Why Traditional Marketing Methods Are Still the Best

With all the hype about new forms of marketing such as social media marketing, it is easy to forget that some of the best techniques are the ones that have been around for many years. Door to door mailing is one of the best techniques around, and this article looks at why techniques such as leaflet distribution are still so popular.

Social media marketing may be the latest craze, and some businesses have had very good results using it. But the fact is that it is still very new and many businesses simply don’t know how to get involved to make it effective for them. Even with all the new marketing methods available, traditional media still remains one of the best ways to carry out a marketing campaign.

One of the best traditional marketing techniques around is leaflet distribution. It may sound old fashioned to some in the internet marketing game, but it simply cannot be written off. Leaflet marketing works, it has done for years and it will continue to do so for a long time to come.

But why is it so effective?

Leaflet distribution is a way to target a large group of people with a powerful marketing message directly in their homes. You can base your mailings on whole regions or target by people based on demographics to reach a large amount of people in a very short space of time.

It’s also very cost effective. Leaflets are generally cheap to produce and distribute, allowing you to get your name in front of your targets whenever you need to. Because they are so cheap to send you can carry out multiple mailings over a long period of time so that even if they don’t act on your leaflet for the first few distributions people will immediately think of you when they need the service you provide.

Leaflet distribution is a great way to make sure your marketing messages get seen. With print ads you never know if your advert will just get ignored, but with leaflets people physically hold them in their hands, providing a much better opportunity to read your marketing message and hopefully act on it. This is even more effective when you send out your leaflets on their own without any other deliveries, so ask your distribution firm about this possibility.

Conclusion

Door to door mailing still remains one of the most effective forms of marketing, and leaflet distribution is used by businesses all over the country because of the huge benefits that it has. By all means experiment with new forms of marketing, by if you want to try out new techniques then it is a good idea to use these alongside the formats that you know will get you results such as leaflet distribution.…

Steal, Shoot and Slam Dunk Your Solution to a Win in PS3 NBA Live 10

In PS3 NBA Live 10, your rival will be “courting” disaster. And in this situation, you get to become judge, jury and executioner, stuffing your competitors within the movie game globe. So, are you ready to slam-dunk any and all levels of competition into oblivion? Just like the actual sport, PS3 NBA Stay may be the game that made talking trash for the court docket. Really don’t fool yourself into thinking this are going to be some cakewalk, make no mistake. We’re talking about playing PlayStation games within the web at Reside within the net tournament, in which the gamers wager real money. Here’s where you prove towards the PS3 NBA Are located gamers that you just call the shots… and set to rest any debate that you might be THE Guy! Make the passes and make the shots, and you’ll discover oneself with the adulation of the peers.

The sports movie game motion starts when you’re all set to have on over to Are living around the net tournament, turn on your PS3 game console, and look for out some genuine competitors. But make no error: some gamers who imagine they’re willing aren’t really all set if you realize what we are saying. If you ever strategy to pummel your PS3 NBA Reside challenger and snake his bankroll, then ensure that that you’ve conquered the game controller also as the game arena. Be sure you have received a deal with on every thing you should know – spin go, goods, trick and roll, stealing. Since your rival has a handful of moves of his own, and you really don’t want to obtain mowed lower about the court docket.

Once you’ll be able to start scoring individuals three-pointers together with your eyes closed (okay, perhaps that one’s a tad of the tall order), then it’s time to create your presence recognized at Rivalspot and allow the video game planet know that that you are a force being reckoned with. If they’re offline, send them an invite, and be certain to allow them know you mean business – a tiny (or a lot) of trash-talk does the trick there. We’re just saying. It’s all inside game. Live within the web tournament has provided PlayStation NBA Stay players the ultimate around the net video game fantasy – uncover the finest players within the internet, difficulty them to some PS3 NBA reside, and play movie games for income. Following your unquestioned string of victories against your competitors, the term for the street – or Stay on the internet tournament forums – is going to be you are a force to be reckoned with. And on greatest of that, you’ll make some serious money. What much more could a gamer question for?…

What to Blog About on Your Business Blog!

When coaching some of my social media business clients, after convincing them why one should blog, they often ask,

“So what should I blog about”?

So I present them with a long list. I am going to share my list with you in the hopes that it will inspire you to make a list of things you could blog about for your business.

An application or new software that you discovered

A risk you took

A book you read

An interview

Something that is right in your niche or area of interest

Something that is wrong or could use a fix

A cause

Your favorite Charity

The scariest thing that ever happened to you

You most embarrassing moment

Rants and raves

About your mentor

About your student

Debunk a myth

Guest posts

Have someone interview you

Interview someone else

Create a collaboration post

Ask questions or do a survey

Post a video and put some comments

Review someone else’s post

Interview yourself on a topic.

Recap a past event.

Recap the results of a research report someone else published.

Report on a conference you attended.

Reveal background information on something you do to make your organization successful.

Share really cool work you or someone in your organization has done.

Share the results of some research your organization has done.

Summarize what you know about a topic.

Write about things that you know that others might not realize.

Write about what you do in your business to serve customers.

Feature Experts

Answer Frequently Asked Questions from your clients

Present a Case Study of a Successful Client (with permission)

Post a funny comic or video

This is a short list. Really, it is! I would love to hear if you would add any topics to this list.

Of course, a social media manager can help you get started with your business blog, in these ways:

Get your WordPress blog setup

Help you come up with a calendar of content

Help you regularly post and optimize your content.

Help you brainstorm client relevant topics

Select search engine friendly words

Submit your posts to social media sites

Submit your posts to article sites like this one!

Hyperlink your content to relevant other posts on your site, and to relevant websites and blog posts by other authors.

Find video and pictures that are relevant to your readers.

So get out there and start blogging! Your Business will thank you!…

Budget Gaming PC – Is it Good Enough?

There is a generation old rivalry between PC gamers and console gamers. In many ways, the console gamers are oblivious to this rivalry but PC gamers are often all-too aware. Console games get all the attention, they often get first release of games, and console gamers can just pop their discs in and play without having to go through an install process or anything. On the other hand, console gaming lacks a certain depth that PC gaming is famous for. PC gaming offers wider ranging control with a keyboard instead of a handheld controller with only a dozen or so buttons and PC’s offer the latest in graphics and sound technology. Unfortunately, PC gaming also has a history of being fairly expensive. This is one thing many console gamers tend to be very aware of, and it leaves many PC gamers nursing sore wallets. This doesn’t have to be the case, though.

A true budget gaming PC can be had for generally the same price as a console system, although for a gaming PC that will take you through to the next console release you will either want to spend a bit more, or expect to buy another budget gaming machine about halfway through the console life cycle. The trick is to look at the curve in the price points. Top end PC hardware can be prohibitively expensive, but prices drop sharply as you look to slightly older (by a few months) technology. In mathematical terms, the performance of new PC hardware tends to go up like a straight line graph, but the price of the latest and greatest tends to be a geometric progression, like graphing X vs X-squared. Somewhere in the middle of the graph you will find a point where pricing has dropped into the range you can afford, but performance has not dropped nearly by the same amount. This is the sweet spot.

There is no such thing as “planned obsolescence” from a manufacturing standpoint with PCs. Generally speaking they will last a long, long time. The problem tends to be that in many cases they become less useful when faced with the latest games or other multithreaded software, and we feel the need to upgrade. Any serious gamer is going to want to keep this in mind. Most gamers will want to buy a new PC every 1-3 years depending on their budget, how much they game and how graphics-intensive the latest games are. That being said, a bargain hunter with an eye for price vs performance can end up buying a budget gaming pc every 3-4 years and do very well for themselves. The trick isn’t just about finding a good price though, it’s about knowing when you plan to replace the machine. Someone who spends thousands of rand on a new gaming pc will likely be unhappy with its performance 3 years down the line, while someone who spent 1/3 the price could buy a …

Social Media Training – To Tweet, ReTweet Or Not Tweet

Twitter is a popular social media site. Even with some recent declines in traffic from a high of 29,000,000 in July of 2009 to just over 21,000,000 in March of 2010, this site still receives a massive amount of traffic. (Source )

A recent article entitled Twitter: Media or (Un)Social Network? by John Zappe shared some interesting social media statistics specific to the end users in Twitter. His article was based upon a presentation delivered to the 19th World Wide Web Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Some of the data revealed was common sense such as the majority of tweets are topical and Twitter following is not usually reciprocated at 22%. However after studying the 431.7 million Twitter Profiles along with the incredible 1.47 billion follower relationships, the researchers suggested Twitter does serve as a functional marketing vehicle to spread information.

Data on Twitter messages suggested there is better than a 50/50 chance of your tweet being retweeted within one hour. What that happens, your tweet reaches on average 1,000 users no matter the number of followers within the original message. Within a hour, a message can make five hops. The researchers now defined one hop as a retweet and two hops as a retweeted retweet.

Bottom line is that Twitter is a powerful fast distribution vehicle for getting your marketing message out. Your Tweet goes beyond your followers. However given that most messages (Tweets) are one way, you must truly add value if you want your message to be re-tweeted.

And herein lies the problem with so much of the social media training. These now transformed traditional marketers leave this critical component out because many in social media are clueless about what makes compelling marketing copy. Then add that with so many involved in marketing not being results driven along with the space constraints of 140 characters only exacerbates this problem.

Using the old AIDA model may help you overcome this problem along with doing the research about your target market and aligning your messages to your overall strategic marketing action plan. When you can Attract Attention, Build Interest, Develop Desire and include a call to Action, you just may hit a grand slam. Of course not all messages may have these 4 criteria especially in you are tweeting or retweeting quotations.

Finally, knowing when or what not to tweet is just as important. No one likes to be sold hence why people mute television commercials or TIVO past them. By using a 10 to 1 ratio (10 education based and informative treats with one self serving message) keeps you from being viewed as the typical product or sales based salespersons only interested in increasing your own coffers.

By taking the time to do your research, you can leverage this very fast marketing distribution media vehicle. In this way you can go beyond the popular quotes to actually educating your target audience with your tweets. Sales Training Coaching Tip: …

Getting A Gaming Laptop Under $1000

Technology is advancing at a rapid pace that we are now seeing several manufacturers selling a gaming laptop under $1000. These laptop models come with specifications that are fine tuned to provide you with an excellent gaming experience. There are however models that outperform the rest in terms of performance and this is what we will be looking at into now. If you are in the market looking for a gaming laptop under $1000 then be sure to follow our guide in making the right choice.

GPU (Graphical Processor Unit)

What sets a gaming laptop apart from other models is that it always uses a dedicated GPU to handle the intense 3D graphics. Some of the most popular brands used are Nvidia and ATI Radeon that can easily handle the most intense graphics a game can come up with. It’s always important to get the fps (frames per second) rating a GPU can make on a game. For testing purposes Crysis has been used as a benchmark since it is the most graphically demanding game. If you can do at least 30 fps on this game then you have found a great model. One excellent model to consider is the Dell Alienware M11X using an NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M. It is one of the best gaming laptop available at this price.

Screen Size

Now that you have great graphics, you will want to view it on a big enough display. If you will be constantly bringing your gaming laptop with you then an 11.6 inch screen size will do however if you are looking for a desktop replacement then a 15 inch screen size makes a better choice. However, you should also consider that higher the screen size, higher would be the weight of the laptop. One excellent gaming laptop to replace your desktop is the Samsung RF510-S02 15.6-Inch HD LED Laptop.

Processor

There is an ongoing debate as to who makes the best gaming processors, Intel or AMD. Both companies offer excellent processors however Intel has a slight edge over their second generation Intel Core processors. The ASUS N53JQ-XC1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop is an excellent choice that uses an Intel Core i7-740QM processor.

Memory

A gaming laptop has to have the largest memory possible. If you can upgrade your memory to the maximum possible configuration your laptop can accommodate then do so. This will ensure a smoother gameplay as more and more characters pop up in the game.…

5 Things to Consider Before Podcasting As a Small Business

No doubt you like me, you are using your transit time, be it travelling or wait appointment and possibility even your insomnia to listen with your iPod to podcasts in your area of interest. I have a number of marketing favorites now including:

Ten Golden Rules

Ducttapemarketing

Six Degrees of Separation

Marketing Over Coffee

Marketing Geeks

These are all great and it begs the question should we all be doing podcasts for our businesses. Well, here are 5 things to consider before you take on this new social media. See if you can tick each area off.

Susan Bratton from Dishy Mix makes a good call when she explains whether you should go into podcasting. A veteran at podcasting, she explains that her preferred medium for communicating is to speak with people, even over blogging or twittering. Susan does have a great personality and she has honed her interviewing skills and so makes for an interesting host.

1. So deciding if this medium suits your style is number 1. If you feel you would rather blog, or remain in the background then this forum is not for you.

2. What do you want to achieve with the podcast? Is it another tool to connect with your customers? Is it serving a particular niche? To compliment yourself as an expert in a area is another valid reason. Maybe it is just to serve your ego, perhaps not the best reason but some people honestly want to share their burning passion. I think Jay uses this medium the best and that is to provide really great content in a different way. People are busy and to be able to download Jay and listen to him and is great expert guests and content is a must on my list. This also I am sure provides him with many speaking engagements as an expert.

3. You have to keep to a regular format which means setting the time aside to do the podcast every week, month or fortnight. Once you have the listeners you need to commit to the schedule. This is a hard one for some of us with limited resources but as Jay so cleverly does there are many ways to do a podcast. You can do it remotely from sites or take your ipod with a recording app and capture content at conferences, with clients and other guests. However, it is valid to remember that the editing of the podcast can take up to 3 times as long as the recording.

4. Technical skill – there are so many resources out there for podcasting that it is now easier than ever to do a podcast.

5. However to make it useful there are some categories that you need to look at. Using podcasting music from Podsafe network is really just the beginning.

Format and length

Content is king – is what you have to say worth listening

I think it is …

Is Social Media Advertising Worth Your Time?

Have you been wondering why social media advertising is so popular right now, and if, or how can it help your business? The rise in popularity of social media sites has gained a lot of attention from the media, and rightly so. When major companies such as HP, Dell and Coke announce success using it, then it makes the rest of the world stand up and take notice.

Small Town Support

Social media fills a void for many people. Social media sites have come to replace the support we once had when physically surrounded by family members and friends. It is the twentieth century replacement

In this day and age most people no longer have the small town support they once had. They can’t hop next door and get advice from a family member or friend. Gone are the days when we were surrounded by loved ones. People move, take on new jobs in other states or countries, have to head off to war, etc. People are social creatures and need that community connection to feel complete. Now, there are a few folks who are loners, but for the majority of us, we long for relationships. It’s genetic. It’s in our DNA. It is good for us.

Word of Mouth

So how does this help you in your business? Word of mouth is one of the most sought after and relied upon advertising mediums available. The only problem is that we can only control it to a certain extent. We can’t force customers to tell their friends about us. And most of the time people only tend to report bad experiences to their friends, and many times won’t tell their friends about good experiences unless they are asked for their advice.

Friends Asking Friends

Think about it. What do you do when you are looking to have something done? Maybe a roof put on your house, your car repaired or your hair cut. Do you grab the phone book and just start scanning for a company that looks good? Well that could have detrimental effects. It is easy for a company to make themselves look professional and legitimate but yet still not be up to par on business ethics. So most of us will ask our friends or family who they use. And we will also get advice from people we know who have had experiences with the work or services we are looking to have done.

Customer Connection

This is where social media advertising comes into play. By connecting with your customers using social media you are keeping your company in the forefront of their thoughts. When one of their friends asks for a recommendation guess who they will think of first?

Take for instance Facebook. You have built up some fans and make a post about an event you are having. Not only are your fans seeing the information about your event, but any of their friends who visit their profile …

Is 3D Playstation the Future of Gaming?

There has been much debate in recent years whether 3D PlayStation games would really be the future of gaming or not. Sony has put a lot of hard work and effort into developing not only the 3 dimensional capabilities of the PlayStation 3, but they have also put a lot of work into developing their line of 3D televisions. There are a few things that you might want to know about playing a 3D PlayStation game so that you will be able to decide for yourself if 3D is the future of gaming.

One thing that you obviously have to have in order to play a 3D PlayStation is a console that has 3 dimensional capabilities. There are already almost 36 million PS3 units that are 3D ready. This means that if you own a PlayStation 3 already it is most likely capable of playing 3D games.

Another important element that you must have to be able to take part in the 3D gaming experience that PlayStation has to offer is a 3D TV. This type of television is now being introduced to the public and is available for purchase. Several people have already jumped on the bandwagon and are loving the movie theater-like experience they are getting in their own home, but others argue that the price of owning one is still a little bit too high for them to buy one just yet.

If you own a 3D television then you have to have a pair of 3D glasses to be able to see the images that are being projected off the screen. This means that you are going to have to buy a pair of glasses that have 3 dimensional capabilities so that you can watch the 3D movies and play the 3D PlayStation games in your home.

Let’s not forget that you also have to either download or buy a 3D PlayStation game so that you will have a game that has 3D graphics. Just because you are playing a PlayStation that has 3D capabilities and own a TV and glasses that enable you to view 3D images does not mean that any ordinary game will work. You have to own a pair of glasses that will help you to be able to see it all.

As you can see there are a few different things that you have to own in order to be able to play 3D PlayStation games. This is what makes some people wonder if 3D PlayStation is going to be the future of gaming or if people will just continue playing the same type of 2D games that they have been playing for years. Sony is very confident that they have what it takes to lead the way in 3D gaming, but only time will tell whether they truly do or not.…

Gaming Laptop Review: ASUS G53JW-3DE and Asus G73SW-A1 Laptop Reviews

Gaming laptop is becoming quite popular not just in US and UK but also all over the world. Asus has always been a pioneer name when it comes to gaming laptops. In the recent past, they have released quite a few gaming friendly notebooks. These are not regular notebooks from Asus but high performance systems that can give you the best gaming pleasure.

Here are two gaming systems from Asus that comes fully loaded with features that will give you unsurpassed gaming experience:

ASUS G53JW-3DE

The looks and the design of this beautiful laptop is simply amazing. It weighs 7.9 pounds. It has got a 15.6 inch HD display screen. Nvidia’s active shutter technology is what makes it possible 3D content on this machine. You need to make use of 3D glasses (comes with the laptop) to enjoy the game in 3D environment. The notebook runs on Intel’s quad core processor that gives a performance of 1.73 GHz.

The size of the hard disk is 1.5 TB which is very spacious for loading your multimedia content. The 8 GB DDR RAM adds on to give you the best and efficient performance. The GTX 460 graphics card from Nvidia helps in rendering strong graphics smoothly as it comes with 1.5GB video memory. The other features of this amazing of technology include, HDMI port, 8-in-1 card reader, 2 megapixel web camera.

Asus G73SW-A1

This is another gaming laptop from Asus that runs on the new quad core processor from Intel. The system runs on Intel Core i7 series processor. As far as gaming is concerned, the Nvidia GeForce GX 460 graphics that comes with a video memory of 1.5GB will give blistering fast video performance.

The 8GB RAM will ensure you get the smoothest performance. The dual layer 500 GB hard disk drive is gigantic enough to store hundreds of high graphics games. With Blu-Ray combo drive, you will be able to enjoy all your favorite HD movies on 17 inch LED display screen. This gaming machine is powered by 8-cell battery. The sound output of the system is excellent thanks to the inbuilt stereo speakers which come with a subwoofer. Another version of the same notebook called ASUS G73SW-3D supports 3D gaming experience as it comes with 3D capable display and 3D glasses.…