October 2022

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.…

We cannot deny that with the development of technology, many things around us use computer programs. You can see this computer program embedded in smartphones, cars and others.

As time goes by, of course, we need new programs that make life easier for humans as much as possible. Therefore, many programmers are creative and innovate to create the newest programs that will be useful for humans.

Being a programmer who is proficient in creating useful and profitable computer programs is not easy. There are many learning processes and practices that must be passed in order to become a reliable programmer.

One of the things that a programmer must master if he wants to be able to create useful computer programs is to master a programming language. Programming languages ​​such as Java, JavaScript, PHP and so on.

Without mastering programming languages ​​it is impossible for you to create computer programs that are useful to many people. Learning these things certainly takes a long time and costs a lot of money. You should try this application OneLaunch

But don’t worry, in this article you will learn how to make the simplest and easiest computer program. After reading this article you will know how to develop your idea into a useful computer program and then test it and then release it so that it can be used by many people.

Get ideas, design them and start simple

How to make a computer program you can start by looking for a good idea as well as high potential benefits. The point is that besides being good, the computer program that you will make later must be useful for many people.

A good and useful program will make it easier for people who use it. You can also look for inspiration from existing programs that you have used. Then you notice, is there anything you can do to make the program better?

Then you can also look for ideas from the daily activities that people do. From there you can think about a program that should be made to make it easier for people to carry out their activities.

So, after you have thought about the thousands of ideas that pop up in your mind, don’t forget to write them down. No matter how silly you have to write. Sometimes it is from this ridiculous thing that an extraordinary computer program is created.

You should know that a successful computer program is a computer program that is useful and makes life easier for its users. So try the ideas that you put forth will be useful for the lives of many people.

Now after you look for ideas or inspiration for computer programs that you will create and write them down, then you choose an idea. Choose the one that is most useful to users and they like. If you have made your choice, then you can start designing the computer program.

The purpose of the design here is an overview of the features and …

What Mistakes Do People Make When Building Their Own PC?

With computer prices rising and people’s budgets dropping, it has become increasingly common for people to build their own PC. This is an excellent plan as it is really not that difficult to do and many people will fork out an exorbitant amount of money just so someone in a computer shop can screw a few screw and plug a few wires in, when they could so easily do it themselves for free.

The problem with people doing it themselves though is that they can make mistakes if they are not careful. Here are a few things people do which are the most common causes of problems.

Incompatible components

When you build your own PC, you have to source and buy all the right components yourself. With so many different components available to buy however, it can be surprisingly easy to buy the wrong ones which are incompatible with each other. You may have plugged your entire computer together perfectly only to find that your motherboard won’t recognise your hard drive or something else. Before you buy all your components it is good idea to check with the supplier that they will all work together. They will be able to tell by the brands and the part numbers if they are compatible. Alternatively you can check online…though this may be tricky if your computer isn’t working.

Illegal Software

Another common mistake that people make when building their own PC is to install illegal or corrupted software. As you are trying to save money by doing it yourself it can be tempting to save that little bit more by buying software from a street market trader. Chances are that this will be a copied version and may not have a valid product key to open it. Also, if you do get your PC running and a software company notices that you are using a pirated version of their program, they are within their rights to call the police. Having built your custom gaming PC you don’t want your game to get confiscated. Even the best gaming PC in the world is not worth you breaking the law.

Overheating

One other common mistake people make when they build their own PC is that they stuff it full of powerful components, whack on a big power supply and are surprised when it crashes all the time. You need to make sure that your computer is adequately cooled with several good fans built into the back so that it doesn’t overheat. Did you know that super PC’s can be made to run liquid nitrogen so they can cope with the heat their system produces?…

What Not to Post on Facebook If You Are Looking for a Job

Social media is a must for those looking for a job. It is a fantastic way to connect with employers, hiring managers and other employees who can recommend you for the job. However, once you open your social media accounts to your employment search, you’ll need to be very careful about what you post there. Recent reports indicate that more and more employers are turning to social media sites like Facebook to find out what candidates are really like.

What’s to Worry About?

Job seekers should put some self control into their job search when it comes to using sites like Twitter, Facebook and even LinkedIn. Even if you’ve never told a potential employer they could use these sites to learn more about you, many will do so as part of their screening process especially if it comes down to just a few well-qualified candidates.

Check out these five things you should not post to your social media accounts if you are after the next big job or career move.

1. Don’t post what you did last night if it isn’t something you would want your mother to know about as well. Screen your posts to exclude information that makes you look immature or even worse, like someone that’s not trustworthy.

2. Don’t bad mouth your previous employer. Doing so puts a bad taste in the mouth of any new hiring manager or employer.

3. Don’t post (or allow someone to tag you in) any indecent photos or photos that show you doing anything that’s unfavorable. If you want to post these to your friends, be sure to limit your privacy settings on your photo album.

4. Don’t make racist, sexist or otherwise discriminatory comments on your page. Companies are very anti-harassment and focus their attention on hiring candidates not likely to engage in such actions.

5. Don’t belong to groups (at least those that are visible) that put you in the wrong place or surroundings. If you think being a part of the “Saturday night drinking party” is a good thing, chances are good that a hiring manager will think you are not a good fit.

In addition to this, when job searching, tone down what’s accessible on these social media sites. Check your privacy settings. Find out what’s visible in terms of your views especially religious and political postings. You don’t want these elements of who you are to define if you get the job interview or not.…

3 Essential Steps to Creating a Stand-Out Brand

Creating a great brand is like a planting a flower. You need to start with the basic ingredients. Good soil and proper sunshine. You would not plant seeds in sand. You would not plant a sunflower in a basement. Same thing with a brand. You need to start your brand with quality, well-chosen ingredients.

What are the 3 essential steps to creating a great brand?

1. The Terra Firma Foundation: Your promise, your story, your target market, your reputation.

2. The Stem: Your products and services.

3. The Flower: Your image, logo, ads, social media, website, etc.

#1: The Terra Firma Foundation.

• Your promise

• Your mission

• Your story

• Your target market

• Your reputation

The foundation of your brand is your promise to your customers. It is your story. It is why you do what you do. It is your mission. It is finding your target audience. Finding the foundation of your brand means you have to really think about who you are. Who do you work with best? Who inspires you? Author Michael Port in Book Yourself Solid calls choosing your target market “The Red Velvet Rope Policy.” What that means is choosing a target market that motivates you and matches your skills and personality. “The Red Velvet Rope Policy” will keep out the clients that drain your skills and energy. Clients that siphon off your spirit and energy prevent you from doing a great job. Finding clients that you enjoy and motivate you will inspire you to do great work. And, when you do great work, you will get more work!

#2: The Stem.

• Your products & services

Your service or product must help your target audience solve a problem. The secret to serving your potential clients is knowing what they want and helping them get what they want. It is really important to concentrate on what your clients need and why they need it. For example, I am a graphic designer, and I have a potential client that needs a new logo. Well, I can go on and on about how I am a creative designer and how I will design an attractive logo for his/business. But, really, how does that help my potential client. What my potential client needs to hear from me is how that new logo I design will help him stand out and communicate an appropriate message to his audience. And, ultimately bring him more clients and more business.

#3: The Flower.

• Your logo

• Your website

• Your ads

• Your social media presence

• Your marketing materials

Your brand will bloom when you take proper care to create your visual identity. The “flower” gets all the attention. The “flower” is your great, stand-out logo, it is your overall visual allure. The “flower” part of your brand is what makes you stand-out in a crowd. The “flower” is instantly recognizable. It is remarkable. Your logo, social media presence, …

Tips to Use Social Networks to Brand You and Build Your Business

I’m always excited when I can hear new information and learn new ideas and learning about some of the critical points of building your brand online through Social networks is fun and profitable.

There are some key factors to using Social Networks.

1. When you are setting up your profile a social media network, it’s important that you add your Personal picture to brand you. People want to see the real person behind the name to add credibility to the content provided.

2. It is a good idea to setup a personal account as well as one for your business. Is it necessary? No… it’s simply a good idea. It’s another way to brand you or your business.

3. There are three major networks that you need to be an active part of. They are Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

4. It is important that you understand about posting quality information on Twitter and not spamming your list with link after link after link. Like Facebook and LinkedIn, this is your opportunity to let people get to know like and trust you.

5. An area that I’ve used very little in the past is setting up Groups or Fan Pages on Facebook and it is evident that these two resources can be instrumental in building your brand and attracting prospects. There is a difference between Groups and Fan Pages. One of the benefits of setting up a group is that you can invite all your friends to join your group and then you have the ability to send a ‘bulk’ mail to those members. This can be very effective in reaching your right target market with the right information.

6. Video marketing is, as we stress here regularly, critical to your growing success. Can you grow without Video… sure.. and you will grow faster, get ranked sooner and attract the right people to your niche when you add Video to your website. Best practice is to keep your video to under 2 Minutes for more effective listening. It is very important to attach the right keywords and keyword phrases to your Video when uploading to Video Hosting resources such as YouTube and EasyVideoProducer.

This is a great reminder that Social Networks are just that… a place to “Socialize” and meet new people, build new relationships and make new connections.

Social Networks are a place for you to share your thoughts, ideas and attract like minded people who will naturally want to do business with you.

Remember that Social networks are a big resource of people, people who may be interested in what you do, be it socially or in business.

Make some friends, get to know people, ask questions, offer solutions.

Social Media Networks can offer you a boost to your personal and business life!…

The Most Important Features Of An Extreme Gaming PC System

People who play video games using their computers, might experience bad graphics or lag times if the components do not meet the requirements of new games. An extreme gaming PC will be designed to handle the type of graphics and fast paced action these games have. These units can be found as ready made items as well as custom designed machines. The key features, gamers want to look for when buying this type of system will include the following:

A Fast Processor

The processor speed determines how fast the machine can load various programs. A ready made system can have a 3.4GHz processor designed with the new i7 technology. While other parts of a computer can be upgraded to make it perform better, the processor is not usually a standard part for upgrading.

A 3D Graphics Card

Next to the speed of a extreme gaming PC, the graphics card is the single most important feature of the machine. The two most commonly found brands include ATI Radeon and NVIDIA GeForce. These cards are issued periodically to keep up with the changing demands of video graphics. There are a number of informative websites that provide comprehensive listings for the various models and rate them on how well they perform.

A graphics card is not automatically included in a computer system. There are some desk tops which have chipsets installed instead of cards. Even though a video game might have the chipset listed as something it can run with, the game play will not be as fast paced or graphically intense as what the cards can provide. The main reason for this difference is the amount of RAM memory the chips need to pull from the system to create the images. Cards come with their own amounts of memory so this is not an issue for them.

RAM Memory

While a lot of people might think having a big hard drive is important, it is also important to have a lot of RAM memory. While the graphic cards do come with a certain amount of running memory, the system does still use a percent of the installed RAM to run the program. An extreme gaming PC such as the Titanium Gamer T19082 unit comes with 16GB RAM and 2TB hard drive space.

A Cooling Fan

A PC designed specifically for gaming will come with a fan designed to keep the internal parts cool. Graphic cards and chips can become very hot when used for several hours. If they are not properly cooled, the game can freeze or the system can shut down, which will render the machine useless until it cools off.…

Know Your Audience for More Social Media Traffic

Social traffic is going to be more important in the coming years. The vast majority of online marketing experts know that social networking sites are the foundation of traffic, and it’s only going to get more important from here on out. If you’re looking to get more social media traffic for your blog, product or website you need to keep your audience interested and involved. Knowing your audience is the key to social media success.

What interests your audience?

Social media is all about connections. Your Tweets and Facebook updates are nested in with your audience’s best friend, their family members and their other interests. In order for your content to stand out, you have to speak directly to what interests them. You’re already halfway there – they are following you. But if you want them to comment, retweet or click on your links, you’ll have to do more than talk about your company and yourself.

It all starts with understanding their interests. Your audience didn’t join your Facebook group on weight loss in order to be sold to time and time again. They want information on weight loss – from tips to recipes to insights. They want to see information on a regular basis from you about these topics – not about your product.

So ask yourself – what interests your audience? What do they want to know? If you can pinpoint these topics, you’ll be able to create content that really speaks to them.

Making the most of your social media content

Once you’ve determined what your audience is interested in, you can use a variety of different ways to create and display your social media content. One of the great things about social media is that it can take many different forms. You’re no longer limited to standard sized blog posts or articles. You can create tweets, have graphics made, use video content and more to attract attention on the social networks. Here are just of few of the ways you can make the most of social media content:

Create a survey – Since it is all about interaction, surveys are a natural fit. The survey serves double duty. It allows you to interact with your audience, but it also gives you valuable information about your market that you can use later on.

Create a series of quick tips – Quick tips are great for social media marketing because they are bite sized chunks of information that can be used by your audience right away. Have a series of 10 to 20 tips that you can use as Tweets and status updates to interact with your followers.

Use multimedia – Graphics and videos are a lot more eye-catching than written content. Try to look for ways to express the information through multi-media and you’ll see an increased response to what you have to offer.

By keeping your audience in mind and focusing on creating interesting social media content, you …

Some Ideas On Creating A Facebook Application

Many are left wondering how to create Facebook applications that users will want. How to sell any product is something every inventor faces. Before creating a project, it is important to know that there is a market for it. Designing products for social media is easy once you know what to design. Here are some ideas on creating a Facebook application, social media tips.

When designing any product, it is important to know who you are designing for. Social media users come from the young to middle age bracket. This website is used for socializing and interacting with friends. Users play with applications to enhance their socialization experience. The goal in designing a product would be to meet these needs.

People use social media websites to update others on their status. Many find this is useful in keeping in contact with people in other states. Others may find that they like the attention a status gets. After all, a post captures the attention of an audience in a way that cannot be met in real life. Users can have a direct effect on over a 100 people at a time. The forum allows for individuals to respond back, creating a conversation. A good product will create something for the individual to provide entertainment for his or her friends.

Ideally, the right application in this forum will allow users to build upon something that is unique to him or her. Popular products include ones that individualize the user experience. For example, one app may create a memento form all the years status updates, while another may individualize the user picture. In each case, the user is creating something that will add to his or her profile.

A good app will have something that the user can build upon. Popular games on social media websites all build something that the user can use with their friends. Building something is a great way to ensure repeated use of an app.

Lastly, you want an app that you will use. If you visit Facebook and wish you had this app, then you should be creating it.

Many people wonder how to create an app that will work well on Facebook. It is simple to design a good app. Just remember to make it something that will socialize each user. Make it something that the user can share with others. Make it something that will build upon the user experience and make it something that can be used again. Lastly, make sure it is something you would use.…

Why Bringing The TimeSplitters Series To Next Generation Consoles Is A Good Idea

As a series, TimeSplitters used to be one of the greats. Gamers would gather together after school and sit for hours doing nothing but playing Arcade mode on TimeSplitters 2, simply because the game gave them the opportunity to have more than only two of four people playing on the screen at one time. This ability came from the ‘bots’ the game allowed players to insert into multiplayer games, to be held by themselves or with other players.

Since the release of the third game in the series, TimeSplitters Future Perfect, no game has given its players the ability to play against ‘bots’ in an in-game mode such as the Arcade or Challenge modes from this set of games. Today, game developers are only concerned about the multiplayer mode of their games, when it comes to encouraging gamers to play the game again, after they’ve played the story campaign through a couple of times.

Recently, a petition has been spread across the Internet around the world and through social networks several times over. The petition required signatures to show how many people would purchase a TimeSplitters HD Collection if the developers who bought out Free Radical, original creators of TimeSplitters, Crytek, made and released one. The reason the developers needed the petition is they couldn’t otherwise justify to those with decision making powers that releasing a TimeSplitters HD Collection is a lucrative business idea.

Sadly the petition seems to have failed for two main reasons, the first of which is that the only players who would purchase a TimeSplitters HD Collection are those who are older than most game developer’s target markets. The second reason the petition seems to have failed, is that gamers of the modern market, the ones developers want to appeal to, are more interested in games with already established, strong multiplayer modes, with several games behind them showing exactly the same, such as the Call Of Duty Series.

Unfortunately the developers, Crytek, would not be able to justify such a huge project, which turning three games into a single HD Collection is, without evidence that the game would receive enough per-orders and sales to turn a profit for the company. On a personal note, I remember playing all three of these games with my friends fondly, and would even pay extra for a collector’s edition, but I completely respect the decision not to remake these games in HD whilst there is no solid evidence they will make the developers money.

Sadly it seems as though the games developers of today won’t remake the brilliant TimeSplitters series for current generation consoles such as the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. However, the fact that Crytek were willing to give people a chance to have the series rekindled shows a willingness to invest in it in the future. By this I mean that Crytek is likely to develop an entirely new game, TimeSplitters 4 for the …