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e_Marketing Blog Free Blog or Your Own Domain? Once you've decided to create your own blog, the first question you have to address is whether you want your blog to be hosted on your own web hosting account or be part of an already established site like wordpress.com, blogger.com, or one of the many other free blogging sites. If you use one of the free "hosted" blogging sites (Wordpress.com, Blogger.com, LiveJournal.com, Blog.com, and many more) you can create a brand new blog in about 15 minutes. When you choose this option you become part of a larger site such as wordpress.com and your address will be something like http://yourtownrealestate.wordpress.com or http://yourtownmoneymanager.blogspot.com The advantage of this approach is that it is fast and cheap. Plus you will get some traction and search engine exposure for your blog because it will be part of a much larger network that gets crawled by the search engines on a regular basis. But in my estimation, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. 2009 Will Be Pivotal for Microsoft 2008 has not been the greatest year for Microsoft, but they have still done surprisingly well in spite of the economic slowdown around the world. In an article from PCWorld called Microsoft's Top Three 2008 Mistakes, Shane O'Neill of CIO.com discusses some of the things that went well for MS, and some that clearly did not. In spite of aggressive marketing by Apple, Mac sales fell 1 percent over the year and Windows PC sales were up 7 percent. Microsoft's grip on the PC market remained firm - with 90% of users running Windows, and 70% of internet browsers using Internet Explorer. One has to think that the bad press MS keeps getting will have to impact these market shares eventually. Although it sure seems like both Apple and Firefox do not understand that their elitist attitude ("we're so much better and smarter than the other 90% of you") is an implicit criticism of the very customer they are trying to reach. 2009 will be a pivotal year for MS as they continue to try to beat off Apple, Google and Mozilla (Firefox). According to the PC Word article Microsoft's biggest mistakes for 2008 were: 1. Poor marketing of Windows Vista - They've been letting Apple get away with bashing Vista for years now. It's just not as bas as the critics say it is, and MS's own lack of promotion reinforces the idea that the critics are right. 2. Letting Apple Build Anti-Vista Momentum - Even though the sales figures may not yet show it in a convincing way, Apple has taken the marketing game away from MS with their constant Vista-bashing. MS has not shown that it can adequately respond. Expensive ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld missed the mark. Just recently I saw an ad touting the unique features of Vista in a straight-ahead way. It's about time. 3. The Failed Yahoo Bid - Early in 08 the bid for Yahoo looked like it might be a case of two search losers getting together. The failure of the bid did nothing for MS's image as a "winner" or a company forging into the future. As it turned out it was probably good for MS that Yahoo rejected their offer. Now Yahoo is worth a fraction of what MS offered, Jerry Yang, the big Yahoo opponent of the bid is gone, and new Yahoo investors are now courting MS. MS is still interested in Yahoo's search business, and may very well end up with it in 2009. Squidoo New Look Squidoo seems to have a new edit and publish interface. I've always found it a bit clunky in the past, but now it seems quite a bit easier to add modules. The process makes more sense to me. I just created a lense about Car Repair for a client. |
EasyTrainerOnline.com is about online training - basic training courses, articles and demos of online technology that is used for training. Sources for corporate and institutional training programs.Online learning, online education resources. Tricks of the Trade: Design your Booth for Maximum ImpactApr 19, 2006 - Linknet Business News Apr 19, 2006 - Linknet Business - Tricks of the Trade: Design your Booth for Maximum Impact, by Patty Stripes, The Trade Show Booth The fight for your customer's attention at a tradeshow has never been so intense. Budget cutbacks in the travel sector means that buyers spend less time than ever at shows. To make the most of their time, they pre-plan their agendas and do their best to stick to them. The rules of the game are forever changed. == Awesome Trade Show Graphics | Full Color Vinyl Banners - Across North America == Since so many buyers are on a tight schedule - frequently, they're only at the show for a day - they're no longer there to window shop or go bargain hunting. The good news is that they're there to "buy" - the bad news is that if you're not on their A-list, you may not get the chance to pitch them. But a well-designed tradeshow booth can change their minds - with the right presentation, you can make sure they "see" you, whether they planned to or not. Think Outside the Booth When designing your booth it's important to think about the impression you make from a distance. Focus on distance viewing first, keeping in mind that at an actual tradeshow, there will lots of distractions between your potential customer and your display. Make sure your lettering is big enough to read from a distance and place it the upper half of your display that people standing in front of the booth won't block it! Pay special attention to lighting and color as these two features contribute significantly to the overall image you convey. What's Your Sign? Nothing is more important than your signage and there are several key elements you should to incorporate it into your design. First, your sign's lettering must be distinguishable from its surroundings. Make sure your text is large enough to be read from a distance and place it over a plain background - a textured background can add interest, but it interferes with readability. It's not a good tradeoff. If space is an issue and you don't have room for lettering as large as you'd like, use light-colored letters against a dark background. The contrast will make the lettering appear larger and viewers will find it easier to read. Adding a border helps focus attention and helps the viewer read it faster. Use an accent color to present the information you want your customer to retain. Studies show that the use of a second color for key words increases the reader's retention of that information by a whopping 78%. That's a huge advantage in your fight to catch the buyer's eye. What's your story? Storyboards have always been an effective tool for conveying the most information in the least amount of time. The tradeshow version of this depicts 10 to 15 photographs of people using your product or service. This is an incredibly powerful way of conveying your message, even if your booth is unattended. The photos give your product a credibility that mere words wouldn't and ideally, will prompt anyone looking at them to seek out a salesperson to find out more. When selecting the photos to use, be cognizant of the message you want to convey and choose wisely - the average viewing time of the entire wall will be around two minutes. As with anything, a little preparation goes a long way, and this is especially true when it comes to trade shows. But a little "sleight of hand" never hurts either. Take advantage of the tricks of the trade to convey your message, and you'll be well on your way to a stand out show. Patty Stripes is an editor for The Trade Show Booth, an online resource where she has posted various articles about improving your trade show booth performance and getting creative with trade show displays. Article source - Trade Show Tips
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