder and effectively. Take on more responsibility on your job. Not only this can help your company, but you can also show your boss that you are worth ed. You can also help cost saving for your company.

6. Buy books. If you are fired, you should have more time. Spend this time by reading books that can increase your skills, like negotiation skill, marketing skill, and other skills that you need. Buy reading books, you can also get new ideas for your job or business. These ideas are crucial in bad times. Lots of company survive the recession by having innovation. Here’s a nice book. It teaches you how to ride out a recession.

7. Invest. According to Bloomberg, the S&P 500’s valuation is less than 15.5 times reported earnings on January 13, the cheapest level since 1991. That’s why I’m buying. You can start with Jim Cramer’s recommendations. He host his own television show on CNBC, Mad Money with Jim Cramer, which features his opinions on stocks.You might want to try forex for alternative. Keep in mind that forex is more dangerous than stock. If you want to try forex, you can join eToro. Their user interface is great for beginner.

8. Build your own business. If you loss your job during the recession, it might be time to build your own business. As Robert Kiyosaki said, if you want to be rich, don’t work for other people. You can start doing business online, because it is cheaper. Don’t know where to start? Try Key Avoy’s SiteSell, it will help you create your website and promote your website.

Learn how to earn, preserve, and spend money.
Download ebook on how to make money from home.

Antarctica Travel – Planning the Perfect Cruise

Planning a vacation to Antarctica can be a challenging task, which is why many travelers will use a travel agent or travel service to ensure that all of the details are taken care of well in advance. One of the most popular forms of Antarctica travel is a cruise.

Tourists that plan an Antarctica vacation will have to take many different things into consideration. For example, the first thing that tourists will need to do is examine their budget and remember that the price of the cruise does not include the transportation costs to the port of call and it will not include the price of any extra excursions that the travelers would like to take on the cruise.

Another factor that needs to be considered with Antarctica travel is the length of time that is available for the vacation. There are many different cruise lines that will offer different length cruises. Travelers that have more time to spend on the vacation will likely want to purchase a longer cruise that will spend more time on the ocean and the surrounding areas.

Travelers will also need to be aware of any special requirements that the cruise lines have established. For example, many of the Antarctica cruise lines will require that all of the travelers on the ship purchase emergency medical insurance for the length of time that they are on the ship. The emergency medical insurance will cover the expenses involved if the traveler needs emergency evacuation.

Travelers will also want to perform some research on their own before leaving for their cruise. This will give travelers a chance to determine which types of activities they would like to participate in while on the cruise, like whale watching or visiting the local penguin colonies.

When planning an Antarctica travel adventure, there are many different options to choose from. For more information on the various options, visit ExpeditionTrips.com or call 1-877-412-8527.

Something Good is Coming Your Way!

You are very special

God’s gift to the world

Filled with His Spirit

Wise with His Word

You are happily harnessed

Captivated by God’s calling

To sin not falling

To His Spirit joyously yielding

The sword of His Word wielding

Your sorrows to God are known

Though through them you’ve grown

Learning in Christ you have a home

You’re never ever alone.

So when your mind wants to roam

And your heart wants to moan

Hold on to God’s unchanging hand

He’ll lead you into your own

Your promised possession

Your personal inheritance

His fullness and blessing

Just keep believing and pressing

Praying until something happens

Maintain a glorious countenance.

Settle for nothing less

Than God’s ultimate best

Continue to believe, as you have

For the desires of your heart

Trust in your heavenly Father

From Him don’t depart

Remain on God’s easel

You’re a wonderful work of art

Be patient and let God complete

That which He did start.

Embrace the process

Guard your heart.

Let patience have its perfect work

And the Shepherd of your soul satisfy

For you will no longer cry

Nor wonder and ask why

For He who sits high above in the sky

Shall show Himself strong and soon reply

Answering each prayer

Revealing to you why

Fulfilling each promise

Making wrongs right

Clarifying confusing traumas

Giving you abundantly more

Settling life’s dramas.

For this is your year

The year of God’s favor

A time of His Presence and peace

An experience to savor

To embrace

To cherish

To hold dear to your heart

The floodgates of heaven are open

Let the celebration now start!

Child of Destiny

Called by the Spirit

Yesterday’s is gone

A new day has come

With the fire of My Spirit

You now shall burn and run

Taking your testimony forth

Going into the nations

Boldly arising without hesitation

For the finances shall flow

All fear shall go

Newfound confidence you’ll know

Even better however

Is My power and authority

Which is yours by faith

Now grab it!

Use it!

Give it to the nations

Let God arise

And remove all limitations!

The Dream-Maker is here

In His glory He’s come

To take away the dull

And make life more fun

To cause you to arise

To not despise

Even to remove the scales

From your eyes

Imparting spiritual vision

A burden for the nations

A yearning for revival

And divine impartation

So think it not strange

As I the Lord come suddenly

For this is My time

For you to come away

Take refuge in Me

I am your hiding place

Come rest in My love

Please seek My face

For there is no end

To my divine grace

It’s yours for the taking

To birth a great awakening

To resurrect the dead

To effect every heart and head

A divine turnaround has come

A spiritual outpouring will follow

And eternal joys will replace

All of your past sorrows.

Jesus is My Name

Yesterday, today and forever the same

Steadily and consistently here for you

Always understanding and welcoming too.

Happy days are here!

Says the Lover of your soul

The Holy Spirit’s touch makes you whole

His Word solidifies and stabilizes your soul

In the Church, Christ’s body, you’ll discover your role

With which you’ll arise anew, anointed and go

In a new anointing and dimension begin to flow.

Be a princess of purity and giver of agape love

Through childlike faith you’ll fully receive

All you wish for and dream of

Gifts that can only come from above.

So sorrow not in the delay

For something good

Is soon coming your way!

Paul Davis is a life coach (relational & professional), traveling minister and fitness trainer. Paul is the author of several books including Breakthrough for a Broken Heart; God vs. Religion; Adultery; & Supernatural Fire. Paul is a popular worldwide speaker, creative consultant, humor being, adventurer, explorer, mediator, minister, liberator and dream-maker.

Paul’s compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has served in many war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His organization Dream-Maker Ministries is building dreams, breaking limitations and reviving nations.

Paul’s Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.

Contact Paul to speak at your event or for life coaching: RevivingNations@yahoo.com, 407-967-7553.

For additional info: http://www.DreamMakerMinistries.com, http://www.CreativeCommunications.TV

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Most people are aware of online marketing, but what is affiliate marketing? Essentially, it is an Internet marketing practice where a business rewards an affiliate for sending customers to the company’s website to make a purchase. The affiliate is given a commission for each sale made.

Today, there are more affiliate marketers doing business online then any other type of marketing. This practice takes a load off the businesses when other independent contractors can do the marketing of their products for them. It is a win-win situation for the affiliate and for the business.

Q. What is affiliate marketing, in terms of a program?

A. There are several different affiliate programs that businesses will use, depending on the type of products or services that they might offer the public. Some of the compensation plans that are offered within affiliate programs are straight commission for each sale made. This type of affiliate program is most popularly used. Other affiliate programs will offer commission structures for sales and bonus commissions for customer referrals to the company’s sites. Multi-level businesses will offer compensation plans that are much more detailed in nature. MLM compensation plans should be looked over carefully.

Q. What are the affiliate marketing commission plans for referrals? A. Often times, certain businesses will offer affiliate programs that pay for referring target traffic to their websites. They are looking for qualified customers to sell high-end products or services. Some of these companies would be, but are not limited to, Insurance companies, Brokerage companies, the auto industry, the airplane industry, travel resorts, mobile home companies, etc. Affiliate referral programs can be extremely lucrative. As a rule, these types of programs are not available for just anyone to affiliate with. Quite often, these companies want experienced affiliate marketers that have a previous background in their industries.

Q. What is affiliate marketing doing in the multi-level marketing business?

A. There are many MLM companies doing business online that offer affiliate marketing programs that are open for almost anyone to join. Remember, affiliate marketing is to affiliate with a company and sell their products for a commission. This is exactly what many independent distributors do with multi-level businesses. The network marketer usually falls under the term “affiliate marketer”, also.

In many cases, they do not own any of the product lines that they sell to others. The network marketer is an affiliate marketer that makes most of his or her income by recruiting other independent distributors into their downline operations.

Q. In terms of Internet marketing techniques, what is affiliate marketing using to create sales?

A. Sales are the end result where the affiliate makes commissions. Before that goal is realized, affiliates must generate a lot of target traffic to either their own promotional website or to the company’s promotional page. Generating traffic is where Internet marketing methods get a work out.

Many affiliate marketers will use a variety of marketing techniques to generate streams of quality traffic to the promo site. Article marketing, Pay-per-click programs, forum marketing and social site marketing at places like MySpace and Facebook. There is no single method that successful affiliate marketers will use to get traffic.

Q. What are the affiliate marketing budget constraints on a new affiliate who has never marketed before? A. The beautiful thing about affiliate marketing is that you can actually join an affiliate program with a company for free. You can even begin generating traffic to the company’s promo site for free by using article marketing techniques and other “bum” marketing methods.

These free methods of generating traffic are easy enough to learn how to do, but they do require a lot of dedication and work. You are basically learning about affiliate marketing as you go. There are many free resources online about affiliate marketing. Many individuals start marketing part-time until they begin making some hard cash.

Q. What is affiliate marketing url coding all about?

A. As an example, you join a company’s affiliate program to sell their ebook called “How To Date Beautiful Women in 10 Days”. You read this ebook and found that it worked for you. So now you are very motivated to make a lot of sales.

After you have read the company’s training manual “What Is Affiliate Marketing Really All About?”, they give you a unique piece of code that is part of the company’s promo page’s url. Every time that someone clicks on this linking code and arrives at the promo site to buy the ebook, you get a commission from the company. They track your hits with this coded url. The code is specific to you.

This should cover a few important points and help to answer your question: “what is affiliate marketing?”. It can be a very competitive but lucrative business to get into. The successful affiliates are the ones that create a business plan of attack, then stay on course.

About the Author:

Kevin Urban offers affiliate marketing help at Affiliate-Marketing101.com. Visit the site to learn affiliate marketing strategies and techniques from someone who has built a successful niche affiliate marketing business.

Copyright 2008 Affiliate-Marketing101.com

Permission is given to reprint this article in its entirety provided all links are left intact.

Cheap Home Insurance – A Must For All Homeowners

Why is it so important to have an insurance cover over your home? Every one knows and understands the importance of home. If due to some natural calamity your house gets destroyed, certainly it will be tough for you to come to the terms of loss. Moreover rebuilding and restoring your home to its original glory will require a huge investment. It is for circumstances like these that you should opt for cheap home insurance. Insurance on home is more of a necessity as it provides you an assurance and a sense of protection in the event of any crisis.

Insurance is more likely an agreement or contract in between you and the insurance company. The company readily agrees to pay for the damages inflicted on your building home by natural calamities such as earthquake, flood, thunderstorm etc. moreover, the insurance also covers the damages if someone had burgled in to your home and stolen the contents. If you want to insure each and every aspect of your home, you have to pay an extra amount.

Almost all the insurance companies offering home insurance provide basic cover, which are as follows:

The insurance will pay you for any damages to your home or part of the home such as sheds, garage, store room etc, which lies within the compound of the home.
There is also a liability cover. It means if any person from your home is injured within the perimeter of your home, the cost will come under the insurance policy.

However before providing with the insurance, the insurance company will take an account of the contents and note it down, which are present at the time of signing the insurance policy.

Before signing away for a cheap home insurance straight away, it is a must to undertake a proper research to look for the amount of cover you need. Further, you should also compare and contrast the quotes of the insurance providing companies. For the same, you can also take the help of online services. This way, you will be able to get the best insurance deal.

Charle Lawrence is associated with Insuranceb. He holds a Master’s in finance from Cambridge University. To know more about cheap home insurance, travel insurance, home insurance, van insurance, motorcycle insurance, holiday insurance please visit http://www.insuranceb.co.uk/.

Are You the Next James Bond?

Is it possible to be sexier than James Bond? Everyone has the own favorite 007. However, whether you like Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, or Daniel Craig the best, you can agree that each one has it all. He is calm and collected, intelligent and witty, and extremely good-looking. Can an international man of mystery be any more desirable? If you are someone who has decided that you are secret agent material, you need to make sure you have the right qualities to be successful in the information business. Here are a few guidelines so that you can confirm you are on the right track.

1) Do you know how to speak several languages? As an international spy, you will be traveling throughout the world and you will need to know how to blend in. Therefore, if you speak the correct language, you will have a much easier time doing so and you can operate entirely on your own. Russian, though still important, is not as crucial as Arabic, Korean, and Chinese.

2) Do you or a friend know how to invent useful gadgets disguised as common items? James Bond would have been in lots of trouble if it were not for Q. Those exploding rings and parachute pens definitely came in handy. In order to get yourself out of tight spots, these items are essential. As long as they appear to be innocuous, the villains will never suspect them and then you have the element of surprise on your side. One note: the shoe phone is now a joke, so I would recommend a single stud earring that is both a phone and a video recorder.

3) Do you have an impeccable wardrobe? An international agent always looks his best even if he’s been in an explosion, walked through the desert, and been stuck swimming through a dirty water canal. I would also recommend bringing along at least five fresh tuxedoes on every assignment. The one essential accessory, of course, is spy sunglasses. Bond never walks out his door without a great pair of shades. Not only do they make him look cool and sophisticated, they also help protect his identity.

Good luck with your secret agent preparation! As long as you have these qualities, you will do great.

If you would like more information on Spy sunglasses or information about everything Spy wear, please visit the Sunglasses Online website.

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