Latest Ask An Expert Articles http://www.inafind.com/ Articles at Free Article Directory | Submit your Article for Free on Inafind en-us The Prevalence Of Live Web Cast http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/the-prevalence-of-live-web-cast.html http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/the-prevalence-of-live-web-cast.html Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:04:21 -0500 A web cast is purely a relay over the internet. The term was coined in the 1990s when the internet first progressed to take over the lives of persons throughout the world. Today a live webcast is there just about in every place you look on the internet. Most news outlets are now using video to report their news stories in its place of print. If you want a live webcast network, it is comparatively easy to do. You can merely get a digital camcorder and film your internet webcast. Then you can download the video into the computer and even exhibit it free on areas like You Tube as well as a number of other outlets. You can even use a free web casting to encourage a product or conduct an online seminar. Some people use this technology to educate a class. More and more colleges are using this technology to educate definite classes so that students can learn from their computers. This is the wave of the future and as camcorder prices have reached an all time low down, as have computers, we can expect additional video stars to come out of the woodwork.

In order to create a live web cast, you primarily need a script. You should also perform the script several times before filming. You want to make certain that it looks professional. While you may not desire to look stiff and rehearsed, you also do not want to be doubtful over words with "uh" and "um" every few seconds because it will turn off a viewer. You should have the camera on a tripod or some other still area. Someone holding it and filming you is going to give you insecure images and make your viewers faint. The camera should be motionless. Backgrounds should be nonaligned and background noise non existent. There are sound stages that you can hire or you can make your own. You want the webcast to look expert. Unless it is part of the video, noise and other distractions should be avoided. Get yourself some good video editing software. This can help you really get rid of any sound or any other problems with the video. Video editing software is a necessity if you are going to do your own live web casts in the future. You will get back the cost of the software in no time flat, especially if you are paying someone to edit your film.

Live Expert Broadcasts can be used just about anyplace on the internet. Anyplace you can put text, you can put film. You can exploit it on your website to advance your product, you can put it on free video sites such as YouTube for self promotion or you can also use it as an instruction tool. It stores like text and is trouble-free to use. Video editing software is not costly and is, for the most part, user friendly. You no longer have to be a computer expert to live webcast on the internet. And there are so many different things you can use the videos to encourage, even yourself. Just get your script prepared and away you go.

 

]]> How To Make Your Catalogs Perfect For A Quick Read http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/how-to-make-your-catalogs-perfect-for-a-quick-read.html http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/how-to-make-your-catalogs-perfect-for-a-quick-read.html Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:52:42 -0500
The first thing you should try is to put the section titles of your content on the cover. It is more like putting a brief table of content in front to give people fast facts about the contents of your print catalog. Apparently, it is the cover that people see first when looking for catalogs. Apart from the remarkable image and design on the cover, it is also wise to creatively incorporate section or article titles on the façade of your print catalog. This makes it a little similar to the cover of an arty magazine. The good thing about this is that you give your readers a chance to know at once the things they can find inside your catalogs. Once they find what they are looking for, they can instantly and conveniently proceed to that page. So this is indeed one way of making your print catalog ideal for a quick read.

Another trick you might want to consider is using several images of each product in your print catalog. There are actually a lot of people who want to see a product in different angles. For them, it is quite similar to holding the product in their hand and inspecting it thoroughly. They would want to carefully study the product and know how they can be used in several ways. Hence, it is important that you present your product in your print catalog by using a variety of images. Try to have a image taken at the front, back and side and probably “in action” so people will appreciate the product more. This will definitely help your readers decide if they need your product or not.

You might also want to include people in your print catalog as endorsers of your products. Try to have models in all your images to boost your catalog’s convincing power. For instance, use an image of a popular personality holding and using your product. This will help your readers easily visualize or picture themselves using the product as well. That is how you make your print catalog a more persuasive tool. So as much as possible, take shots of models promoting your product and have these images adore your catalogs. Definitely, people will find it easier and more convenient to leaf through your print catalog and understand your marketing message.
 
Another thing you should keep in mind --- it is crucial to print catalogs in full color. This one is not an option; it is a must. Always have your catalogs with all its text and images published in full color. People love looking at and browsing through colorful and vibrant reading materials. Those printed in black and white are oftentimes set aside when a colorful catalog is in sight. So make it a point to print in full color or do not bother to print at all.
These are just three pointers that can guide you in making your print catalog best for browsing. Next time you print your catalogs, try doing all these and you will surely gain appreciation from your target readers. ]]> Maximizing Potential of Your Website http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/maximizing-potential-of-your-website.html http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/maximizing-potential-of-your-website.html Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:58:38 -0500
First, it is important that you have some sort of measurement. If you have a website you should have a way to measure traffic to your website. It is important to know how many visitors go to your website to give you an indication of how hot or cold your product is. For instance, if you have a print online business, it would be good to have a counter that would give you a number of unique visitors. The numbers that will be generated by some type of metrics or analytic application on your website can help you decide how you can improve the site or how to deliver content in a different way.
 
Second, with Blackberries or smartphones, it is important to know how your website will look like in a mobile device – if it is even accessible. You must remember though that a website with graphics and images will take longer to download on smartphones. If you have a website which is heavy with graphics, you run the risk of being cancelled out by your customers. Remember that those who often use mobile devices to transact business would be the type of people who are always in a rush.

Also, it would pay to know that Flash animation may not work on some phones. However, you do not have to sacrifice these features on your full-size website if that is where most of your customers are coming from. But you may also want to consider developing an alternative style for clients on mobile devices. You do this by asking your developer to create a style for the mobile web browser or for the screen size of mobile devices.  It is like asking your web developers to customize your site according to the browser or screen size of most mobile devices. This is no different from asking your favorite print online company for custom printing.

Consider also the fact that some websites are designed and developed to work on some types of computer screen. This is important because your prospects might like to print your pages or articles for reference. For instance, customers accessing a print online business might want to download templates or print samples of custom printing, etc.  This printer-friendly feature of your website is an extra facet that you can request from your web developers for a minimal fee. This feature should be activated when customers hit the print icon on your web page.

Finally, consider the look and style of your website. Before you ask web developers to design your site, you must have an idea of who your target audience will be. Business is about telling your customers that your business understands and is flexible to your prospects’ needs. This character of your business must be evident to all your prospects. You can do this by manipulating some items in your website. For instance, provide your users with a feature so that they can either increase or decrease the font size to make reading content easier for your visitors. 

What is important is for your website to empower your visitors to give them the manner that they prefer to view your site. ]]> Remove Some of the Hard Work in Booklet Printing and Design http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/remove-some-of-the-hard-work-in-booklet-printing-and-design.html http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/remove-some-of-the-hard-work-in-booklet-printing-and-design.html Tue, 13 Jul 2010 05:44:41 -0500 • Outline your sections/chapters well – To avoid the hardship of continuous editing and reformatting of content, one good habit that you should always remember is to outline your sections and chapters well. By preparing the whole outline at the start, your flow of content and layout should be easier. You can work on each part of your booklet one by one, without fear of having to backtrack and re-edit entire sections. The whole work process in booklet design and booklet printing should flow easier with less stress on you. So make sure you organize your layout and outline the order of your sections and chapters well.

• Use booklet templates for easier formatting and design – Another good practice that should help remove a lot of hard work for you in designing booklets is to always use a template. Booklet templates will allow you to format and design your layouts easier because a lot of the standard settings are already decided by the template. You won’t need to go to the trouble of setting dimensions, margins, printing bleeds, header/footer areas etc. Everything standard is decided by the template, helping you get to the more important stuff of creating custom booklets. So if you want an easier time designing and printing booklets, using booklet templates is a must for you.

• Use booklet formatting features in software – You should also be aware that a lot of desktop publishing applications today have special booklet formatting features that help you layout and design color booklets easily. They already have automatic styles for chapter titles, headings etc. and also most provide functionality for dealing with the “left” and “right” oriented pages in a booklet. Just look through your application’s features and see what they can help you with in printing booklets. Software like Adobe InDesign and Microsoft publisher are just some examples of great applications with formatting features that you can exploit for booklet printing.

• Write your text content first before formatting – It is also great practice to always write your text content first before formatting a booklet design. Writing the content first, means you can focus on the style and accuracy of the content before the layout begins. This makes sure that the content itself is already perfect with a fixed length ideal for easy custom booklet design. You just need to insert the content and format it accordingly for the color booklet design. No need to continuously adjust the layouts as you write the content.

• Edit and scale your images first before formatting – As for images, a good habit to remember to take out the hardship of designing color booklets is to edit and scale your images first before formatting. Much like the text habit above, it is good to have images that are already ready for printing once you start the booklet layout. Not only does this help you make the work flow faster, but it also gives you time to refine the images with the precise image quality that you want, without having to lose your focus on other things. So when possible, try to edit and scale your images first before starting the overall design.

Great! Don’t suffer those hardships in booklet printing anymore! Follow the habits and tricks above and a lot of the big tasks you have in printing booklets should be easier. ]]> Creating A Powerful Corporate Brand http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/creating-a-powerful-corporate-brand.html http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/creating-a-powerful-corporate-brand.html Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:11:27 -0500
The underlining principle of this discipline is simply this: if it touches the customer, it’s a marketing issue. Nothing touches the customer more than how he or she perceives your corporate image. This fundamental perception will be the major factor that
determines whether the customer will decide to conduct business with you and, more importantly, enter into a long-term and mutually rewarding relationship with your organization.

There may be no greater marketing issue than corporate image management in today’s increasingly competitive markets. In short, corporate image management will be a key
marketing discipline well into the next century. The ultimate battleground for winning and maintaining customer relationships now takes place in the minds, hearts, emotions
and perceptions of the customers. Developing a powerful corporate brand is a circular, continuous, five-phase process that
can be applied at any stage of an organization's development. Unfortunately, the process is usually marketed as a one-off "corporate identity exercise" which CEO s resort to at
times of turmoil, during periods of sweeping change, or when they desire to leave their mark on the organization for future generations.
Corporate image management should not be an occasional stimulus that prompts the senior management of the organization to regroup and analyze how to project the "best"
image for the organization. It should not be a sporadic or irregular process of rethinking key issues facing the company, and then packaging a plan of action items bundled under
an inflated "mission statement" that gets communicated to the people in the organization.

It should definitely not be a series of temporary measures that are reactions to market conditions that do not change the primary value systems or conduct of the organization.
When organizations start to think "our customers just don’t get it," or "if they really knew and understood us, they’d want to be our partner," the organization has a corporate image
perception problem that is not necessarily going to be fixed through marketing communications. Most likely, the problem requires internal procedures and behavior
patterns to change and be communicated through action, not via a media campaign. The consultants who come in and tell you that senior management needs to take time
away from their busy schedules to participate in a short-term corporate identity exercise are wrong. This leads to the attitude that the corporate image can be fixed through an
assigned task force that will tell the rest of the organization what and how to communicate the corporate identity.

Corporate brand management should be the driving force for a continuous process of thinking and evaluation on how the organization can leverage its strengths and its
corporate persona to evolve into the kind of organization it desires to be. It is the constant need for self-understanding and systemic feedback from employees,
customers, stakeholders and the market place that is at the heart of an authentic corporate image management process. It is also a never-ending process that must be integrated into all aspects of the organization.

The five phases of the corporate image management process are:
• Preliminary Audit, Research and Evaluation
• Analysis, Strategy, Planning and Development
• Creative Exploration
• Refinement and Implementation
• Monitoring, Managing and Marketing of the Corporate Image

This corporate image management process helps to ensure that channels of communications within the organization, and with all appropriate external audiences, are
both fluid and multi directional. Such fluidity helps to prevent miscommunication and better ensures that the organization has a conscious and collective finger on the pulse of
evolving market forces, marketing environment trends, changing customer needs and desires, and relationship development and maintenance requirements.
Internally, the multi-directional and cross-organizational communications result in almost everyone within the organization understanding and accepting the collective goals and
knowing the importance of the path being embarked upon by the organization. This becomes crucially important when the organization begins to include partnering and
external partnerships as part of its future growth strategy. The objective of the corporate brand management process is to provide the organization,
on an on-going basis, with a cohesive corporate image management structure, corporate culture and a set of acceptable internal and external behavioral patterns. A powerful
corporate brand will provide optimum competitive advantages, increased employee  morale and loyalty, and a future direction for the organization.

A Qualitative Process
Part of the initial process to developing a powerful corporate brand comprises qualitative  interviews with internal and external audiences. The internal interviews are conducted at
all levels of the organization, from front line staff and backroom support personnel to  senior management and the Board of Directors. The interviews with external audiences
will include key customers, end users, joint venture or other business partners,  shareholders or other stakeholders, suppliers, distributors, retailers, prospective customers
and partners, government officials, senior media people and other outside influences,  competitors, and members of the general public.

The interviews focus on how the organization is currently perceived by these key audiences and what perceptions are held about the company’s directions for the future
and its capabilities to handle or execute change. The objective is to gain an understanding of the market’s perception of the organization by its customers, partners and competition,
and to contrast these perceptions with those held by various levels its own employee and management staff. Another aim is to identify the organization internal willingness and current acceptance levels for change.

While this research is qualitative in nature, the issues to be examined and discussed  during the interview process are highly strategic in nature. The benefit of the one-on-one
qualitative interview methodology is that it allows each respondent to focus on those points that are of the greatest importance to him or her. Due to the extreme sensitivity of
the topics to be covered during the discussions, an outside resource is definitely required to handle and analyze these interviews. Also, the outside resource must completely ensure
the confidentiality of each participant and in no way reveal to the client any details or particulars about which comments came from any individual.

The number of interviews required for this process to be effective is usually a minimum of between 25 and 40, depending upon the size and complexity of the organization. It is
best if the interviews are conducted by two or more researchers or consultants, who then  compare notes at the one-third point to see if any trends are already developing or if the
questionnaire needs adjusting. This methodology will yield a tremendous insight into the present corporate image of the
organization, as perceived both internally and externally. Because of the open-ended nature of the specific questions used, the feedback can be readily interpreted into specific
observations and recommendations that can be actioned later in the corporate image  management process.

The interview process answers these key questions:

• how is the corporate image being portrayed and projected today?
• how is the organization perceived by its key internal and external audiences?
• how does the image of the organization compare with those of its competitors?
• how does the image of the organization compare to the image desired by
management?
• will the current corporate image enable the organization to reach the goals and
objectives set for it over the next three to five years?

By starting the corporate brand development process with a review of the existing corporate brand perceptions, the organization has a clear view and understanding of
where it is today, an important criterion when trying to decide how one wants to be  perceived in the foreseeable future.
From here, it is a matter of relatively simple steps to create a well-defined corporate  brand positioning platform that is supported by the core attributes of the organization and a series of strategic image marketing objectives that will help to guide future business
directions and brand development. Your corporate brand image needs to be thoroughly thought out, planned, nurtured, executed, monitored and, when necessary, modified. It’s the organization's most valuable commodity and deserves to always be treated as such. ]]> It's not just for kids and geeks - Twitter is good for business too! http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/its-not-just-for-kids-and-geeks-twitter-is-good-for-business-too.html http://www.inafind.com/business/ask-an-expert/its-not-just-for-kids-and-geeks-twitter-is-good-for-business-too.html Fri, 08 May 2009 05:00:38 -0500 5 types of business that should be using Twitter

They’re all talking about it - the online phenomenon for 2009. Forget Google, forget Facebook and don’t even mention Yell.com - Twitter is where it’s at this year!

Founded in 2006 as a way to let fellow members know “what you are doing”, Twitter has expanded way beyond its founders wildest dreams.

2009 is the year Twitter has become more “mainstream”. This has been helped by celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Ashton Kutcher and Jonathan Ross espousing its virtues but also by the number of businesses out there realising the marketing and promotional capabilities of Twitter.

However it’s usually when I talk to potential clients about using Twitter as part of their social media marketing, I hear:

“It’s just for kids and geeks”

“Only IT and Marketing bods make money from it”

and other such comments.

With this in mind, here are a random 5 industries, each with 5 ways they could use Twitter to promote their business:

1) HOTELS

Twitter is fast paced, instant communication, ideal for the hotel & hospitality industry.

Hotels could:

- Communicate last minute offers
- Use Twitpic to show pictures of rooms
- Post customer testimonials
- Request feedback from guests

DM Bonus - If your guests have Twitter, why not DM them a special Twitter code if they eat dinner in the hotel?

2) PHOTOGRAPHERS

While Twitter is seen mainly as a textual medium, it can be visual too.

Photographers, why not:

- Use Twitpic to post a “picture of the day”
- Tweet about the photo shoot you’re doing today, so people get a feel for your scope
- Post links to your blog/website
- Use TwTQpon to offer free studio time (specify purchase of X photos)
- Ask satisfied customers to retweet the link to their pic(s) in your portfolio

DM Bonus - If your customers are on Twitter, DM them the link to thier pictures on your password protected server, or private group on Flickr/Facebook etc.

3)ASTROLOGIST

It’s not always easy to get people to sign up to a mailing list on a website if you’re in a very niche industry, but it’s a lot easier to get followers on Twitter.

- Use Hootsuite to run 12 daily horoscope accounts - one for each star sign
- Post details of astrologically important days/dates/events
- Offer a free reading for every 50th follower - ask people to retweet
- Post testimonials from satisfied clients
- Post celebrity horoscopes on a weekly basis

DM Bonus - Offer free 140 character descriptions of each star sign - have them ready to cut and paste. Offer them by DM only. (People have to follow you to get DM’s)

4) HOLIDAY RESORT/GUESTHOUSE

If SEO is too competitive and too costly, try Twitter - the only cost is your time, and even that can be minimal!

- Use 12 second TV to post short video testimonials filmed on an iPhone or similar
- Use Twitpic to post pictures of your resort
- Post about local traditions/holidays/etc
- Tweet last minute special offers/prices
- Use TwtQpon to offer money off local/on site restaurants/bars

DM Bonus - Guests on Twitter? DM them to let them know they can check in.

5) SPEAKERS

It might be written communication, but I know a few speakers doing very well from Twitter, so if you’re a speaker, why not:

- Post links to audio files of you speaking
- Autofeed your calender/blog into your Twitter account so people know where you’re speaking
- Post a “tip of the day” each day, related to your speciality
- Use 12 second TV to post short clips of you speaking then link to the longer version on youtube/your website
- Use Twitter search to find people talking about your speciality/niche - ask them if they can introduce you to people wanting speakers

DM Bonus - Offer a free ebook / whitepaper / mention on your website by DM only. The only way to get it is to follow you so you can DM them.

So there you have it - 5 types of business that should be using Twitter, and 5 things they can use it for.

Nikki Pilkington is author of TweetMentor from NikkiPilkington.com,  a 100 day hand holding support system to help you through the Twitter maze ]]>