Blog

  • Finding and Keeping Outsourcers

    If you are looking for a long-term outsourcing solution, then the best way to do that is to find one good worker and continue working with them on your future assignments. Even though it seems simple, when you go into the nitty-gritty of employing freelancing outsource professionals, you will find that it is a difficult job. You need a lot of things – commitment, devotion, quality, ingenuity, good price, etc. It is not always that you will hit the jackpot when you are looking at getting work from someone whom you have never met and probably know nothing about their geographical or social position.

    That is the reason why once you get a good person to do your job, you must go all out to retain him or her on your outsourcing payroll.

    How do you do that? There are three important Rs to remember here.

    Ratings

    Once a particular assignment is over, you get a chance to rate the professional. This is usually a ten-star rating system on most freelance websites, while even some forums have this system. Don’t forget to rate the employee for their good work. For you, it is more important to rate people for their good work than for their bad work. You won’t work again with someone who has ruined your project anyway. But when someone does a good job and you commend that with a good rating, they will be happy and inspired to work with you again.

    Reviews

    Reviews work in the same way as ratings. Only, these are much more elaborate because you say what you feel in words. You could be as upfront here as you like, and don’t hold back on mentioning something that you liked. For outsourcing professionals, both ratings and reviews mean a lot – it is akin to having outstanding achievements marked on the résumé of an offline professional.

    Relationships

    It is also a good idea to have a friendly and frank rapport with a professional who has done a good job for you. Remember that you probably need them more than they need you because there is no dearth of jobs for them. Being a little casual and non-imposing in your communication helps. However, at times, you might need to draw the line, but do so subtly as long as it helps.

  • Video Marketing Costs – Surprisingly Low

    If you are already advertising on the internet, you know the costs of having banners or pop up ads. Video advertising is not much more money and is twice as effective. If you do not believe this, check it out. You can try this for a month and see if you get more stats on the video ads or the banner ads. Most advertising engines agree that their customers profit get many more views on their video advertising than plain text or even photo advertising.

    Cost will depend on how you wish to use the video to market your business. If, for example, you simply want to use a video on your website, it will not cost anything. Just the uploading of the video into the website. If you want a more professional looking video for your website, there are plenty of companies out there that provide this service for much less than text advertising. You can have a slick ad or you can have one that is home made. Sometimes, the home made videos tend to stand out more.

    It will cost you slightly more to have your videos featured on other websites where you advertise. More than a banner ad or a line ad. But again, how much is your business worth to you? If you want to see how effective this media is, test it out.

    If you have a small business and want to advertise for free, there are plenty of places on the internet where you can post your videos. They will also give you stats on how many people have viewed your video. On some websites, the videos are rated.

    There are many professional companies that can help you out with video advertising. They can offer everything from creating the video, uploading onto the proper websites to even using it in e-mails to your clients. Many businesses keep a data base of their clients. If they don’t, they should. From time to time, they have sales or promotions and wish to contact their clients by e-mail. E-mail is very inexpensive. Actually, it is free. You can either hire a professional to e-mail your clients your advertising video or do it yourself to save even more money.

    Writers are gaining publicity for themselves by using videos on writing websites. They upload a video of themselves and talk about their work. This is an excellent way to get people to read your work, particularly if you are on a site that pays you for page views. You can do this in an interview format, or simply have someone film you talking about yourself. This is free.

    You can also promote yourself or your business on YouTube for free. Or MySpace. Camcorders have come down significantly in price. Many are around $100 or even cheaper. Each year, the price goes down and the quality goes up. They are easy to use and the contents can be uploaded to your computer with ease. Then all you have to do is decide where you want to “advertise.” If you are advertising a small business, your art, or even a political cause, you can put it on a site that offers free video uploading. When you compare the cost of video advertising on the internet to an actual commercial on television, you are talking apples and oranges. Video advertising is much cheaper and even small businesses can afford a professional agency that can take care of this for them.

    How many of you get e-mails from businesses that you have previously done business? Most of you do, I would suspect. Even if you clicked on their ad by some mistake, they will contact you via e-mail. As said previously in this chapter, e-mail is free.

    Now, imagine that you get an advertisement from a business that has a very funny video attached to it? You will be entertained and not forget about that business. It may even prompt you to take a look at their sale or new promotion.

    I saw one of the most effective and clever uses of advertising on the web recently. I was taking a look at shower filters. Instead of just a website, like most of them, that featured shower filters and explained the advantages of having one of these gadgets, this one had a scene from the movie “Psycho.” Yes, the shower scene. The caption was “Remember when the only thing you had to fear about the shower was….” and then it stopped. We saw the familiar scene of Janet Leigh in the shower and “Mother” coming through the door with the knife. It was clever, entertaining and certainly caught my attention. In fact, this was the company that I decided to purchase the shower filter from.

    How much did this ad cost them? A little more than a regular video ad. The film “Psycho” is not in the public domain so they had to pay synchronization rights to the producer to use this on their website. But synchronization rights on film, even the internet, are based upon seconds. They did not have to pay for the rights for the entire film, just a brief portion of the shower scene.

    If you have a clever imagination, you can film your own video that will attract attention to your project in the way that this shower filter company did. You can purchase synchronization rights from film producers if you want, or you can simply make up your own video. Also, be aware that many films made prior to 1962 lie within the public domain. This means that they are free to use. Clips can be obtained from all over the internet, or can be downloaded from your television or DVD player. You must make sure that the film is in the public domain, however. The way to do this is to check with the United States Copyright Office. There is also much information about which films lie within the public domain on the internet.

    No, it is not expensive to advertise using video on the internet, particularly if you are advertising on your own website or e-mailing your customers video advertisements. Just make sure that the advertisements are not too long or it may bore the customer, no matter how entertaining it may be. You do not want to go more than 30 seconds.

    If you decide to use an internet advertising agency, they can keep track of the amount of customers who view your video and make sure that they are placed in the proper venues.

    The cost is not that much more than banner ads and may be well worth it. Banner ads are sometimes clicked on by accident, giving false stats. A video ad, however, can be managed where the person has to click on to the “play” button to view it. Once they begin viewing, chances are that they will continue to do so. Either way, at least you will have an honest count of viewers when it comes time to pay Google or whoever you are using for your internet advertising. In a way, the difference in the quality of the views more than makes up for the price difference in advertising.

  • Promote Your Business To Thousands Of Gamers

    People love video games. Even those who shy away from considering themselves “gamers” enjoy a bit of gaming every now and then – all you need to do is go sit on public transportation for a couple of hours to see the masses of people playing Tetris on their cell phones. Even those who haven’t made the transition to the fancier smartphones likely know how to play the snake game on their cell phones and probably use it to wile away the empty minutes every now and then.

    A savvy marketer sees this and starts dreaming of the possibilities. Bored consumers in locations where they have nothing else to do but tinker with the video games programmed into their cell phones are a prime market to start dropping advertising hints to. The numbers also back up the simple observations – over one third of cell phone users play video games on their cell phones at least occasionally. With this in mind, it’s easy to realize that this is a gigantic portion of the population. In marketing terms, this is a gigantic portion of the population that could be looking at your advertisements.

    This is where the Advergame comes in. The name might be a little strange, but there’s nothing weird about how an advergame can help you get your marketing message across to an audience who often has nothing better to do than sit around and play your game. An advergame is exactly what it sounds like – a video game that’s been developed with your products in mind. Advergames come in all levels of complexity – one advergame might just be simple Tetris with an advertising banner across the top of the screen, while another company with a larger budget might develop an RPG type game that cleverly involves their products and services while offering the player a competitive gaming environment.

    Advergames are a great avenue to explore if you’re at all interested in using the very best of technology to get the message across to your consumers. You also don’t need to be very tech savvy in your own regard to get the ball started on advergame development – a simple search online will produce hundreds of companies who are willing to help you design your very own advergame. All you need to do is come up with the idea for it, and let the programmers take care of the rest. Even if you’re looking for a more complex advergame, there is likely a storyboard artist who works at advergame companies who would be more than happy to help you create an advergame of your very own.

    Remember, the more compelling your game, the more contact you’ll have with the customer since they’ll be inclined to play it longer. Come up with a compelling advergame and you could have potential customers interacting with your advertisements for hours!

  • Ebook Writing Essentials

    The hardest part of writing is the first sentence. When you look at the whole project, it seems like an impossible task. That’s why you have to break it down into manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain. You are standing at the foot of it and looking up at its summit vanishing into the clouds. How can you possibly scale such an immense and dangerous mountain?

    There is only one way to climb a mountain: step by step.

    Now think of writing your E-Book in the same light. You must create it step by step, and one day, you will take that last step and find yourself standing on the summit with your head in the clouds.

    The first thing you have to do, as if you actually were a mountain climber, is to get organized. Instead of climbing gear, however, you must organize your thoughts. There are some steps you should take before you begin. Once you’ve gone through the following list, you will be ready to actually begin writing your

    E-Book.

    Beginning Steps to Writing an E-Book

    First, figure out your E-Book’s working title. Jot down a few different titles, and eventually, you’ll find that one that will grow on you. Titles help you to focus your writing on your topic; they guide you in anticipating and answering your reader’s queries. Many non-fiction books also have subtitles. Aim for clarity in your titles, but cleverness always helps to sell books as long as it’s not too cute.

    Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is a sentence or two stating exactly what problem you are addressing and how your book will solve that problem. All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement. Once you’ve got your thesis statement fine-tuned, you’ve built your foundation. From that foundation, your book will grow, chapter by chapter.

    Your thesis will keep you focused while you write your E-Book. Remember: all chapters must support your thesis statement. If they don’t, they don’t belong in your book. For example, your thesis statement could read: We’ve all experienced insomnia at times in our lives, but there are twenty proven techniques and methods to give you back a good night’s sleep.

    Once you have your thesis, before you start to write, make sure there is a good reason to write your book. Ask yourself some questions:

    Does your book present useful information and is that information currently relevant?

    Will you book positively affect the lives of your readers?

    Is your book dynamic and will it keep the reader’s attention?

    Does you book answer questions that are meaningful and significant?

    If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feel confident about the potential of your E-Book.

    Another important step is to figure out who your target audience is. It is this group of people you will be writing to, and this group will dictate many elements of your book, such as style, tone, diction, and even length. Figure out the age range of your readers, their general gender, what they are most interested in, and even the socio-economic group they primarily come from. Are they people who read fashion magazines or book reviews? Do they write letters in longhand or spend hours every day online. The more you can pin down your target audience, the easier it will be to write your book for them.

    Next, make a list of the reasons you are writing your E-Book. Do you want to promote your business? Do you want to bring quality traffic to your website? Do you want to enhance your reputation?

    Then write down your goals in terms of publishing. Do you want to sell it as a product on your website, or do you want to offer it as a free gift for filling out a survey or for ordering a product? Do you want to use the chapters to create an e-course, or use your E-Book to attract affiliates around the world? The more you know upfront, the easier the actual writing will be.

    Decide on the format of your chapters. In non-fiction, keep the format from chapter to chapter fairly consistent. Perhaps you plan to use an introduction to your chapter topic, and then divide it into four subhead topics. Or you may plan to divide it into five parts, each one beginning with a relevant anecdote.

    How to make your E-Book “user friendly”

    You must figure out how to keep your writing engaging. Often anecdotes, testimonials, little stories, photos, graphs, advice, and tips will keep the reader turning the pages. Sidebars are useful for quick, accessible information, and they break up the density of the page.

    Write with a casual, conversational tone rather than a formal tone such as textbook diction. Reader’s respond to the feeling that you are having a conversation with them. Break up the length and structure of your sentences so you don’t hypnotize your readers into sleep. Sentences that are all the same length and structure tend to be a good aid for insomnia!

    Good writing takes practice. It takes lots and lots of practice. Make a schedule to write at least a page a day. Read books and magazines about the process of writing, and jot down tips that jump out at you. The art of writing is a lifetime process; the more you write (and read), the better your writing will become. The better your writing becomes, the bigger your sales figures.

    In an E-Book that is read on the screen, be aware that you must give your reader’s eye a break. You can do this by utilizing white space. In art classes, white space is usually referred to as “negative space.” Reader’s eyes need to rest in the cool white oasis you create on your page. If your page is too dense, your reader will quit out of it as soon as their eyes begin to tear.

    Make use of lists, both bulleted and numbered. This makes your information easy to absorb, and gives the reader a mental break from dissecting your paragraphs one after the other.

    Finally, decide on an easy-to-read design. Find a font that’s easy on the eyes, and stick to that font family. Using dozens of fonts will only tire your readers out before they’ve gotten past your introduction. Use at least one and a half line spacing, and text large enough to be read easily on the screen, but small enough so that the whole page can be seen on a computer screen. You will have to experiment with this to find the right combination.

    Of course, don’t forget to run a spell and grammar check. You are judged by something as minor as correct punctuation, so don’t mess up a great book by tossing out semicolons randomly, or stringing sentences together with commas. (By the way, that’s called a “comma splice.”)

    Last of all: create an index and a bibliography. That’s it! You’ve written a book! Now all you have to do is compile and publish your E-Book online, and wait for download request from your website visitors!

  • Benefits of Adult Social Networking

    Social networking is a great way to connect with people that you know personally and people that are customers or potential customers for your business. There are a number of different social networking sites on the internet and the main focus is for these websites to be safe for adult conversation. Adults can use networking websites to socialize with friends and family all over the world and they can also use it for business or marketing purposes. Social networking is the best way to connect with other individuals either for business or socially.

    When you are using social networking sites to connect with other people you need to have an idea of the sort of person that you want to connect with. So open up a document on your computer or just get out a piece of paper and write the characteristics and specific qualities that you are looking for in the people that you want to connect with.

    When you know what sort of person you want to connect with then you can create an account at the social networking and create your profile accordingly. You can post information about yourself in your profile and other members will be able to view this information.

    So when you want to connect with a certain type of person then you want to create your profile including information that would be of interest to the sort of person that you want to attract either personally or professionally. You want your profile to be personal and to describe characteristics about yourself that will match those characteristics in the people that you are trying to attract. For example, if you are looking to connect with people that are interested in art then you should include in your profile that you like art.

    If you are creating a profile to market your business you don’t want your whole profile to be about that business. You want to connect with your potential customers on a personal level first so leave any mention of your business until the end of your profile and even then only mention it briefly. When it comes to adult networking sites it is a good rule to get to know people personally first.

    Some networking sites will promote networking for business and these sites can be very good for business. When people look at your profile they are aware that you are there to market your business so if they are attracted to your profile then there is a lot of potential for them to be a future customer.

    You can also include a photo in your profile but if you do always have a photo that is professional. By having a photo in your profile you are reaching your customers on a personal level. You can also upload a video to your profile which can also be a very effective way of connecting with people on the network.

    Social networking websites really do have enormous potential for your business marketing if you use them correctly. Remember to reach out to your future customers on a personal level and build a relationship with them and your business can grow in leaps and bounds by using social networking websites.