The popularity of Twitter has become, in a word, UNREAL. People "tweet" about waking up in the morning, what they are doing during the day, and what they just ate for breakfast. Others are "tweeting" valuable information and content, linking to articles, and sharing links to music that they enjoy.
Then you have "blatant" spammers. Like with any social media site, they are "blasting" their links in hopes of getting their next "sale". Some of them know better, some don't, and some could care less.
Either way, the majority of users are wondering how to get followers on Twitter?. It is that magical "mystique" that surrounds the average Twitter user. How is it done? How do these Top Twitterers do it? Is there some type of magical formula on how to get followers on Twitter?
Some of these so-called "Gurus" will tell you YES, there is. Follow "my secret system" and get 18,937 Followers in 30-90 Days. But the truth is, that the Top Twitterers don't do it "magically", they do it "systematically".
"Get followers instantly and on auto-pilot" seems to be the trend online marketers are using these days to "hypnotize" people into buying their systems. After all, who wouldn't want to "easily" learn how to get followers on Twitter ( completely on auto-pilot ) while making an extra $200 to $1,000? And on top of that, doing it ALL from the comfort of their living room chair while watching the latest episode of their favorite television program. Are you kidding? Sign ME up for that program NOW!
But realistically, the pure "hype" of these systems are usually enough to turn the average Twitter user off. When enough people start "over saturating" the market, it begins to become old news. People aren't "tweeting" anymore, they are just posting self-serving links. This is not the proper way to gather a large following of people, and in most cases, will get you unfollowed.
So what's the big deal with Twitter anyway? Well, Twitter can be a very valuable business tool if used properly. Dell knows it, and so does CNN. So why is it so hard for the average person to crack the code on how to get followers on Twitter?
In one word, RELEVANCY. Learn who your "customer" is. Don't just spam random links to anyone and everyone in hopes of getting "bites". Knowing your "customer" and offering them "relevant" information will get you much more Twitter followers than random "spam" techniques.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Mass Mass Media Wars
Call it the ‘Social Media Revolution’. Or ‘The Fans Strike Back’. Better still the ‘Mass Mass Media Wars’!
In new unprecedented twist the people – the minions and the masses – are no longer quietly accepting the overarching power of major corporations and are making their opinions felt, rapidly and virally.
Take the case of Harry Potter. The Potter franchise is the heftiest in history making $4.5 billion in box-office revenue worldwide. Its fans are a big part of that success and although its producers, Warner Bros. have accorded the fans their respect, they vastly underestimated how quickly the tide could turn against them if the fans didn’t appreciate any decision they made.
Within hours of Warner Bros’ August 2008 decision to postpone the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to July 2009, hate mail and death threats began pouring in. Warner Bros executives’ private email addresses circulated via the Web and Youtube posts of angry homemade videos flooded the Internet. The studio retreated with an apology and the promise that “Half-Blood Prince” would now open closer to the studio’s seventh planned Harry Potter film, due out in November 2010, which still didn’t appease die hard muggle fans who’re still muttering about it.
Then there’s the Twitter Effect, the make or break power of tweets, which last week broke Bruno’s poise. Sacha Baron Cohen’s offbeat comedy about an oddball Austrian stylista made $30.4 million in its opening weekend. However the sharp drop from Friday to Saturday in box office figures implied that the film’s apparently insipid comedy and bland writing didn’t wash over with most moviegoers — fans just didn’t dig it and they twittered heavily about their disappointment leading experts to speculate and conjecture about Brüno being the first movie to be defeated by the Twitter Effect.
Another brand getting browbeaten by the social media multitudes is Jamba Juice. Bliss is only being found in their blackberry shake flavour as the company fights off accusations of ripping an ad concept from cult cartoonist David Rees’ Get Your War On. The news broke on Twitter and the masses have made their angry protests, but the Jamba Juice still haven’t said a pip … nor responded on their on its Web site or Facebook page.
Its obvious that brands, corporations and entertainment juggernauts are now more vulnerable to the masses, the consumers, bloggers and growing twitter community and are either unaware of the growing influence of social media, and if they are, are unsure of how to deal with it or handle its unrestrained power.
Rohit Bhargava (Fast Company) says that launching a blog, or a Facebook page or Twitter account isn’t the hardest thing for a major corporation to do – “The hard part is deciding how to use these tools. Ironically, the thing that most brands have to worry about isn’t negativity (as they often fear), it is indifference. The most common “backlash” against company sponsored social media initiatives are the embarrassing sounds of crickets. No one visits and no one cares.”
Rohit goes further and advices corporations to understand their audiences first. To do what they first did before they launched their product – research! Then “Instead of focusing on your shiny new blog or cool new Facebook app, the place to start is to figure out who will be the people behind it. Find the individuals who will be interacting on behalf of your brand in social media, and then give them the tools and support to do it well. All the companies that get credit today for doing social media well – Zappos, Dell, Comcast – have all become comfortable with letting individuals from their company become the faces for their brand. These are the voices that I often call “accidental spokespeople.” Within them is the real secret to using social media to be a brand that actually matters: offering a real human connection.”
Social Media is here to stay so corporations can either ignore it at their own peril, misunderstand it at their own demise or approach like you would any wild animal; slowly, quietly, reassuringly and consistently and in doing so, master social media whispering for the best results. Peace Out!
In new unprecedented twist the people – the minions and the masses – are no longer quietly accepting the overarching power of major corporations and are making their opinions felt, rapidly and virally.
Take the case of Harry Potter. The Potter franchise is the heftiest in history making $4.5 billion in box-office revenue worldwide. Its fans are a big part of that success and although its producers, Warner Bros. have accorded the fans their respect, they vastly underestimated how quickly the tide could turn against them if the fans didn’t appreciate any decision they made.
Within hours of Warner Bros’ August 2008 decision to postpone the release of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to July 2009, hate mail and death threats began pouring in. Warner Bros executives’ private email addresses circulated via the Web and Youtube posts of angry homemade videos flooded the Internet. The studio retreated with an apology and the promise that “Half-Blood Prince” would now open closer to the studio’s seventh planned Harry Potter film, due out in November 2010, which still didn’t appease die hard muggle fans who’re still muttering about it.
Then there’s the Twitter Effect, the make or break power of tweets, which last week broke Bruno’s poise. Sacha Baron Cohen’s offbeat comedy about an oddball Austrian stylista made $30.4 million in its opening weekend. However the sharp drop from Friday to Saturday in box office figures implied that the film’s apparently insipid comedy and bland writing didn’t wash over with most moviegoers — fans just didn’t dig it and they twittered heavily about their disappointment leading experts to speculate and conjecture about Brüno being the first movie to be defeated by the Twitter Effect.
Another brand getting browbeaten by the social media multitudes is Jamba Juice. Bliss is only being found in their blackberry shake flavour as the company fights off accusations of ripping an ad concept from cult cartoonist David Rees’ Get Your War On. The news broke on Twitter and the masses have made their angry protests, but the Jamba Juice still haven’t said a pip … nor responded on their on its Web site or Facebook page.
Its obvious that brands, corporations and entertainment juggernauts are now more vulnerable to the masses, the consumers, bloggers and growing twitter community and are either unaware of the growing influence of social media, and if they are, are unsure of how to deal with it or handle its unrestrained power.
Rohit Bhargava (Fast Company) says that launching a blog, or a Facebook page or Twitter account isn’t the hardest thing for a major corporation to do – “The hard part is deciding how to use these tools. Ironically, the thing that most brands have to worry about isn’t negativity (as they often fear), it is indifference. The most common “backlash” against company sponsored social media initiatives are the embarrassing sounds of crickets. No one visits and no one cares.”
Rohit goes further and advices corporations to understand their audiences first. To do what they first did before they launched their product – research! Then “Instead of focusing on your shiny new blog or cool new Facebook app, the place to start is to figure out who will be the people behind it. Find the individuals who will be interacting on behalf of your brand in social media, and then give them the tools and support to do it well. All the companies that get credit today for doing social media well – Zappos, Dell, Comcast – have all become comfortable with letting individuals from their company become the faces for their brand. These are the voices that I often call “accidental spokespeople.” Within them is the real secret to using social media to be a brand that actually matters: offering a real human connection.”
Social Media is here to stay so corporations can either ignore it at their own peril, misunderstand it at their own demise or approach like you would any wild animal; slowly, quietly, reassuringly and consistently and in doing so, master social media whispering for the best results. Peace Out!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Social Bookmarking Provides Handy Information
Social bookmarking is the essence of efficiency. It takes a very time consuming task and pares it down into quick easy access. What it is, is the ability to save a bookmark to a website that's public, and then 'tag' it with relevant keywords.
If you're simply 'bookmarking' a site, then you save it for future reference. When you utilize 'social bookmarking', you need to register with a bookmarking site where you can store and edit your bookmarks, and not have to keep them on your computer.
The defining of keywords within your social bookmarking is called by the name - 'folksonomy'. It's the act of using a tag for searching all your resources assigned to that particular tag. Soon your whole community of users develop a 'string' or 'structure' of keywords that define the particular resources.
It opens up the doors to opportunities for like-minded people to share ideas and resources on a certain topic of mutual interest. They soon build a whole community centered around a relevant theme. This can be invaluable in research, as using the search engines could take way more time to find the same information.
The reason the search engines take so much more time, is the way that searches can return something 'similar' to what you're looking for, but not quite there. So you have to glean through your searches in order to find a resource that has exactly what you need. Whereas your social bookmarks put you a couple of clicks away from exactly what you need.
If there's any downside to social bookmarking, it's that not everyone makes proper use of their tags. You may have an interest in, say, 'deer hunting'. And one of your users uses the tag 'hunting', without specifying 'deer', then you may end up on a site for duck hunting, elk hunting, hunting equipment, or any number of things. Specificity in keywords is important.
As you can see, social bookmarking is the essence of efficiency. It saves you lots of time when you need information on subjects that are related to your bookmarked topics. And new information is added daily, as more people tag different sites. It really is a good way to get things done for the busy web surfer. There are many social bookmarking sites out there, like Facebook, del. Icio. Us, Furl it, My Space, Digg, Twitter, and many more. So get started with some bookmarking of your own. You'll soon see the efficiency factor involved.
If you're simply 'bookmarking' a site, then you save it for future reference. When you utilize 'social bookmarking', you need to register with a bookmarking site where you can store and edit your bookmarks, and not have to keep them on your computer.
The defining of keywords within your social bookmarking is called by the name - 'folksonomy'. It's the act of using a tag for searching all your resources assigned to that particular tag. Soon your whole community of users develop a 'string' or 'structure' of keywords that define the particular resources.
It opens up the doors to opportunities for like-minded people to share ideas and resources on a certain topic of mutual interest. They soon build a whole community centered around a relevant theme. This can be invaluable in research, as using the search engines could take way more time to find the same information.
The reason the search engines take so much more time, is the way that searches can return something 'similar' to what you're looking for, but not quite there. So you have to glean through your searches in order to find a resource that has exactly what you need. Whereas your social bookmarks put you a couple of clicks away from exactly what you need.
If there's any downside to social bookmarking, it's that not everyone makes proper use of their tags. You may have an interest in, say, 'deer hunting'. And one of your users uses the tag 'hunting', without specifying 'deer', then you may end up on a site for duck hunting, elk hunting, hunting equipment, or any number of things. Specificity in keywords is important.
As you can see, social bookmarking is the essence of efficiency. It saves you lots of time when you need information on subjects that are related to your bookmarked topics. And new information is added daily, as more people tag different sites. It really is a good way to get things done for the busy web surfer. There are many social bookmarking sites out there, like Facebook, del. Icio. Us, Furl it, My Space, Digg, Twitter, and many more. So get started with some bookmarking of your own. You'll soon see the efficiency factor involved.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
How to get started as an event planner
Event planning involves the organization of special events that may be for business purposes, education purposes, social purposes, or somewhere in between. Product launches, conferences, graduations, fashion shows, tradeshows, fairs, weddings and anniversaries, all are specializations of event planning that need to be handled with expertise and appropriate coordination.
Landing a job in the field of event planning is not as complex as it may seem. Although it requires a high degree of professionalism, many people are, in effect, event planners when they organize social gatherings for their friends and family. Planners are people who start in one particular aspect of events. They may be caterers, owners of audiovisual companies, hotel owners and so on. Often, the small events for friends and relatives are their first, cautious steps before getting professionally involved in event planning. This explains how event planners have the exceptional ability to coordinate their events by providing diverse services.
By its nature, event planning involves a risk; the risk of failing to meet clients’ expectations by holding an unsuccessful event. If this happens, clients have no return on their investment, and event planners may experience a severe decline in their reputation. To avoid all these consequences, an event planner conducts a research beforehand to make sure there is demand for the event. Research may mean collecting information about similar events or learning the etiquette of the particular type of event. It may also mean finding out about suppliers and vendors and looking for the right event venue. But, it definitely means asking clients lots of questions in order to get the full idea of their needs and keeping lots of notes. Anything that can guarantee a well-planned event without compromising its success it's a first step towards event planning business.
All the notes kept during the interview with the clients are included in a creative design. This enables an inexperienced event planner to get the feel of the event. As the notes are written down, the design becomes clearer. At this phase, event planners check the clients’ answers and, before making any suggestions, they decide on the feasibility of the event in relation to the event budget.
The next step is to think about the site selection. Even experienced event planners are aware that a trivial omission in the site selection process may cause tremendous problems in event execution. Coordinating event facilities, catering services, meeting rooms, audiovisual equipment, décor, and transportation to/from the event are extremely important in order to decide on the best venue that meets the clients’ requirements at the lowest price.
Experienced event planners admit that, more than the business approach to the profession, what plays a decisive role in becoming a successful event planner is good communication skills and exceptional coordination abilities. Clients need a committed professional, who will be available on weekends, holidays, evenings, and peak seasons. Event planning does not operate 9 to 5, neither strictly downtown. An event planner should be available 24/7 in order to coordinate and supervise the events whenever and wherever is required.
If there is a natural instinct for event planning and a good understanding of the new business arena, then with optimism, dedication and professionalism it is very likely that someone can turn from amateur into a professional event planner.
Landing a job in the field of event planning is not as complex as it may seem. Although it requires a high degree of professionalism, many people are, in effect, event planners when they organize social gatherings for their friends and family. Planners are people who start in one particular aspect of events. They may be caterers, owners of audiovisual companies, hotel owners and so on. Often, the small events for friends and relatives are their first, cautious steps before getting professionally involved in event planning. This explains how event planners have the exceptional ability to coordinate their events by providing diverse services.
By its nature, event planning involves a risk; the risk of failing to meet clients’ expectations by holding an unsuccessful event. If this happens, clients have no return on their investment, and event planners may experience a severe decline in their reputation. To avoid all these consequences, an event planner conducts a research beforehand to make sure there is demand for the event. Research may mean collecting information about similar events or learning the etiquette of the particular type of event. It may also mean finding out about suppliers and vendors and looking for the right event venue. But, it definitely means asking clients lots of questions in order to get the full idea of their needs and keeping lots of notes. Anything that can guarantee a well-planned event without compromising its success it's a first step towards event planning business.
All the notes kept during the interview with the clients are included in a creative design. This enables an inexperienced event planner to get the feel of the event. As the notes are written down, the design becomes clearer. At this phase, event planners check the clients’ answers and, before making any suggestions, they decide on the feasibility of the event in relation to the event budget.
The next step is to think about the site selection. Even experienced event planners are aware that a trivial omission in the site selection process may cause tremendous problems in event execution. Coordinating event facilities, catering services, meeting rooms, audiovisual equipment, décor, and transportation to/from the event are extremely important in order to decide on the best venue that meets the clients’ requirements at the lowest price.
Experienced event planners admit that, more than the business approach to the profession, what plays a decisive role in becoming a successful event planner is good communication skills and exceptional coordination abilities. Clients need a committed professional, who will be available on weekends, holidays, evenings, and peak seasons. Event planning does not operate 9 to 5, neither strictly downtown. An event planner should be available 24/7 in order to coordinate and supervise the events whenever and wherever is required.
If there is a natural instinct for event planning and a good understanding of the new business arena, then with optimism, dedication and professionalism it is very likely that someone can turn from amateur into a professional event planner.
The best way to find sponsors for your event
Great business ideas need to be regarded as great sponsorship opportunities. In the competitive business realities of today, enticing an organization to sponsor an event requires a harmonization of multiple factors.
One of the most common reasons that an organization would be interested in sponsoring an event is if a large audience or a particular target market could be reached. Sponsorship is, in effect, investment of time and money and sponsors trust a company and its reliability to gain exposure and promote a product to a large cluster of professionals.
To ensure that a large audience will attend a particular event, event planners need to keep an updated attendee database by avoiding inviting the same people one year over another and by asking prior attendees to refer them to potential future attendees. It is extremely important to keep expanded guest lists in order to ensure high attendance rates at events.
Besides, event planners need to think ahead and beyond of their business. This implies to involve a broader range or professionals that are indirectly related to their business and may attend the event thus increasing attendance. For instance, if event planners own a travel agency, they may invite hotel owners, employees from airlines and other professionals from the tourism industry.
Another important consideration for an organization to sponsor an event is the enthusiasm the event planners will show when presenting the event to them. Typically, event planners prepare a 20-second pitch that enables them to expose their event as a great sponsorship opportunity, while explaining to the potential sponsor the benefits of sponsorship. A very important detail is that the style of the call should be appropriate to the type and size of the organization. For instance, if the event planners contact a small, local firm, they most likely speak directly to the owner(s) of the company. In this case, the decision will be immediate. If they contact a medium or large organization, they will speak to an officer from the marketing or the human resources department. This means that the decision will take longer because larger companies construct their sponsorship budgets once a year.
Event planners contact also advertising and public relations companies for sponsorship ideas. These companies have a great cluster of clients, which can offer great exposure to the event and an interesting list of sponsors.
Written proposals are sent out to the organizations that have expressed interest in the event. Typically, this should be done well in advance of the event so that organizations have time to review the invitation and take their final decision. In a professional document, event planners include all the necessary details about the event focusing on the exposure gained through the sponsorship. If similar events have been held in the past, event planners include a track record with copies of newspaper clippings and all necessary information. This builds credibility into the event and ensures the benefits of sponsorship. Besides, invitations should include what the sponsors get in return such as advertising, speaking opportunities, distribution of promotional material, naming rights and so on.
Follow up is extremely important in the business world. Two or three weeks after the proposals have been sent out, event planners should follow up the submissions with a phone call to find out which organizations are interested in sponsoring the event.
When the final list of sponsors is prepared, details of the sponsors should be included in the advertising campaign and media releases of the event making sure that all the sponsors receive copies of the promotional materials. Sponsors should also receive any type of updates and should be included in any meeting held in regards to the event.
After the event is held, event planners should send a letter of appreciation, photos of the event, newspaper and magazine clippings and any coverage of the event by the media.
Corporate sponsorship requires encouraging the participation of the sponsors in the event by working closely with them in all stages. Sponsorship is, in effect, a way to build associations with an organization aiming to have a return on investment for all parties involved.
One of the most common reasons that an organization would be interested in sponsoring an event is if a large audience or a particular target market could be reached. Sponsorship is, in effect, investment of time and money and sponsors trust a company and its reliability to gain exposure and promote a product to a large cluster of professionals.
To ensure that a large audience will attend a particular event, event planners need to keep an updated attendee database by avoiding inviting the same people one year over another and by asking prior attendees to refer them to potential future attendees. It is extremely important to keep expanded guest lists in order to ensure high attendance rates at events.
Besides, event planners need to think ahead and beyond of their business. This implies to involve a broader range or professionals that are indirectly related to their business and may attend the event thus increasing attendance. For instance, if event planners own a travel agency, they may invite hotel owners, employees from airlines and other professionals from the tourism industry.
Another important consideration for an organization to sponsor an event is the enthusiasm the event planners will show when presenting the event to them. Typically, event planners prepare a 20-second pitch that enables them to expose their event as a great sponsorship opportunity, while explaining to the potential sponsor the benefits of sponsorship. A very important detail is that the style of the call should be appropriate to the type and size of the organization. For instance, if the event planners contact a small, local firm, they most likely speak directly to the owner(s) of the company. In this case, the decision will be immediate. If they contact a medium or large organization, they will speak to an officer from the marketing or the human resources department. This means that the decision will take longer because larger companies construct their sponsorship budgets once a year.
Event planners contact also advertising and public relations companies for sponsorship ideas. These companies have a great cluster of clients, which can offer great exposure to the event and an interesting list of sponsors.
Written proposals are sent out to the organizations that have expressed interest in the event. Typically, this should be done well in advance of the event so that organizations have time to review the invitation and take their final decision. In a professional document, event planners include all the necessary details about the event focusing on the exposure gained through the sponsorship. If similar events have been held in the past, event planners include a track record with copies of newspaper clippings and all necessary information. This builds credibility into the event and ensures the benefits of sponsorship. Besides, invitations should include what the sponsors get in return such as advertising, speaking opportunities, distribution of promotional material, naming rights and so on.
Follow up is extremely important in the business world. Two or three weeks after the proposals have been sent out, event planners should follow up the submissions with a phone call to find out which organizations are interested in sponsoring the event.
When the final list of sponsors is prepared, details of the sponsors should be included in the advertising campaign and media releases of the event making sure that all the sponsors receive copies of the promotional materials. Sponsors should also receive any type of updates and should be included in any meeting held in regards to the event.
After the event is held, event planners should send a letter of appreciation, photos of the event, newspaper and magazine clippings and any coverage of the event by the media.
Corporate sponsorship requires encouraging the participation of the sponsors in the event by working closely with them in all stages. Sponsorship is, in effect, a way to build associations with an organization aiming to have a return on investment for all parties involved.
Ways to increase attendance at business meetings and events
As a matter of fact, people do enjoy attending events. This is because they want to get informed; to come in contact with the leaders in their field; for networking; for being acknowledged for taking their time to attend; out of curiosity; for entertainment; for gossiping; or just for the free food offered, always in a warm and friendly environment for all participants.
Poor attendance at meetings and events is always your worst nightmare as hosts. You may use an online survey to determine why potential customers do not enroll. You may ask customer service representatives about the most frequent objections. You may even initiate a promotional phone call to find out about the objections with your own ears. However, no matter what you do, the event will be a disaster if you don't come up with ways to overcome these objections.
Designing a successful event aims at increasing your profitability and the potential of your attendees. In your effort to discover the needs and wants of your attendees it is advisable to ask attendee-focused questions that require attendee-centric answers. For instance, questions like 'what would drive greater success in my business?', 'what my customers need?', 'how could I satisfy my customer needs?' may help you design an event that will create interest in your attendees.
Promoting your event requires primarily creativity and persistence. High attendance is important for the success of your event and your business. Emphasizing on your attendees will allow you to generate more awareness for your cause and, ultimately, more success for your event.
Here are some guidelines you may follow to increase attendance when hosting business meetings or events:
> Target the right audience
One common factor that makes people restraining from an event is because they are not really interested. In other words, they do not belong in the right target group. If you host the event for the first time, it will take some time for finding the right target audience so as to achieve high attendance. In contrast, if you are already hosting the event for many years, you may experience a decline in attendance rates as a result of inviting the same people without expanding your guest list. You need to keep an updated attendee database and make sure that you target the right audience. This can happen by asking existing attendees to refer you to potential new attendees so that you increase your attendance rates for next year.
> Invite your audience well ahead the event
Once you start inviting people, you should continue at a constant rate. Inviting people well ahead the event is important because it gives you time to remind them about the event even if they have confirmed attendance. The point is to generate excitement and to make them enthusiastic until the date of the event is hosted. You can mention the event to your guests before sending them invitations and then send an electronic or paper initiation including agenda highlights. After one or two weeks, you may call guests and give them a personal formal invite to the event.
> Build credibility and interest in your event
To participate in your event, people need to be convinced that is worth their time and money. To achieve that, you need to choose major sponsors to advertise your happening, esteemed guest speakers to attract the audience and nicely organized promotional material to communicate the benefits of attending at your event. In doing so, you will able to build credibility into your event, convincing people that is exceptional and worth attending.
> Choose the right location to host your event
Choosing the right location may skyrocket your attendance rates. Don't forget that people enjoy attending events. So, simply offer them an opportunity to detour from their routines and enjoy your happening. When choosing the location for hosting your event, consider a venue that can be conveniently reached because people are busy and do not have too much time. Also, it makes sense to use a venue that has been previously used for other events and people are familiar with. Offer discounts for early enrollment and offer also mail enrollment for people that do not have home computers.
> Provide incentives
Providing incentives raises additional interest. Offer additional discounts for the next year's event that can be prepaid this year. Offer new activities, perhaps workshops, handouts, signed books for a famous guest speaker for the first ten people, who register; anything that can make your event unique, different than the previous years and worth attending.
As there is no magic stick that can increase attendance in your next event, you need to design your events around their needs. In that way, you will host an event that will be a memorable experience for your attendees, who consequently will drive higher attendance to your next meetings.
Poor attendance at meetings and events is always your worst nightmare as hosts. You may use an online survey to determine why potential customers do not enroll. You may ask customer service representatives about the most frequent objections. You may even initiate a promotional phone call to find out about the objections with your own ears. However, no matter what you do, the event will be a disaster if you don't come up with ways to overcome these objections.
Designing a successful event aims at increasing your profitability and the potential of your attendees. In your effort to discover the needs and wants of your attendees it is advisable to ask attendee-focused questions that require attendee-centric answers. For instance, questions like 'what would drive greater success in my business?', 'what my customers need?', 'how could I satisfy my customer needs?' may help you design an event that will create interest in your attendees.
Promoting your event requires primarily creativity and persistence. High attendance is important for the success of your event and your business. Emphasizing on your attendees will allow you to generate more awareness for your cause and, ultimately, more success for your event.
Here are some guidelines you may follow to increase attendance when hosting business meetings or events:
> Target the right audience
One common factor that makes people restraining from an event is because they are not really interested. In other words, they do not belong in the right target group. If you host the event for the first time, it will take some time for finding the right target audience so as to achieve high attendance. In contrast, if you are already hosting the event for many years, you may experience a decline in attendance rates as a result of inviting the same people without expanding your guest list. You need to keep an updated attendee database and make sure that you target the right audience. This can happen by asking existing attendees to refer you to potential new attendees so that you increase your attendance rates for next year.
> Invite your audience well ahead the event
Once you start inviting people, you should continue at a constant rate. Inviting people well ahead the event is important because it gives you time to remind them about the event even if they have confirmed attendance. The point is to generate excitement and to make them enthusiastic until the date of the event is hosted. You can mention the event to your guests before sending them invitations and then send an electronic or paper initiation including agenda highlights. After one or two weeks, you may call guests and give them a personal formal invite to the event.
> Build credibility and interest in your event
To participate in your event, people need to be convinced that is worth their time and money. To achieve that, you need to choose major sponsors to advertise your happening, esteemed guest speakers to attract the audience and nicely organized promotional material to communicate the benefits of attending at your event. In doing so, you will able to build credibility into your event, convincing people that is exceptional and worth attending.
> Choose the right location to host your event
Choosing the right location may skyrocket your attendance rates. Don't forget that people enjoy attending events. So, simply offer them an opportunity to detour from their routines and enjoy your happening. When choosing the location for hosting your event, consider a venue that can be conveniently reached because people are busy and do not have too much time. Also, it makes sense to use a venue that has been previously used for other events and people are familiar with. Offer discounts for early enrollment and offer also mail enrollment for people that do not have home computers.
> Provide incentives
Providing incentives raises additional interest. Offer additional discounts for the next year's event that can be prepaid this year. Offer new activities, perhaps workshops, handouts, signed books for a famous guest speaker for the first ten people, who register; anything that can make your event unique, different than the previous years and worth attending.
As there is no magic stick that can increase attendance in your next event, you need to design your events around their needs. In that way, you will host an event that will be a memorable experience for your attendees, who consequently will drive higher attendance to your next meetings.
Friday, July 10, 2009
The Best Way To Get Fresh MLM Leads – Get Them Yourself
There are hundreds and hundreds of different companies out there that say that they provide people with fresh MLM leads. But there is a challenge with these so called leads, you do not own them. Let me say that again for all of the people that have been going out there and paying thousands of dollars to buy these so called fresh MLM leads, you do not own these leads.
This industry is based around people needing new leads to talk to about their business opportunity. So companies started up with to sell leads to the industry at large. But like I said, you do not own them. Normally when you buy a fresh MLM lead, there is a time restriction on it meaning that you can only call that lead for a period of time, them after that, you have to give the lead back.
Now this is a very funny thing because people do not join a company in the network marketing industry, they join a person. Since this is the case and you buy a lead that you can call for a month, how on earth are you going to build a real relationship with this lead? It might take you 2 weeks just too finally talk to the person and how are you suppose to build any type of real relationship with someone that you have just met via telephone. Your odds are not that good.
But if you went out there and learned how to create your own fresh MLM leads, you could slowly build the relationship over time. And since you own the lead yourself, if they don’t decided to join you for 12 months, no big deal. And the bonus part of this is that by the time that they have joined you, you two will have a strong relationship, which is exactly what you need to be successful in MLM.
So take the time and learn how to create an endless amount of fresh leads for your own MLM business. Through this process of learning, you will master one of the most essential skills in network marketing and you will truly turn into a leader.
This industry is based around people needing new leads to talk to about their business opportunity. So companies started up with to sell leads to the industry at large. But like I said, you do not own them. Normally when you buy a fresh MLM lead, there is a time restriction on it meaning that you can only call that lead for a period of time, them after that, you have to give the lead back.
Now this is a very funny thing because people do not join a company in the network marketing industry, they join a person. Since this is the case and you buy a lead that you can call for a month, how on earth are you going to build a real relationship with this lead? It might take you 2 weeks just too finally talk to the person and how are you suppose to build any type of real relationship with someone that you have just met via telephone. Your odds are not that good.
But if you went out there and learned how to create your own fresh MLM leads, you could slowly build the relationship over time. And since you own the lead yourself, if they don’t decided to join you for 12 months, no big deal. And the bonus part of this is that by the time that they have joined you, you two will have a strong relationship, which is exactly what you need to be successful in MLM.
So take the time and learn how to create an endless amount of fresh leads for your own MLM business. Through this process of learning, you will master one of the most essential skills in network marketing and you will truly turn into a leader.
Organic Search vs. PPC?
Should you invest in Pay Per Click (PPC) or organic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?
This is a very big question and to a lot organisations the answer will be both but all too often the wrong decision or balance is made between the two.
We will try and discuss this topic by looking at an example.
One of our customers had a large online marketing budget and they purely allocated this to PPC which did bring in good results. When we were asked to evaluate the website we discovered a whole lost market. When google displayed results you only spotted this company in the sponsored results which meant every person arriving at the website came at a click cost dependent on the keywords. They appeared out of the top 5 pages of natural results for all search terms. We also found a considerable cost in the whole process of finding keywords to bid against and allocating budgets.
What we proposed was to move 25% of the PPC budget to organic SEO for a period of 6 months. We deemed 6 months as a realistic measurement time frame to cope with natural peaks/troughs in the business.
Before starting a detailed report was created of existing success rates and website analytics. This was the marker to compare against.
After just 3 months we started to see the website appear on the top 3 pages of the search engines and our analytics started to show a considerable growth in visitors.
After the 6 months were up the findings showed that organic visitors now accounted for the majority of web site visitors. We discovered that given the same company in sponsored and organic results people tended to click on the organic results, this accounted for the reduction in PPC visitors. The actual closure ratio (visitor to sale) was equal to that in the original PPC only campaign. This meant that sales had increased due to more visitors.
Based on these findings the decision was made to reduce the online marketing budget by 40% then allocate this new reduced value 50/50 between PPC and organic SEO.
This is proving very successful in more sales and also at a lower overall cost to the business.
In conclusion we strongly believe a place for both methods of search but would recommend all website owners to first prepare a marketing plan that shows how to achieve good organic sesrch and then allocate a budget to PPC. Organic search is long term website growth whilst PPC is shorter term results driven.
This is a very big question and to a lot organisations the answer will be both but all too often the wrong decision or balance is made between the two.
We will try and discuss this topic by looking at an example.
One of our customers had a large online marketing budget and they purely allocated this to PPC which did bring in good results. When we were asked to evaluate the website we discovered a whole lost market. When google displayed results you only spotted this company in the sponsored results which meant every person arriving at the website came at a click cost dependent on the keywords. They appeared out of the top 5 pages of natural results for all search terms. We also found a considerable cost in the whole process of finding keywords to bid against and allocating budgets.
What we proposed was to move 25% of the PPC budget to organic SEO for a period of 6 months. We deemed 6 months as a realistic measurement time frame to cope with natural peaks/troughs in the business.
Before starting a detailed report was created of existing success rates and website analytics. This was the marker to compare against.
After just 3 months we started to see the website appear on the top 3 pages of the search engines and our analytics started to show a considerable growth in visitors.
After the 6 months were up the findings showed that organic visitors now accounted for the majority of web site visitors. We discovered that given the same company in sponsored and organic results people tended to click on the organic results, this accounted for the reduction in PPC visitors. The actual closure ratio (visitor to sale) was equal to that in the original PPC only campaign. This meant that sales had increased due to more visitors.
Based on these findings the decision was made to reduce the online marketing budget by 40% then allocate this new reduced value 50/50 between PPC and organic SEO.
This is proving very successful in more sales and also at a lower overall cost to the business.
In conclusion we strongly believe a place for both methods of search but would recommend all website owners to first prepare a marketing plan that shows how to achieve good organic sesrch and then allocate a budget to PPC. Organic search is long term website growth whilst PPC is shorter term results driven.
The Easiest Money to Make Online - Google Ad sense
It seems that Google Ad sense have already dominated the internet marketing business and is now considered the easiest way to making money online.
The key to success with Ad sense is the placing of ads on pages that are receiving high traffic for high demand keywords. The higher the cost-per-click to the advertiser, the more you will receive per click from your site. Obviously, it does not pay to target low cost-per-click keywords and place them on pages that do not receive hits.
With all the people getting online and clicking away everyday, it is no wonder why Google Ad sense has become an instant hit.
For some who are just new to this market, it would be a blow to their pride knowing that their homepage is buried somewhere in the little ads promoting other peoples services. But then, when they get the idea that they are actually earning more money that way, all doubts and skepticism is laid to rest.
There are two major, and clever, factors that some successful webmaster and publishers are learning to blend together in order to make money easier using Ad sense.
1. Targeting high traffic pages on your website. If you check on your logs, you will discover that many of your visitors are taking advantage of the free affiliate marketing resources and e-books that you are offering on your site. In simple words, your ads are working effectively and are generating more clicks. It also means more money for you.
2. Placing Ad sense links on pages that are producing little, or better yet, no profit. By placing Ad sense on a free resources page, you will reduce the amount of potential customers being lost to other sites. Tricky, but effective nonetheless.
When learned to work effectively, these two factors are actually a good source of producing a minimal amount of revenue from a high traffic page. Many people are using this strategy to pick up some extra and cash with Ad sense. This is also especially rewarding to informational sites that focus their efforts on delivering powerful affiliate link free content to their visitors. Now they can gain a monetary return on their services.
With the many techniques that people are now learning on how to make the easiest money by their Ad sense, it is not surprising that Google is trying everything to update and polish their Ad sense in order to maintain their good image.
The possibility of adding is 2nd tier in Ad sense is not impossible. With all the people spending more time in their Ad sense now and still more getting into this line of marketing, there is no doubt about the many new improvements yet to be made. Imagine the smiles on the faces of the webmasters and publishers all around the world if ever they sign up for sub-affiliates and double or even triple the amount that they are already earning.
The one particularly handy money-making feature that is available with Ad sense now is the ability to filter out up to 200 urls. These gives webmasters the option to block out low value offers from their pages as well as competitors to their websites. Talk about taking only those that are advantageous and discarding the ones that seem useless.
With Google Ad sense, the possibilities are limitless. Yet there is also the possibility of someone taking advantage of the easy money process that this internet marketing is doing. If you think more about it, these negative factors may force Google to break down and thrash Ad sense in the process. If that happens, people would have to go back to the old ways of internet marketing that does not make money online as easy as Ad sense.
For now, however, Google Ad sense is here to stay. As long as there are people wanting to earn some easy cash online just using their talents, the future ahead is looking good. Besides with all the strict guidelines that Google is enforcing over Ad sense, it will take awhile for the Ad sense privileges to be spammed and even terminated.
The key to success with Ad sense is the placing of ads on pages that are receiving high traffic for high demand keywords. The higher the cost-per-click to the advertiser, the more you will receive per click from your site. Obviously, it does not pay to target low cost-per-click keywords and place them on pages that do not receive hits.
With all the people getting online and clicking away everyday, it is no wonder why Google Ad sense has become an instant hit.
For some who are just new to this market, it would be a blow to their pride knowing that their homepage is buried somewhere in the little ads promoting other peoples services. But then, when they get the idea that they are actually earning more money that way, all doubts and skepticism is laid to rest.
There are two major, and clever, factors that some successful webmaster and publishers are learning to blend together in order to make money easier using Ad sense.
1. Targeting high traffic pages on your website. If you check on your logs, you will discover that many of your visitors are taking advantage of the free affiliate marketing resources and e-books that you are offering on your site. In simple words, your ads are working effectively and are generating more clicks. It also means more money for you.
2. Placing Ad sense links on pages that are producing little, or better yet, no profit. By placing Ad sense on a free resources page, you will reduce the amount of potential customers being lost to other sites. Tricky, but effective nonetheless.
When learned to work effectively, these two factors are actually a good source of producing a minimal amount of revenue from a high traffic page. Many people are using this strategy to pick up some extra and cash with Ad sense. This is also especially rewarding to informational sites that focus their efforts on delivering powerful affiliate link free content to their visitors. Now they can gain a monetary return on their services.
With the many techniques that people are now learning on how to make the easiest money by their Ad sense, it is not surprising that Google is trying everything to update and polish their Ad sense in order to maintain their good image.
The possibility of adding is 2nd tier in Ad sense is not impossible. With all the people spending more time in their Ad sense now and still more getting into this line of marketing, there is no doubt about the many new improvements yet to be made. Imagine the smiles on the faces of the webmasters and publishers all around the world if ever they sign up for sub-affiliates and double or even triple the amount that they are already earning.
The one particularly handy money-making feature that is available with Ad sense now is the ability to filter out up to 200 urls. These gives webmasters the option to block out low value offers from their pages as well as competitors to their websites. Talk about taking only those that are advantageous and discarding the ones that seem useless.
With Google Ad sense, the possibilities are limitless. Yet there is also the possibility of someone taking advantage of the easy money process that this internet marketing is doing. If you think more about it, these negative factors may force Google to break down and thrash Ad sense in the process. If that happens, people would have to go back to the old ways of internet marketing that does not make money online as easy as Ad sense.
For now, however, Google Ad sense is here to stay. As long as there are people wanting to earn some easy cash online just using their talents, the future ahead is looking good. Besides with all the strict guidelines that Google is enforcing over Ad sense, it will take awhile for the Ad sense privileges to be spammed and even terminated.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Social Strategies for Web Success
There is no clear answer what is best way to succeed in today’s social network craze. With Facebook and Twitter in the headlines it has become apparent that no matter who you are or what you do having a strategy for your online success is an important on.
Presence
In speaking to hundreds of entrepreneurs that last few years on Network Skill for Careers Success it became clear that there was so many choices as to what to do have a concise focus on how to do it had been lost in translation.
Find a platform and try it. Everday for about ten minutes log in Facebook and check out and learn in small increments. This is what I did couple of years ago and has worked well in understand the versatility and exposure tools the social networks have. You can add articles, blogs, pictures and videos if you like.
With specific intent you can create an interesting profile and be engaged with a community of entrepreneurs, business owner and authors. It takes some getting used to but what you put you get out out. I have saying “Get Connected Make It Happen”. The connected part require some thought and realization as to who your “friends” are and making it happen how you can build a long-term online and perhaps offline relationship with.
I have very few games and other utilities on my facebook page with the reason , that no what I there to do. It goes without says that you can a few but be careful how often you play it could lead to distraction moving forward.
Utilized social playroom to promote articles and videos that I done to prospective clients and has worked well in having a profile to view and evaluate.
Attraction
It’s no secret that building a community is important in the social media. You want people to follow you whether on Twitter or Facebook. Become an expert in a field and tell and share it constantly with your group. From articles you have written online or offline to events that you attend regularly.
Have a social strategy is important resource for you in many ways from either doing research on particular subject or maintain a online relationship with people you may not see everyday.
Rather sifting through your business cards to find people having online resource where you can locate your best 20-50 contacts is crucial
Your sharing the same social space, perhaps in a different association but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it.
Resources
As you learn more about social networks you will come across various site that you may find of interest for different reasons. Do you homework and research.
Being on twenty different social website may be little overwhelming! Having you best 5 is good start. Get used to using them and before you know you will be teaching other how to do it.
There are plenty of useful online webinars of useful information on insight and how to grow and nurture your web presence. Take your time and take and gradual process in the learning and adapting to new social culture.
Trends
Its beginning to appear the social networking is on the rise and will not be going away. You are beginning to see it being use in the media on a daily basis and by business in advertising. Being part of it is staying connected with social online culture. Not being part of is okay. Face to face to conversation will never go away, and for many that is what they like.
Becoming a published author and public speaker that last two years it has become clear that social networking is powerful tool that can be used to promote and market yourself easily and effortlessly to create value and powerful returns using the resources that are around you either online or offline
Presence
In speaking to hundreds of entrepreneurs that last few years on Network Skill for Careers Success it became clear that there was so many choices as to what to do have a concise focus on how to do it had been lost in translation.
Find a platform and try it. Everday for about ten minutes log in Facebook and check out and learn in small increments. This is what I did couple of years ago and has worked well in understand the versatility and exposure tools the social networks have. You can add articles, blogs, pictures and videos if you like.
With specific intent you can create an interesting profile and be engaged with a community of entrepreneurs, business owner and authors. It takes some getting used to but what you put you get out out. I have saying “Get Connected Make It Happen”. The connected part require some thought and realization as to who your “friends” are and making it happen how you can build a long-term online and perhaps offline relationship with.
I have very few games and other utilities on my facebook page with the reason , that no what I there to do. It goes without says that you can a few but be careful how often you play it could lead to distraction moving forward.
Utilized social playroom to promote articles and videos that I done to prospective clients and has worked well in having a profile to view and evaluate.
Attraction
It’s no secret that building a community is important in the social media. You want people to follow you whether on Twitter or Facebook. Become an expert in a field and tell and share it constantly with your group. From articles you have written online or offline to events that you attend regularly.
Have a social strategy is important resource for you in many ways from either doing research on particular subject or maintain a online relationship with people you may not see everyday.
Rather sifting through your business cards to find people having online resource where you can locate your best 20-50 contacts is crucial
Your sharing the same social space, perhaps in a different association but that doesn’t mean you can’t use it.
Resources
As you learn more about social networks you will come across various site that you may find of interest for different reasons. Do you homework and research.
Being on twenty different social website may be little overwhelming! Having you best 5 is good start. Get used to using them and before you know you will be teaching other how to do it.
There are plenty of useful online webinars of useful information on insight and how to grow and nurture your web presence. Take your time and take and gradual process in the learning and adapting to new social culture.
Trends
Its beginning to appear the social networking is on the rise and will not be going away. You are beginning to see it being use in the media on a daily basis and by business in advertising. Being part of it is staying connected with social online culture. Not being part of is okay. Face to face to conversation will never go away, and for many that is what they like.
Becoming a published author and public speaker that last two years it has become clear that social networking is powerful tool that can be used to promote and market yourself easily and effortlessly to create value and powerful returns using the resources that are around you either online or offline
Tweet Like a Pro - How to Use Twitter Tools
Twitter has tons of Twitter tools, which aim at helping you tweet like a pro. Not all these tools will be useful to you, but you can choose the ones that you might like to use. To find exciting things on Twitter, visit http://twitter.pbwiki.com/
Tweetburner: You can use this tool not only to shrink your links, but also to check your link stats.
Foamee: This is a great place for beer.
Finding a User’s Conversation Threads: Use the url http://search.twitter.com/search?q=twittername. When the page loads, you will be requested to provide the twittername of the user whose conversation threads you would like to track.
FeedBlitz: This tool permits you to cross-post articles into Twitter straight from a blog. Type the feed url into the subscribe box and choose Twitter as your subscription option.
TwitterGram: Use this tool to associate your Twitter account with your Flickr account. All you have to do is assign a tag to all your Flickr pictures that you would like to post on Twitter as well.
Twitter "TrackThis": This option enables you to track your FedEx, UPS, DHL, and USPS shipments.
Twittercal: Want to add events to your Google calendar from Twitter? Go to Twittercal and add gCal as your virtual Twitter friend. To add events, you only have to send the event as a direct message to gCal, and it will be added automatically to your Google calendar.
Report Spam: If you have caught a spammer using your tweets and pictures, you can report him/her by sending a message to Twitter's spam watch team.
Get Gmail Notification: You can also use Twitter to get gmail notification. Create a new account at Twitter and set the update status as "Protected." This ensures that the updated don't get public. All you have to do now is to subscribe to your RSS Feed at Gmail using FeedBlitz.
Twitter Alarm: Twitter can alert you at a particular time. Follow Twitter user "timer" and send this user a direct message stating the time at which you would like to be alerted. You will get a ping at that particular time.
TweetBeep: Want to know whenever you are mentioned on Cyberspace? This could really boost your ego, make you feel good, and motivate you. Visit tweetbeep and create alerts for your set of keywords and web addresses. An alert will be dispatched to your inbox whenever someone tweets about your blog post or brand name.
StrawPoll: You can use Twitter to conduct polls by visiting StrawPoll. Your followers can participate by just responding to you.
TweetStats: Would you like to have the complete statistics for your account? Use TweetStats to get the number of tweets your account gets per hour or per month, in addition to the number of responses you get and information about the commonly used interface.
TwitterFriends: To know more about TwitterFriends, check out Darren's review of the same: "TwitterFriends - A Useful Twitter Metrics Tool." Input your twittername and get impressive statistics regarding your followers. In fact, TwitterFriends is the most comprehensive of all Twitter tools.
TwitterGrader: Want to find out how Twitter will rank your account? Use TwitterGrader to find out where you figure in a rank of 0 – 100. This gives you an idea of your influence on Twitter space. Twitter ranks its users on the basis of the number of followers, the following, and the number of tweets. This Twitter tool will also help you find out if you are a Twitter elite member in your country.
ReTweetRank: Get a rank for your account as per the number of tweeters who retweet you.
NearbyTweets: Want to find the people who are tweeting close to you? This tool will help uncover some great potential followers.
Twitoria: Old Twitter users usally face the problem of long following lists, as a result of which they get plenty of spam messages. Twitoria will identify outdated, unwanted, and unused accounts for you. This tool will help you unfollow Twitter users who haven’t tweeted for ages.
Qwitter: Want an alert whenever someone unfollows you? Input your twittername and email address on Qwitter and get an alert whenever such as thing happens. Qwitter, however, has a bad reputation. Users have complained that Qwitter doesn’t alert you immediately. It remains quiet for weeks and months and then suddenly sends 30 alerts for followers who unfollowed you long back.
FriendOrFollow: This tool helps Twitter users find out who is following them and who isn't.
Tweetwasters: Want to know how much time you spend tweeting? This tool will let you know this in exchange for your twittername.
TweetWheel: Use TweetWheel to find out which of your followers are on good terms with each other and are planning a date or a party. This will help you avoid awkward moments.
TwitThis: Do you remember spotting social bookmarking buttons such as Digg and del.i.ciou.s beneath people blog posts? The idea is to encourage people to bookmark the articles if they like them. TwitThis is something similar. Request your readers to tweet the link of your blog post along with a brief summary of it to their followers.
Fail Whale: This sign can annoy you initially, but you have to learn to take it in your stride. It simply means that Twitter is occupied elsewhere and cannot deal with your requirements right now. You can just try again later.
Tweetburner: You can use this tool not only to shrink your links, but also to check your link stats.
Foamee: This is a great place for beer.
Finding a User’s Conversation Threads: Use the url http://search.twitter.com/search?q=twittername. When the page loads, you will be requested to provide the twittername of the user whose conversation threads you would like to track.
FeedBlitz: This tool permits you to cross-post articles into Twitter straight from a blog. Type the feed url into the subscribe box and choose Twitter as your subscription option.
TwitterGram: Use this tool to associate your Twitter account with your Flickr account. All you have to do is assign a tag to all your Flickr pictures that you would like to post on Twitter as well.
Twitter "TrackThis": This option enables you to track your FedEx, UPS, DHL, and USPS shipments.
Twittercal: Want to add events to your Google calendar from Twitter? Go to Twittercal and add gCal as your virtual Twitter friend. To add events, you only have to send the event as a direct message to gCal, and it will be added automatically to your Google calendar.
Report Spam: If you have caught a spammer using your tweets and pictures, you can report him/her by sending a message to Twitter's spam watch team.
Get Gmail Notification: You can also use Twitter to get gmail notification. Create a new account at Twitter and set the update status as "Protected." This ensures that the updated don't get public. All you have to do now is to subscribe to your RSS Feed at Gmail using FeedBlitz.
Twitter Alarm: Twitter can alert you at a particular time. Follow Twitter user "timer" and send this user a direct message stating the time at which you would like to be alerted. You will get a ping at that particular time.
TweetBeep: Want to know whenever you are mentioned on Cyberspace? This could really boost your ego, make you feel good, and motivate you. Visit tweetbeep and create alerts for your set of keywords and web addresses. An alert will be dispatched to your inbox whenever someone tweets about your blog post or brand name.
StrawPoll: You can use Twitter to conduct polls by visiting StrawPoll. Your followers can participate by just responding to you.
TweetStats: Would you like to have the complete statistics for your account? Use TweetStats to get the number of tweets your account gets per hour or per month, in addition to the number of responses you get and information about the commonly used interface.
TwitterFriends: To know more about TwitterFriends, check out Darren's review of the same: "TwitterFriends - A Useful Twitter Metrics Tool." Input your twittername and get impressive statistics regarding your followers. In fact, TwitterFriends is the most comprehensive of all Twitter tools.
TwitterGrader: Want to find out how Twitter will rank your account? Use TwitterGrader to find out where you figure in a rank of 0 – 100. This gives you an idea of your influence on Twitter space. Twitter ranks its users on the basis of the number of followers, the following, and the number of tweets. This Twitter tool will also help you find out if you are a Twitter elite member in your country.
ReTweetRank: Get a rank for your account as per the number of tweeters who retweet you.
NearbyTweets: Want to find the people who are tweeting close to you? This tool will help uncover some great potential followers.
Twitoria: Old Twitter users usally face the problem of long following lists, as a result of which they get plenty of spam messages. Twitoria will identify outdated, unwanted, and unused accounts for you. This tool will help you unfollow Twitter users who haven’t tweeted for ages.
Qwitter: Want an alert whenever someone unfollows you? Input your twittername and email address on Qwitter and get an alert whenever such as thing happens. Qwitter, however, has a bad reputation. Users have complained that Qwitter doesn’t alert you immediately. It remains quiet for weeks and months and then suddenly sends 30 alerts for followers who unfollowed you long back.
FriendOrFollow: This tool helps Twitter users find out who is following them and who isn't.
Tweetwasters: Want to know how much time you spend tweeting? This tool will let you know this in exchange for your twittername.
TweetWheel: Use TweetWheel to find out which of your followers are on good terms with each other and are planning a date or a party. This will help you avoid awkward moments.
TwitThis: Do you remember spotting social bookmarking buttons such as Digg and del.i.ciou.s beneath people blog posts? The idea is to encourage people to bookmark the articles if they like them. TwitThis is something similar. Request your readers to tweet the link of your blog post along with a brief summary of it to their followers.
Fail Whale: This sign can annoy you initially, but you have to learn to take it in your stride. It simply means that Twitter is occupied elsewhere and cannot deal with your requirements right now. You can just try again later.
Earning Money On Twitter – 4 Great Places To Find Advertisements
You can use the following to earn money on Twitter.
1. Be-A-Magpie.com
Advertisers conglomerate at this site and decide whether they would like to pay per view, per click, or per sale. Sign up at this site, supply your twitter details, and choose the ads you would like to tweet. The company will post these ads under your twittername.
Stay away from ads that look as if the advertiser is desperate to boost his/her sales. Remember that Twitter is not the place for aggressive campaigning and hard selling. You could pick a line that strongly resembles one of your tweets. For example, I would pick an ad that says, “I played around with this new insert picture feature on Gmail and found it to be awesome. You can check it out here.” This hardly sounds like an ad; it looks like me tweeting. None of my followers will suspect that I am posting an ad
Be-A-Magpie permits you to choose the time and frequency of ad posting. The site offers many other cool features too, which you can check out once you are there.
2. Twittad.com
Twittad, a social media affinity network
, connects Tweeps and advertisers. While Tweeps can use it to make money out of their Twitter profile pages, advertisers can use it to reach every nook and corner of Twitter, third-party apps, and mobile phones.
How does Twittad work? Tweeps and advertisers meet on Twittad so that the Tweeps can permit advertisers post ads on their profile pages. The payment depends on how long the ad stays on the profile background.
Tweeps can use Twittad to monetize their profile pages in 2 ways:
* They can offer their profile pages for sale on Twittad. This method gives Tweeps the freedom to set their own rate. As soon as the Tweep approves of the advertisement, it appears on the background of the profile page.
* Advertisers announce their requirement for a Twitter profile page and agree to pay a certain amount. Tweeps can apply for the same. If the advertiser approves of the Tweep’s profile page, the ad appears on it and the Tweep earns money.
You start earning as soon as you register your Twitter profile page on Twittad and register for one of the above-mentioned methods or both. Twittad logs into your profile page and places the ad on your profile background. Twittad’s sophisticated technology keeps track of how well the ad is doing on your profile page background. If the ad captures your followers’ attention, you will get paid. The payout is $30.
You might find it a bit difficult to find ads that suit your unique style of tweeting. Still, if you search hard, you will find an ad or two that will fit the background of your profile perfectly. As far as possible, stay away from long-duration ads and stick to short-duration ads.
You must, however, retain the ad for a particular period of time. If you remove it before the expiry date, the advertiser will get alerted and give you a black mark. You don’t want this to happen as it might affect your chances of getting ads in the future.
3. HootSuite.com
HootSuite is a Twitter user’s one-stop shop and serves 2 important functions. First, it shrinks the links you post in your tweets. Second, it helps you earn some extra Google Adsense cash.
When HootSuite shrinks links, it also creates a new webpage that contains a HootSuite banner in addition to the original page whose link it has shrunk. This banner contains your Twitter details, a HootSuite ad, and a small space for a Google ad of your choice. Now, any page you recommend to your followers has your Google ad on it. If your followers click on it, you will earn money.
4. RevTwt.com
RevTwt.com allows you to monetize your tweets. Twitter users who want to make use of it must first register at RevTwt.com with all their Twitter details and PayPal id. Once they have done this, they are free to choose the ads to post as tweets. These tweets will contain the advertiser’s link. Whenever your followers or anybody else clicks on it, you will get paid.
Once again, choose your ads with care. They should look as if you are tweeting. The Twitter community will block you or report you for spamming if they suspect that you are forcing ads on them.
Here are some step-by-step instructions to use your RevTwt.com account.
1. Get a genuine Twitter account; many people sign up for RevTwt without a Twitter account.
2. Sign up at Twtad by providing your Twitter details and PayPal address.
3. Log into RevTwt.com and click on the "Post Ads" tab to start posting ads. Choose ads that look as if you are tweeting. Once you select an appropriate ad, post it as a tweet. Whenever someone clicks on it, you will get paid. Payout is $20.
A Word of Warning
You may post as many ads as you like on Twitter in order to make money; but take care that you don’t spam. Twitter users hate spammers. Posting ads all day and earning money from clicks sounds like a great idea; but in the long run, you might lose your valuable followers. So, tweet a lot about your life, your careers, your vacation, your coffee breaks, and so on. Insert an ad or two in the midst of these tweets. Then, nobody will accuse you of spamming.
1. Be-A-Magpie.com
Advertisers conglomerate at this site and decide whether they would like to pay per view, per click, or per sale. Sign up at this site, supply your twitter details, and choose the ads you would like to tweet. The company will post these ads under your twittername.
Stay away from ads that look as if the advertiser is desperate to boost his/her sales. Remember that Twitter is not the place for aggressive campaigning and hard selling. You could pick a line that strongly resembles one of your tweets. For example, I would pick an ad that says, “I played around with this new insert picture feature on Gmail and found it to be awesome. You can check it out here.” This hardly sounds like an ad; it looks like me tweeting. None of my followers will suspect that I am posting an ad
Be-A-Magpie permits you to choose the time and frequency of ad posting. The site offers many other cool features too, which you can check out once you are there.
2. Twittad.com
Twittad, a social media affinity network
, connects Tweeps and advertisers. While Tweeps can use it to make money out of their Twitter profile pages, advertisers can use it to reach every nook and corner of Twitter, third-party apps, and mobile phones.
How does Twittad work? Tweeps and advertisers meet on Twittad so that the Tweeps can permit advertisers post ads on their profile pages. The payment depends on how long the ad stays on the profile background.
Tweeps can use Twittad to monetize their profile pages in 2 ways:
* They can offer their profile pages for sale on Twittad. This method gives Tweeps the freedom to set their own rate. As soon as the Tweep approves of the advertisement, it appears on the background of the profile page.
* Advertisers announce their requirement for a Twitter profile page and agree to pay a certain amount. Tweeps can apply for the same. If the advertiser approves of the Tweep’s profile page, the ad appears on it and the Tweep earns money.
You start earning as soon as you register your Twitter profile page on Twittad and register for one of the above-mentioned methods or both. Twittad logs into your profile page and places the ad on your profile background. Twittad’s sophisticated technology keeps track of how well the ad is doing on your profile page background. If the ad captures your followers’ attention, you will get paid. The payout is $30.
You might find it a bit difficult to find ads that suit your unique style of tweeting. Still, if you search hard, you will find an ad or two that will fit the background of your profile perfectly. As far as possible, stay away from long-duration ads and stick to short-duration ads.
You must, however, retain the ad for a particular period of time. If you remove it before the expiry date, the advertiser will get alerted and give you a black mark. You don’t want this to happen as it might affect your chances of getting ads in the future.
3. HootSuite.com
HootSuite is a Twitter user’s one-stop shop and serves 2 important functions. First, it shrinks the links you post in your tweets. Second, it helps you earn some extra Google Adsense cash.
When HootSuite shrinks links, it also creates a new webpage that contains a HootSuite banner in addition to the original page whose link it has shrunk. This banner contains your Twitter details, a HootSuite ad, and a small space for a Google ad of your choice. Now, any page you recommend to your followers has your Google ad on it. If your followers click on it, you will earn money.
4. RevTwt.com
RevTwt.com allows you to monetize your tweets. Twitter users who want to make use of it must first register at RevTwt.com with all their Twitter details and PayPal id. Once they have done this, they are free to choose the ads to post as tweets. These tweets will contain the advertiser’s link. Whenever your followers or anybody else clicks on it, you will get paid.
Once again, choose your ads with care. They should look as if you are tweeting. The Twitter community will block you or report you for spamming if they suspect that you are forcing ads on them.
Here are some step-by-step instructions to use your RevTwt.com account.
1. Get a genuine Twitter account; many people sign up for RevTwt without a Twitter account.
2. Sign up at Twtad by providing your Twitter details and PayPal address.
3. Log into RevTwt.com and click on the "Post Ads" tab to start posting ads. Choose ads that look as if you are tweeting. Once you select an appropriate ad, post it as a tweet. Whenever someone clicks on it, you will get paid. Payout is $20.
A Word of Warning
You may post as many ads as you like on Twitter in order to make money; but take care that you don’t spam. Twitter users hate spammers. Posting ads all day and earning money from clicks sounds like a great idea; but in the long run, you might lose your valuable followers. So, tweet a lot about your life, your careers, your vacation, your coffee breaks, and so on. Insert an ad or two in the midst of these tweets. Then, nobody will accuse you of spamming.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
How To Find Friends On Twitter – 2 Secrets Revealed
Twitter allows you to make find friends in any number of ways. First, you can inform your friends, family members, and colleagues that you are on Twitter and request them to join you there. You can also add your Twitter page link to your email signature, enabling the recipients of your emails to find and join you on Twitter.
Alternatively, you can search through the endless list of Twitter users to find people who share your interests and become friends with them. Twitter also presents tools that will help you find and follow other Twitter users.
1. Twellow and JustTweetIt
Twellow and JustTweetIt are sites that can introduce you to other Twitter users who share your interests and goals. Look up their profiles and study the ways in which they use Twitter. Before you decide to follow them, study their blogs and read their bios. Follow them only if they share similar interests with you. You will be wasting your time if you follow people who are interested in a niche that has nothing to do with you.
2. Twitter Search
Twitter Search is another great way to find like-minded people. Twitter Search is Twitter’s special search engine that is not only easy to use, but also gives great results. Use it to find profiles that might interest you.
Once you decide to follow another Twitter user, you will gain access to the network of Twitter users they are following. You will find that it is humanly impossible to read every tweet that is posted on Twitter. But you can glance through them and browse various profiles to find something that interests you. Check the tweets every now and then for a message that might be related to your niche or interests.
Don’t be in a hurry to build your network. Following other Twitter users means opening yourself up to the rest of the Twitter community. When you follow other Twitter users, you make it easy for them to find you. Therefore, follow only those who might be of some use to you.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Learning Tweet Terms – How to Make Yourself Understood on Twitter
When you first step into Twitter space, you will wonder what everybody is tweeting about. New users can be totally confused with Twitter terms; but you will soon get the hang of it. Most Twitter terms begin with the letters 'tw.' For example, "tweet" means a twitter message. tweetup means a Twitter meetup. Before you tweet to other Twitter users, you ought to know the following basic Twitter terms in order to make yourself understood.
* Direct Message: A direct message is a personal message sent to a particular Twitter user. It does not appear on the public timeline.
* @twittername: ‘@’ followed by username of a particular Twitter user means that it is a response to that Twitter user’s tweet. It appears on the public timeline—one the home page of that Twitter user.
* Leave twittername: This indicates a desire on the part of a Twitter user to stop following someone.
* On: This command turns on phone, IM, and mobile phone notifications.
* Off: This command is to turn off notification.
* RT or Retweet: You are retweeting if you are reposting something interesting posted by a Twitter user.
* PRT: This means “please retweet” or “partial retweet.”
* OH: Overheard
* FTL: For the loss
* BTW: By the way
* FTW: For the win
* YMMV: Your mileage may vary
* IMHO: In my honest opinion
* LMK: Let me know
* b/c: Because
* JV: Joint Venture
* Hashtags: Many Tweeters use hashtags (a hash preceding a tag) in order to make it easier for readers to follow that particular tag or tract it. Use the tag on Twitter Search, and you will find other Twitter users tweeting on the same subject—posting events, tips, conference, and so on about the same subject. If you want to track many hashtags, visit Twemes.
WeFollow, Twellow, and Justtweetit are some Twitter directories that can also give you plenty of information on hashtags and tag tracking. While tracking other hashtags, it pays to add your own to the directory, especially if you specialize in a particular niche.
To learn more exciting Twitter terms, visit: http://twitter.com/help/lingo
You might be wondering why Twitter has a different language. The reason for this is simple. Like all Web 2.0 sites, the prosperity of Twitter depends entirely on the quality of the material posted by its users. Twitter is of value today because of the valuable tweets of its users. Twitter will flourish only if the Twitter community flourishes. And, for any community to flourish there must be a basic set of rules and regulations pertaining to language. The guidelines are not to curb the freedom of the users, but only to enable the smooth functioning of Twitter. As you continue using Twitter, you will observe that using Twitter language will actually enrich your Twitter experience.
* Direct Message: A direct message is a personal message sent to a particular Twitter user. It does not appear on the public timeline.
* @twittername: ‘@’ followed by username of a particular Twitter user means that it is a response to that Twitter user’s tweet. It appears on the public timeline—one the home page of that Twitter user.
* Leave twittername: This indicates a desire on the part of a Twitter user to stop following someone.
* On: This command turns on phone, IM, and mobile phone notifications.
* Off: This command is to turn off notification.
* RT or Retweet: You are retweeting if you are reposting something interesting posted by a Twitter user.
* PRT: This means “please retweet” or “partial retweet.”
* OH: Overheard
* FTL: For the loss
* BTW: By the way
* FTW: For the win
* YMMV: Your mileage may vary
* IMHO: In my honest opinion
* LMK: Let me know
* b/c: Because
* JV: Joint Venture
* Hashtags: Many Tweeters use hashtags (a hash preceding a tag) in order to make it easier for readers to follow that particular tag or tract it. Use the tag on Twitter Search, and you will find other Twitter users tweeting on the same subject—posting events, tips, conference, and so on about the same subject. If you want to track many hashtags, visit Twemes.
WeFollow, Twellow, and Justtweetit are some Twitter directories that can also give you plenty of information on hashtags and tag tracking. While tracking other hashtags, it pays to add your own to the directory, especially if you specialize in a particular niche.
To learn more exciting Twitter terms, visit: http://twitter.com/help/lingo
You might be wondering why Twitter has a different language. The reason for this is simple. Like all Web 2.0 sites, the prosperity of Twitter depends entirely on the quality of the material posted by its users. Twitter is of value today because of the valuable tweets of its users. Twitter will flourish only if the Twitter community flourishes. And, for any community to flourish there must be a basic set of rules and regulations pertaining to language. The guidelines are not to curb the freedom of the users, but only to enable the smooth functioning of Twitter. As you continue using Twitter, you will observe that using Twitter language will actually enrich your Twitter experience.
Build Your Network
One of the biggest questions when someone new comes online trying to earn money online is where do I find people to build my network. Usually after the quick and sometimes crushing realization that their marketing campaign relies on the help of other people they want to begin participating within the world of Web 2.0. Now Web 2.0 is no specific type of website marketing, but the conglomeration of any web platform which provides user side feedback. This means any website out there that accepts visitors to interact in a way that gives them the ability to speak is considered Web 2.0. Good examples of websites within the Web 2.0 world are blogs, Twitter, Myspace, Digg, Forums, and other ways that people may transmit info while increasing their network of friends or business partners. Personally I thrive in the social web and use it constantly to not only build friendships that will potentially lead to cross promotion such as three way linking and guest posting, but also learn what is new throughout the online marketing world.
When you begin building your network it will seem like a very daunting task. There will be millions of potential contacts and you are to decide which will be the most productive and useful to your goals. The biggest tip that I can give anyone trying to build a network is start slow and remember etiquette is everything. Never think that anyone owes you or should have your link on their website or blog. It sounds quite simple, but after spending some of your valuable time helping someone out on a social medium to find that they did nothing for you in return may seem irritating to say the least, but in fact is quite common in the webmaster world. Example I personally gave a shout out to a few of the “top dogs” in my niche giving them free backlinks and while reading of course I saw nothing. Should I have taken the links down or placed the rel=”nofollow” tag on them stopping the flow of link juice from my blog to theirs? The simple answer is no, but there are many reasons for this. The biggest one is when you give a link to someone deserving and Google notices who you are linking to they will not consider your site linking to crap and place you in the category of online crap.
Building a network consists of not only personal relationships, but also technical ones. The example above when sharing links is a relationship of technicality rather than personal. These are the relationships that drive the web and should be a consideration when you decide to build a network in the Web 2.0 world. If you run into someone that runs crap (link farm, ffa page, or other “bad neighborhood”) even though they may be the nicest person online do not place them in your network it will only lead to poor placement within the SERPs and this can damage the income of a website dramatically. It is ok to stray from your niche somewhat, but usually when building a network the best relationships will be within your niche. Remember start slow and build your network brick by brick don’t give up.
When you begin building your network it will seem like a very daunting task. There will be millions of potential contacts and you are to decide which will be the most productive and useful to your goals. The biggest tip that I can give anyone trying to build a network is start slow and remember etiquette is everything. Never think that anyone owes you or should have your link on their website or blog. It sounds quite simple, but after spending some of your valuable time helping someone out on a social medium to find that they did nothing for you in return may seem irritating to say the least, but in fact is quite common in the webmaster world. Example I personally gave a shout out to a few of the “top dogs” in my niche giving them free backlinks and while reading of course I saw nothing. Should I have taken the links down or placed the rel=”nofollow” tag on them stopping the flow of link juice from my blog to theirs? The simple answer is no, but there are many reasons for this. The biggest one is when you give a link to someone deserving and Google notices who you are linking to they will not consider your site linking to crap and place you in the category of online crap.
Building a network consists of not only personal relationships, but also technical ones. The example above when sharing links is a relationship of technicality rather than personal. These are the relationships that drive the web and should be a consideration when you decide to build a network in the Web 2.0 world. If you run into someone that runs crap (link farm, ffa page, or other “bad neighborhood”) even though they may be the nicest person online do not place them in your network it will only lead to poor placement within the SERPs and this can damage the income of a website dramatically. It is ok to stray from your niche somewhat, but usually when building a network the best relationships will be within your niche. Remember start slow and build your network brick by brick don’t give up.
6 Ways to Integrate Twitter and Facebook
Twitter and Facebook are not the only social media sites out there-not by a long shot. But they are of course two of the most well known and widely used. They are also very similar in that they both essentially function as "status updates." Because of this similarity, some really great tools and applications have come out which allow users to integrate the two. Here are six of the tools I have used and like:
Twitter clients like Seesmic or Tweetdeck: These are two Twitter desktop clients that allow you to browse your friends' Facebook status updates and update your own status right from their interface-no need to have a web browser open or be logged into the Twitter or Facebook sites.
Twitter or Selective Twitter Status applications: These two Facebook applications allow your tweets to automatically be posted to your profile. Selective Twitter Status is great because you decide which specific tweets go to update your Facebook status by adding #fb after them. This way your friends who aren't familiar with Twitter lingo aren't confused by your frequent status updates.
Vlingo application: Vlingo is a free application for the Blackberry, Nokia and iPhone. It allows you to update your Facebook or Twitter status using your voice right from your phone!
FriendFeed application: If you use FriendFeed, which consolidates all of your social media activities across different networks in one place, you can add the Facebook FriendFeed application. If you are importing your Twitter feed, every time you tweet it will post to your Facebook wall. This may be preferable to updating your status with every tweet such as with the Twitter for Facebook application.
Tweetpo.st: Tweetpo.st is a very cool site which allows you to post tweets as Facebook status updates, post links you tweet on your Facebook wall (so your friends can watch videos and see pictures right in their News Feed), ignore @replies, change @mentions to real names and more. It does all of this by using Facebook Connect.
Custom Profile Box or Extended Info applications: Finally, if you are just looking for a way to let your Facebook friends know that you tweet and encourage them to follow you, you can add one of these Facebook applications. They both allow you to insert a graphic or text, which you can then easily link to your Twitter profile. For example, I added a clickable Twitter bird logo that reads "follow me on Twitter."
Now you can save time and expend less effort on the two most popular social sites by using these helpful (and free!) social networking tools.
Twitter clients like Seesmic or Tweetdeck: These are two Twitter desktop clients that allow you to browse your friends' Facebook status updates and update your own status right from their interface-no need to have a web browser open or be logged into the Twitter or Facebook sites.
Twitter or Selective Twitter Status applications: These two Facebook applications allow your tweets to automatically be posted to your profile. Selective Twitter Status is great because you decide which specific tweets go to update your Facebook status by adding #fb after them. This way your friends who aren't familiar with Twitter lingo aren't confused by your frequent status updates.
Vlingo application: Vlingo is a free application for the Blackberry, Nokia and iPhone. It allows you to update your Facebook or Twitter status using your voice right from your phone!
FriendFeed application: If you use FriendFeed, which consolidates all of your social media activities across different networks in one place, you can add the Facebook FriendFeed application. If you are importing your Twitter feed, every time you tweet it will post to your Facebook wall. This may be preferable to updating your status with every tweet such as with the Twitter for Facebook application.
Tweetpo.st: Tweetpo.st is a very cool site which allows you to post tweets as Facebook status updates, post links you tweet on your Facebook wall (so your friends can watch videos and see pictures right in their News Feed), ignore @replies, change @mentions to real names and more. It does all of this by using Facebook Connect.
Custom Profile Box or Extended Info applications: Finally, if you are just looking for a way to let your Facebook friends know that you tweet and encourage them to follow you, you can add one of these Facebook applications. They both allow you to insert a graphic or text, which you can then easily link to your Twitter profile. For example, I added a clickable Twitter bird logo that reads "follow me on Twitter."
Now you can save time and expend less effort on the two most popular social sites by using these helpful (and free!) social networking tools.
Understanding Brand Loyalty and Its Relation to Customer Satisfaction
Brand is a product or service, which relates a firm’s products or services and reputation with consumer needs and shareholders expectations. Typically being distinctive and authentic, a brand name reflects an organization’s positioning relative to its competitors as well as the organization’s personality in the context of the target market. In the minds of consumers, Lexus is known for pursuit of perfection, Apple for innovation and design and PepsiCo for its appeal to younger generations. Therefore, a strong brand is more than just a name; it is a promise that can be trusted.
Consumers enter into a purchase with certain expectations about a product or a service and satisfaction is the hoped-for-outcome. Those expectations are based on (1) past buying experience, (2) brand connotations, (3) word-of-mouth, (4) the firm’s promotional material and communication, (5) the competitors’ promises, (6) individual persuasibility and perceptual distortion, and (7) price. In this context, brand loyalty occurs as a result of customer satisfaction because consumers commit to a certain brand based on favorable attitudes and behavioral responses.
Brand loyalty can be classified into two broad categories.
Behavioral brand loyalty is measured by the ratio of the times that a repeated purchase occurs over total purchases. This measurement of proportion of purchases includes cognitive, affective and conative features, which imply an indirect relationship between brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. In other words, considerations of customers' perceptions about a brand can make or break a firm’s branding strategy in the context of repetitive purchases when measuring brand loyalty levels.
Attitudinal brand loyalty holds that brand loyalty involves a favorable attitude which reflects a preference or commitment expressed over time. This argument implies that consumers like the particular firm more than its competitors and therefore they express a favorable preference over the firm’s products or services.
Both behavioral and attitudinal brand loyalty consider that consumer have developed a feeling of favorable attitudes towards the organization and therefore they engage in repeat purchases. However, marketing studies hold that, often, repeat purchases occur as a result of convenience or lack of alternatives bearing no intentional component.
The benefits of customer loyalty for a firm are numerous. First of all, loyal customers are less price- sensitive, which means that they are ready to pay a higher price, if required, in order to acquire the product or service. As a result, apart from higher profitability for the firm, the cost incurred for pursuing new customers is reduced. Loyal customers are also strong advocates of the firm playing a powerful role in the decision making process of other people. The word-of-mouth advertisement is a strong marketing tool that improves the firm’s reputation and brings certainty to the firm by enlarging its customer base. In addition, loyal customer expose higher tolerance for mistakes, are willing to provide feedback for any unfulfilled needs, to try additional products and to offer a higher share of wallet.
In conclusion, brand loyalty is highly affected by customer satisfaction and commitment. Loyal customers trust the company and function as reference groups increasing the firm’s reputation and profitability.
Consumers enter into a purchase with certain expectations about a product or a service and satisfaction is the hoped-for-outcome. Those expectations are based on (1) past buying experience, (2) brand connotations, (3) word-of-mouth, (4) the firm’s promotional material and communication, (5) the competitors’ promises, (6) individual persuasibility and perceptual distortion, and (7) price. In this context, brand loyalty occurs as a result of customer satisfaction because consumers commit to a certain brand based on favorable attitudes and behavioral responses.
Brand loyalty can be classified into two broad categories.
Behavioral brand loyalty is measured by the ratio of the times that a repeated purchase occurs over total purchases. This measurement of proportion of purchases includes cognitive, affective and conative features, which imply an indirect relationship between brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. In other words, considerations of customers' perceptions about a brand can make or break a firm’s branding strategy in the context of repetitive purchases when measuring brand loyalty levels.
Attitudinal brand loyalty holds that brand loyalty involves a favorable attitude which reflects a preference or commitment expressed over time. This argument implies that consumers like the particular firm more than its competitors and therefore they express a favorable preference over the firm’s products or services.
Both behavioral and attitudinal brand loyalty consider that consumer have developed a feeling of favorable attitudes towards the organization and therefore they engage in repeat purchases. However, marketing studies hold that, often, repeat purchases occur as a result of convenience or lack of alternatives bearing no intentional component.
The benefits of customer loyalty for a firm are numerous. First of all, loyal customers are less price- sensitive, which means that they are ready to pay a higher price, if required, in order to acquire the product or service. As a result, apart from higher profitability for the firm, the cost incurred for pursuing new customers is reduced. Loyal customers are also strong advocates of the firm playing a powerful role in the decision making process of other people. The word-of-mouth advertisement is a strong marketing tool that improves the firm’s reputation and brings certainty to the firm by enlarging its customer base. In addition, loyal customer expose higher tolerance for mistakes, are willing to provide feedback for any unfulfilled needs, to try additional products and to offer a higher share of wallet.
In conclusion, brand loyalty is highly affected by customer satisfaction and commitment. Loyal customers trust the company and function as reference groups increasing the firm’s reputation and profitability.
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