Saturday

Market Opportunity Analysis


The business environment is changing rapidly and everybody wants a piece of the pie. Further, companies are fiercely competing for the greater piece of the pie by expanding aggressively beyond their current geographies, exploring virgin and new markets, forming joint ventures etc. You may discover that Global companies are offering better and cheaper products due to advantages of scale but on the other hand you may have built a level of dependence with your current market, you are losing on profit opportunities in other larger markets, you want to grow but your market is exhausted. Market Equations may have the answer to all these questions keeping you in touch with your market and helping you exploit any minute detail available.

Market opportunity analysis (MOA) is a systematic method for gathering and organizing information about a believed market opportunity. Cadotte and Harry Bruce, 2003) As the turbulent change of the marketing environment, it is more and more difficult to simply tell the market opportunity of a new venture. The need for a market opportunity analysis (MOA) is more demanding than before, especially for a new company. Cadotte and Harry Bruce, the Management of Strategy in the Marketplace
It is important for companies to evaluate opportunities so as to grow their business and to sustain in a competitive world where competitors don’t forget to trap opportunities available in market (termed as : Market opportunity Analysis MOA ).

Market Opportunity Analysis is a prime tool to determine attractiveness and probability of success in the growing market. It helps in understanding:

• If the opportunity can be articulated in order to benefit companies target market(s)
• Can cost-effective channels to reach the target market be figured out (cost effective media and various channels)
• Is the company internally capable of delivering what’s expected by customers
• What will the effect be on companies financial Return On Investment (ROI)

Goal Setting for Marketing


The scenario of a work from home business owner is absolutely different from one doing a job. It is quite obvious for a home based worker to get distracted with various chores through out the day. It can be phone calls coming in through out the day, getting distracted around with kids playing in the house, or just sitting back and watching your best TV show, or a phone call from a friend inviting you to buzz around, etc.

Knowing your goal and your audience is the basis of successful search engine marketing. Your goal should dictate everything - from content creation to link building you should always strive towards achieving that goal. It is real important to have a specific goal from the start. Although your goal for a site may change or evolve as time passes, having a goal will allow you to measure your success.
Here are some key steps you can follow to set better — and more attainable — goals.

1. Decide what it is you really want, and aim high. Don’t settle for what you think you can realistically achieve; choose a goal that you truly desire, something that ignites your passion. And don’t discount childhood dreams. In Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Paunch’s Last Lecture, he urges listeners to both achieve those dreams and enable the dreams of others. It’s great advice.

2. Keep it realistic. This doesn’t mean “easy to do”; it means doable. If you are 45 years old, you will never play starting quarterback for an NFL team no matter how hard you work. But heading up the marketing department of an NFL team? That’s within the realm of possibility.
3. Write it down. A goal that’s not recorded is just a wish. By writing down your goal, you make it concrete. And by looking at that written goal often, even daily, you keep it present in your mind — which can help you stick to your actions to support it.

4. Frame your goal as a positive aim, and record it in detail. Don’t just write “I’d like to leave my dead-end job.” Instead, write something like, “I will work as a financial manager for a Fortune 500 company, make six figures, and live in New York City.”

5. Think like an ant. Ants are determined; if you put a barrier in their path, they go under, over, or around it. Ants expect more from themselves than should be possible; just watch an ant hoist a stick 20 times its size. And they remain focused on what they’re doing until they succeed; when ants are working, they don’t arbitrarily stop or get distracted.

Keep your plan and your goal exactly near your computer so that you can view it often and keeps you focused on your goal. Read your plan and goal several times a day.

Customer relationship marketing



Customer relationships are key to your marketing strategy. Use these resources to learn why it is important and how you can improve the service you provide your customers and clients. Learn how to get your customers to listen by reaching them effectively. See how to leverage all your data collected to develop a complete picture of your customers. And execute on this information through a thought out marketing campaign with fewer resources and smaller budgets than ever before.

The traditional business model that was once the standard is now being transformed due to technology drivers that make advanced marketing and sales capabilities possible. The business model of yesterday supported mass marketing, mass production, and standardized cookie-cutter products and services.

Enterprises will have fall behind the competition if they continue to rely and operate on this substandard model. Today, companies are re-engineering their operations and investing in enhanced IT infrastructures, which enable them to provide customized, personalized, information-rich products and services.

The new objective for marketers and business developers involves understanding the needs of their clients and the markets that they serve. This new focus on providing customer value is redefining business processes. Professionals, who understand and anticipate this shift, are positioning themselves ahead of the competition.

The scope of this paper is to explore CRMs and how they improve the sales and marketing efforts within professional services firms. With that in mind, this paper will not provide an in-depth analysis of the customer service capabilities offered by CRMs. Marketing Capabilities of CRMs One of the key reasons that companies invest in CRMs is because they can provide an analysis of customer data that can result in an improvement in process or product. CRMs can achieve an improvement in marketing processes because they help enterprises identify and target their best customers.

The Marketing Practices Act


The Marketing Practices Act is very essential fact for marketing manager. more......

How marketing practices are changing


It's nothing new that the relationship between marketers and their potential customers can be a bit strained at times. Marketing can be quite important as a catalyst for change in general. It can swing marketplaces to a better product, bring awareness of new stuff, change attitudes and brand identities. It can decide elections and create entire industries.

Corporate marketing strategies, whether on the local or international level, are tied strongly to the macroeconomic environment such as government's fiscal and monetary policies. The importance of developing 'pro-position' and/or 'reposition' marketing strategies is stressed to compete aggressively in the 1990s. Several areas for research, which can augment marketing practices and knowledge, are also proposed.

Multimedia provides different means of communication and multiple touch points for your audience. Clearly, it is not a single execution, but rather a strategy that reinforces and enhances the brand experience by using a wealth of media opportunities to make the brand message pervasive and easy to recall.

This is an intensely practical rule-book designed to support and empower the individual manager — you — by offering a range of easy-to-implement rules which have already led to demonstrable success. These simple rules encapsulate the practical experience of some of the most expert marketers in the world. They are intended to help managers who have a less comprehensive knowledge of marketing than these experts, but the unique in-depth knowledge of the specific problems facing their own organization.

Market targeting is essential for marketing


Target marketing streamlines your strategies by determining a product or service's ideal market and pitching that market in a way that's more likely to appeal to those customers. Targeting a specific type of customer allows your company to: Plan marketing initiatives more effectively. Allocate marketing dollars more efficiently. Hone in on and eliminate sales tactics that aren't working.

It is not necessary to choose just one customer group. You may choose to target both businesses and individual consumers if it makes sense for your company. However, modifications may need to be made for your product or service if you choose to go this route. For example, the owner of a gift basket business may target mostly individual consumers as her main source of revenue, but have a secondary revenue stream from corporate customers. For the individual consumers, she may offer many customized options to satisfy their diverse tastes, and she would probably charge a higher price to ensure a good profit margin. For her corporate customers, she would likely offer more limited product line — at quantity discounts — to allow her to mass-produce the baskets for large orders.

Selecting a target market segment for a product rather than attempting to sell to the entire market can be a more efficient use of promotion dollars, because a greater market share can be achieved by capturing most or all of a segment via a carefully directed marketing plan that reaches precisely the right people with the right message than by trying to capture market share with a generic approach. It is also a better use of production resources if they can be concentrated on a single product and/or package, thus experiencing economies of scale. For example, a factory that only makes metal bed frames can operate with less equipment, expertise, and materials than a similar size company that makes metal bed frames, sofa beds, dining room tables, and office furniture.

Finally there is a multi-segment approach. Here a marketer will target a variety of different segments with a series of differentiated products. This is typical in the motor industry. Here there are a variety of products such as diesel, four-wheel-drive, sports saloons, and so on.

Friday

Quantitative marketing research



Quantitative marketing research is the application of quantitative research techniques to the field of marketing. It has roots in both the positivist view of the world, and the modern marketing viewpoint that marketing is an interactive process in which both the buyer and seller reach a satisfying agreement on the "four P's" of marketing: Product, Price, Place (location) and Promotion.
Quantitative market research studies are designed to assess, predict, and estimate buyer attitudes and behaviors, used for market sizing, market segmentation, and uncovering "drivers" for brand and product preference.
Quantitative marketing research designs gauge, describe, and forecast quantity. Using a range of sampling strategies, quantitative market research studies often project results of quantitative market surveys to the entire marketplace. Popular quantitative market survey methods include online surveys, personal quantitative interviews, mail surveys, intercept studies, and phone surveys. At Power Decisions Group, we recommend the data collection technique -- phone, personal interviews, online web interviews, mail -- according to the research objective, time requirements, and quality control issues at play.more...

Hypothesis on marketing


Though it’s often looked down on by consultant types, I’m a big proponent of planning, especially when it comes to web strategy and public relations. In mathematical terms, execution without a plan results in a vector that’s all magnitude and no direction - in other words, it takes a lot of energy to go nowhere. In many ways, marketing is part science, part creativity and a big of old-fashioned good luck. So, while planning is important, with all these variables, the danger is to get stuck in a plan that ends up taking you in the wrong direction when the world changes around you.

The goal of this phase is simply to build a logical argument that connects your problem statement to a comprehensible explanation of the market and the opportunities available to you, via the research data you have collected along the way. In other words, a good hypothesis takes your audience on a journey that begins with the problem statement and situation analysis, and proceeds to a clear view of actionable alternatives that will help your business and address the problem statement. Perhaps this seems obvious. It’s not. It’s difficult to simplify all the materials without losing the subtlety of different customer insights. If’s difficult to make trade offs, and more difficult to sell them internally to your stake-holders.more...

Thursday

SWOT analysis for marketing



SWOT is an abbreviation for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
SWOT analysis is an important tool for auditing the overall strategic position of a business and its environment. The SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool for understanding and decision-making for all sorts of situations in business and organizations. SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Information about the origins and inventors of SWOT analysis is below.

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More information

Experiences for the marketing/sales support


The experiences of the sales support and service people in an organization that will provide you with the context for how a future experience marketing campaign will look like. Listen carefully to the words they use to describe their experiences. They will most likely describe the experiences much better than any theoretical discussion could. These descriptions can easily be crafted into marketing stories, pitch lines, case studies, and even positioning statements.

As a client representative, you will be delivering our clients’ messages to their target market face to face. You will learn how to effectively explain our clients’ services, answer questions, and complete new customer registrations. We are willing to provide coaching and advice to new comers to the business world.

As with any new thinking there are plenty of definitions around. Most identify the customer experience as all the tangible touch points between the customer and the business. For example, the customer experience of booking a hotel would start when I see the advert in a national newspaper, continue when I phone to make a booking, include my stay at the hotel and end when I get home.

Sales Campaign Experience: It was important to me that the candidate had some experience in working with sales on sales campaigns. Market Research: Everyone seemed to have this. But, many could not spell out the steps they took in their research. Creativity: I needed some display of “out of the box” thinking. Something that would lead me to believe the candidate could lead us in new directions and challenge me in my thinking.

Wednesday

Knowing what everyone needs from market


No matter who you are or what you do, there's a common force that's driving that shapes your emotions and behavior. It determines how you live, the quality of life and ultimately your destiny.

What should you learn? Your school will try to teach you facts, which you’ll need to pass the test, but which are otherwise useless. In passing, you may learn some useful skills, like literacy, which you should cultivate. But Guy Kawasaki is right in at least this: schools won’t teach you the things you really need to learn in order to be successful, either in business (whether or not you choose to live life as a toady) or in life.

There are many ways that people find to meet these needs whether they are positive, negative or neutral ways. So knowing the keys to market to the human needs can set you apart in providing value to a customer even in the most competitive market niche and create a rabid

Look at how they market a high end car like a BMW. You are sold on just how great the engineering of the car and how its handling gives you unsurpassed confidence (CERTAINTY) in any condition on the road. Its safety features protect you (CERTAINTY) like none other. Its various controls, gadgets and funky designs allow you to change your experience (VARIETY) whilst you are driving. The name of a BMW says something about you being an owner and driver who is discerning (SIGNIFICANCE) and accords you with some stature. You will be part of a BMW Club (CONNECTION) where you get to meet other owners and go on driving trips or specially, exclusive invited events (SIGNIFICANCE).

Marketing vs. Selling


Marketing is something that we do to let people know what products we have to offer. Selling is something that we do to show people that the products we have to offer are of value to them.
Marketing is the same, but the targeted audience is different. However, product has larger reach prospective than a service. A service may confined to an area, where as, a product can be shipped in other cities. Unless, the service is internet based. As a service people are looking for history and recommendations. A product is based on performance and special needs.
More than a product campaign, selling a service definitely requires real clarity as to "how does the customer benefit." I think selling a product; one can sort of get away with explaining what the company delivers. A *good* marketing campaign will of course still include how the product benefits the buyer.

The terms “marketing” and “selling” can often be confusing to new business owners. Marketing simply means making people aware that your product exists. Selling, on the other hand, means taking whatever steps are necessary to convince your potential customer to purchase your product.
Another big difference is that a product carries with it things like inventory, parts, hourly costs for manufacturing and so forth. A service ultimately breaks down to "how much is this *time* worth?" That, and how much is this *skill* worth? Both time and skills are abstractions, not easily given hard numbers.
These are about the degree of coupling between two ideas. Loose coupling is highly abstract and tight coupling is less abstract. So, marketing abstract products is fine, but your marketing communications still have to be very specific. If you sell management consulting, you really have to dig deep and figure out how to very specifically communicate what you offer, while avoiding clichés.
This is really a question of positioning strategy as well. Abstract products, like services, can be hard to position in the mind. Yet with the right communication strategy you can position abstract services ... generally by directly linking the service with a benefit, relative to other options available.
Marketing is essentially nothing more than research. It’s about identifying groups of potential buyers and then finding the best way of bringing the product to their attention, generally through some form of advertising.

Philosophy of Enlightened Marketing


A lot of in the helping and remedial professions are uninformed of what marketing really is and how to utilize it effectively. Misconceptions about marketing also plentiful, leading many to imperfectly believe that they have to abandon their values, desires, and integrity in order market successfully. This ignorance leads to a great deal of unnecessary suffering when attempting to attract customers.

1. Enlightened Marketing has Integrity
In order to create a center of attention clients successfully, you need to do it with the highest integrity. Clients will be more likely to hire you if they recognize that you are sincere and can be trusted. Marketing with integrity means that you are honest about the strengths and limitations of your services in all aspects of your marketing.

2. Enlightened Marketing is Authentic
In order to market with authenticity you need to put your authentic self out there for people to see and experience. Acting authentically illuminates your distinctiveness and naturally attracts the clients who feel they can advantage from your individuality and what you particularly have to offer.

3. Enlightened Marketing is Passionate
When you are passionate about marketing and the services that you offer, you will be more forced to take the steps compulsory to build your business effectively. In addition, the enthusiasm that you exude will be part of what draws clients to you and builds your reputation.

4. Enlightened Marketing Has Vision
Your marketing efforts will be more flourishing if you have a clear vision for your apply and know how you intend to achieve this vision. Furthermore, the more inventive you are with your vision, the more profound and limitless it will be. You need to hold your vision throughout all your marketing activities, while allowing it to evolve and grow.

5. Enlightened Marketing is Conscious
To be attentive from the perspective of enlightened marketing means that you are aware of how marketing functions as both an art and a science. You make a conscious effort to learn and experiment with marketing strategies, discovering what works and what doesn’t, and modifying your plans accordingly.

6. Enlightened Marketing Shows Commitment and Dedication
In order to achieve the results you desire, you must be loyal and dedicated to developing your business and making it a priority in your life. To this end, marketing must be taken just as seriously as the service you provide to your clients.

7. Enlightened Marketing Is Unattached to Outcomes
While it is important to remain committed to your marketing it’s equally important that you remain unattached to the outcome of your marketing efforts. Regardless of how much marketing knowledge you have, things do not always go as planned. Patience and persistence are essential.

Persuasive marketing, why it is?


Marketing is neither impartial nor intention. Persuasive its case from side to side the strongest, most persuasive means, advertising informs, entertains and sells. Successful marketing is, almost forever, persuasive marketing, and at the same time as not all marketing seeks to persuade, in a spirited situation those who best persuade are those most likely to win. The reason of persuasive marketing is to shift the helpfulness functions of the customers.

Whether you job for a small company with inadequate resources, a medium size company with a small promotion department or a large company with definite research issues, Marketing can help your company complete its marketing goals. We use Persuasive Marketing methods addressing both cogent and affecting needs.

You may be preliminary to get a sense of how complicated it is to persuade somebody. Before looking at some of advertising's supreme attempts, let's try to appreciate just what an advertiser's brave is. Commercial communication appear just about all over the place - - on TV, in magazines, newspapers, billboards, on the radio, on buses, in phone booths, sports arenas, on the Internet, even in public toilets.

We reflect on a market consisting of consumer segments with different unimportant valuation for excellence and persuasive marketing affects consumers' first choice leading to a greater motivation to pay. We first originate a monopolist's optimal choice of quality-marketing-price and find that the monopolist prefers to use persuasive marketing for all character presented.

Our investigate plan of ethnographic and quantitative investigate in areas such as market expansion, product design and communications yields the most basic information to develop pioneering products, gain market share and develop new board markets.

Then study the symmetry outcome in a duopolistic with the coexistence of intra-brand cannibalization and inter-firm rivalry. We find that multi-product firms tend to mark persuasive marketing only for the high end product under temperate ready for action strength.

In addition we show that persuasive marketing is an advantageous marketing tool even when firms are differentiated on their feature choices. The forcefulness of qualitative results is further supported by incorporating additional consumer heterogeneity in advertising accessibility and brand understanding.

To end with the key to creating advertising that engenders persuasion is to have a sound and appropriately listening carefully advertising strategy. It is necessary to understand who the consumer is and what his/her attitudes and product usage routine are in order to expand this policy.

Hi ----- Trust Me ----- You Need ----- Hurry ----- Buy

Via Corporate Gift You Brand Your Business


Whether shopping for employee acknowledgment recompense, distribution your employee off with an exclusive leaving gift, on the look for holiday business gifts or shopping for exhibition giveaways, Corporate Snobs have a contribution to fit your needs. Corporate gift is an enormous promotion tool to help increase the brand responsiveness of your company. It is a perfect marketing channel that all business owners and marketers should forever consider as well as it to their yearly marketing plan.
Apparently all of your promotional gifts are departure to be passed out for free, but hire it be known that you are contribution freebies, no matter what type of promotional product it is, will get your direct interest from the bargain lover in one and all.
Believe that promotional gifts do not make dissimilarity in promoting yourself and your business? Think once more! Promotional gifts like magnets and mugs can be the distinction between enjoying the profits of a big sale and never having a meticulous customer walk all the way through your door in the first place. It can also be that one huge sale which went to your bordering competitor because the customer simply didn't know you existed.
Slight striking extra to demonstrate that you value their assistance to the company. Functioning in promotional gifts to this program just makes logic – give them something constructive that will get a lot of view time in their home or office, and you create a prospect to construct up brand consciousness.
Even though corporate gift is a immense promotion tool, not all commercial gifts are fitting if you want to brand your company. One very important thing you need to note is that you must never give away threadbare gifts. The superiority of the gifts count a lot in order to create a positive and good lasting intuition of your company in your receivers' mind. The exterior of the gift should be well-dressed and useful for the benefits of the receivers.
The promotional gifts industry has been rising for the past few years. It is no secret as to why – promotional products provide one of the most cost valuable forms of promotion, with literally year’s value of branding on many items that you can use. Your competitors are using it, so you need to counterpart them step by stair to keep up. Make your advertising division work out a promotional offerings operation targeted to all sorts of different demographics.
So if long-term special effects on your foundation line are what you're looking for, promotional giveaways like mugs and magnets are the way to go. When it comes to knock for your buck, few other forms of advertising can weigh against.

How Online Banking Services Gives You Benefit in market


Trust it or not at the present time, more or less anything is achievable on the Internet, online banking is one of them. The growing reputation of the Internet, the majority businesses are finding new motivating ways making use of this fascinating medium of Internet to direct with the environment and clients. Fortuitously, more or less three decades on, online security has severely increased allowing online banking to boom.

At the same time many of us have heard about Online banking services, there are still many who have not experimented it as yet. Most likely it could be so since we are relaxed working with people, real money and paper, as a substitute of having to deal with virtual paper or money. Most likely it made transacting over the Internet a very uncongenial matter. Whatever the reason, a number of benefits and disadvantages are emotionally involved to Internet banking services.

Most of the time we got the benefit like doesn’t have to wait in line. We don't have to plan our day around the bank's hours. We can look at our balance whenever we want, not just when you get a statement.

The most renowned safety measures improvement is the realization of SSL security, which stores all secure data vaguely and can apply scripts to it, for example checking current balance.
Online banking allows you to look intently at your money on a daily basis if you desire to. By maintenance close tabs on your funds, you will always be aware of what's happen in your bank account. For those knowledgeable spenders, this preference is far more charming than the rapid discovery that you are broke! It is also helpful to watch how much interest you are get-together on money and savings or what service charges you have incurred.
It helps you save time and liveliness, as you are clever to pay your bills online, anytime at any place across the globe. It is fast, safe, well-organized and helpful. Communications are done at a much faster pace. You can hold several bank accounts at one site. Management of resources becomes much easier, as online banking sites are very well-matched with interconnected programs.

In last we can tell that, what is the prospect of online banking? Glowing the simple answer is as safe as your money is outstandingly. New approaches of online banking are up-and-coming, in exacting mobile banking, definitely a technology we will become familiar to and probably not live without over the impending decade.

You Choose Competition


To recognize the strengths of your own business, you must understand your struggle and you’re positioning. Who competes with you for your customers’ time and money? Are they directly selling competitive products and services, substitutes, or possible substitutes? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How are they placed in the market?
That's why it's exceptionally important to keep a close eye on what your competitors are doing. You can keep up with the competitors by following these six easy steps. This will give you the leading boundary over your competition and increase your customers and profits! A good competitive analysis varies according to what industry you’re in and your specific marketing plan and situation. A comprehensive competitive analysis does have some common themes.
Begin by explaining the general nature of competition in your type of business, and how customers seem to choose one provider over another. What might make customers decide? Price or billing rates, reputation, or image and visibility? Are brand names important? How influential is word of mouth in providing long-term satisfied customers?
Compare your product or service in the light of those factors of competition. How do you stack up against the others? For example:
• As a travel agent, your agency might offer better airline ticketing than others, or perhaps it is located next to a major university and caters to student traffic. Other travel agents might offer better service, better selection, or better connections.
• The computer you sell is faster and better, or perhaps comes in fruity colors. Other computers offer better price or service.
• Your graphic design business might be mid-range in price, but well known for proficiency in creative technical skills.
• Your automobile is safer, or faster, or more economical.
• Your management consulting business is a one-person home office business, but enjoys excellent relationships with major personal computer manufacturers who call on you for work in a vertical market in which you specialize.

How to get people talking about your product


"When I imagine of Marketing Sherpa the thing that comes to mind that there's particular data that I can share with my supervisor where I can tell her here's an area where we can get better, here's an area where we're doing truly well. And let's take a look at where we can do some tests and make some changes."

Can business marketers use the blog world to get more site traffic from highly targeted prospects? Yes, it is possible. Here's the real-life story of a business software firm that tested four specific tactics to increase its inbound blog traffic.

"When I think of promotion Sherpa I think of great new ideas and know that it's a really trusted brand that I can read a newsletter on a daily or weekly basis that is going to help me do my job better."

Let’s face it, where else can you:
* Kick-off a coast-to-coast publicity campaign in less than three weeks?
* Create promotional “buzz” for your product or service at the grass-roots level?
* Reach America’s greatest urban markets - Boston to LA - from the comfort and convenience of your own home?
* And, talk directly to customers and customers-to-be?

Is marketing a Post-Processing Step? Is not.


Customer interactions Management is a term highlighted by research companies such as Gartner Group, Forrester follow a line of investigation and Madison Advisors to define a convergent set of Information Technology solutions that together provide marketing communication professionals the ability to advance the way that they communicate with their clients.
In many small ISVs, together with Source Gear, the founder has a technical environment with little or no marketing experience. This kind of company tends to become very programmer-centric. We coders think of ourselves as the center of the universe. Everything else is secondary to the code. The code is king. The code is the only thing we actually sell. If we had to get rid of everything else, the code would be enough. If we are honest enough to admit it, even true developers have these evil thoughts from time to time. That's okay. Most lies have a tiny grain of truth buried inside anyway.
Our code-centric viewpoint makes it is easier to believe the common fallacy that marketing begins when coding ends. Good marketing just doesn't work this way. Marketing is not a post-processing step.
The underlying principle behind this was cited in analyst research by Info Trends that, "transactional documents are opened and read by more than 90% of consumers. Because the average consumer is bombarded with advertising, e-mail, direct mail and other forms of solicitation each day, Tran Promo can help you cut through the clutter and stand out."
Like many other things, marketing is to some extent like an iceberg. The part sticking out of the water is highly noticeable. It's easy to not realize that much of the iceberg is hidden from our view. When we see great beer commercials on TV during the Super Bowl, we think that's marketing. And it is.
But there is more. You really should start thinking about marketing as soon as you start thinking about necessities, architecture or design. To understand why, bear with me for a few minutes of marketing mumbo-jumbo as we talk about "positioning".

Effective marketing means


During the early development phase, marketing to tenants and the community occur simultaneously. Analyzing the marketplace is the first step, Hays said. Developers Diversified performs a feasibility study to make sure a lifestyle center can succeed, which tenants might work and what format it should take. Research includes available land, which tenants are missing in a market and which tenants are needed. Armed with enough tenant interest and the proper demographic research, the developer can then create a plan to be presented to local public officials, who often need quite a bit of education.
Marketing is human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange process. The ongoing process of moving people closer to making a decision to purchase, use, follow or conform to someone else's products, services or values. Strategic marketing is geared toward defining, creating, growing, developing, maintaining, defending, and "owning" your market.
"It's a process of educating each other,". "It's a process of collaboration and compromise."
Does advertising facilitate sales? There's no doubt that an effective online or offline ad works. However, the difference between advertising and marketing, especially online, is advertising involves a cold market process. You must be persuasive using text and graphics to create an interest in someone, an interest they were not actively aware they had. You must create that interest from scratch to get that all-important site visit. That helps in an increasingly challenging marketing environment for all retail projects
• identifying a problem that people will pay you adequately to solve
• letting these people know about your solution
• convincing them that your solution solves their problem, at least enough to try it
• doing all the above cost effectively

Defining Common Banking Terms




Banking is one of the most important industries in the world today - the economy of every country in the world flows through the various banks and financial institutions that exist in the world.

There are times, though, that some of the terminology that's used in banks and the banking industry might seem a bit confusing to those who aren't exactly sure how they work.

Below you'll find a list of common banking services and terms, compiled to assist you in making your banking decisions in case there are some terms that you aren't familiar with.
Chequeing

Chequeing accounts are one of the most common types of bank accounts in the world, but there are some individuals who might not be sure exactly how the cheque writing process works. Basically, a cheque is a form of contract between an individual and the recipient - the cheque is submitted to the recipient's bank, and its value is transferred from the writer's account to the recipient's.
Debit

Working on much the same principal as a cheque, debit cards transfer funds from an account held by the user and an account held by a business or individual. Unlike cheques, however, the debit card uses credit card processors and doesn't require the same amount of time as cheque writing. Additionally, there aren't any cheques to write and no chequebook to carry around.
Interest

Interest is a term that can have two meanings, depending upon which type of banking service it's used in conjunction with. When used with savings, chequeing, or money market accounts, interest is the amount that is paid to you monthly based upon the balance that you have. For loans, credit cards, and other such services, however, interest is an additional fee that you pay that is added on to the monthly balance of your debt.
Annual Percentage Rate

The annual percentage rate, or APR, is used when determining interest on credit cards. The APR is based upon national interest rates and other rates determined by the bank and dependant upon the credit rating of the cardholder. The APR that you pay may fluctuate, and the lower it goes the less interest you have to pay each month.
Equity

Equity is a representation of how much of a mortgage has been paid off - some people look at it as how much of your home or real estate you actually "own". This percentage of how much debt has been cleared from your property can be used as collateral for some types of loans, and can be an important factor in refinancing a home loan.
Balloon Payment

A balloon payment is a specific type of mortgage payment, and is named "balloon payment" because of the structure of the payment schedule. For balloon payments, the first several years of payments are smaller and are used to reduce the total debt remaining in the loan. Once the small payment term has passed (which can vary, but is commonly 5 years), the remainder of the debt is due - this final payment is the one known as the "balloon" payment, because it is larger than all of the previous payments.
Closing Costs

Closing costs are additional costs associated with the purchase of real estate and some other high-value items. Once the loan has been approved to pay for the purchase and all of the paperwork has been completed, various costs associated with filing, legal fees, and other commonalities are due at the time of closing the deal. While there are some mortgage lenders who don't charge closing costs, they are required in most cases.

Sources: www.eioba.com

Definitions of Banking Terms


Acquisition
The process of buying or acquiring some asset or an entire company.

Activity
This consists of the primary banking activity of an institution. For example, the primary activity of state member banks, non-member banks, and national banks (which are all commercial banks) is Commercial Banking.

As of Date
This represents a report date or transaction date.

Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) see Insurance
The fund that provides deposit insurance for commercial banks. It is administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Bank Holding Companies Performance Report (BHCPR)
An analytical tool produced by the Federal Reserve System for supervisory purposes, including on-site examinations and inspections, off-site surveillance and monitoring, and analyses performed in connection with applications filed with the Federal Reserve regarding mergers, acquisitions, and other matters. The BHCPRs are designed to assist analysts and examiners in determining a bank holding company’s financial condition and performance based on financial statements, comparative ratios, trend analyses, and percentile ranks relative to its peers.

Branch Locator
A search option that provides a comprehensive list of all branches belonging to an institution. Not all banks will have branches therefore, the option will only be available to those that do.

Branch Office
An office of an institution that is physically separated from its home office, but that offers the same kinds of deposit taking, loan and other services conducted at the home office.

Charter (Chartering Authority)
A state or federal agency that grants charters to new depository institutions. For state chartered institutions, the chartering authority is usually the state banking department; for national banks, it is the OCC; and for federal savings institutions, it is the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Closed Bank
When an institution's charter is closed and there is no successor institution.

Failed Bank (failure)
The closing of a financial institution by its chartering authority, which rescinds the institution’s charter and revokes its ability to conduct business because the institution is insolvent, critically undercapitalized, or unable to meet deposit outflows.

FDIC Certificate Number
A unique number assigned by the FDIC used to identify institutions and for the issuance of insurance certificates.

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)
Interagency body composed of representatives from the five regulatory agencies responsible for U.S. depository institutions.

Head Office
The headquarters of the entity, i.e., the head office of a branch, agency, or other non-independent facility.

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Respondents
Certain financial institutions, including banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other mortgage lending institutions that provide public loan data in accordance with the Home Mortgage Discloser Act, which was enacted by Congress in 1975.

Institution Profile
Provides detailed characteristic information about an institution. Characteristic information includes attributes such as Institution type, Location, and Primary Federal Regulator and Structure information such as Organization Hierarchy, Institutions Acquired, Institution History, and Branch Locator.

Institutions Acquired
These are institutions that were acquired by other institutions.

Institution History
A description of an institution's characteristic and structure information over time.

Institution Type
A classification describing the activities of the institution. NIC also provides a glossary of Institution Types.

Insurance

* Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) is the insurance fund for insured banks.
* Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) is the insurance fund for insured savings associations.
* BIF and SAIF are managed by the FDIC

Merger
The consolidation of two or more institutions into a single entity. Generally the survivor is the institution that remains in business following the merger, whereas the institution that ceases to exist is the non-survivor. There may be more than one non-survivor for any given merger.

Mortgage Banking Company
Company that makes, acquires, or services loans or other extensions of credit for the account of others.

Mutual Fund
Fund that pools money from its shareholders in stocks, bonds, government securities, and short-term money market instruments.

National Information Center
The National Information Center (NIC) is a central data repository containing information about all U.S. banking organizations and their domestic and foreign affiliates, as well as information on foreign banking organizations located in the U.S.

Organization Hierarchy
The ownership relationships of institutions. The institution may be the top tier or anywhere within the organization hierarchy.

Parent Institution
The Parent Institution owns or controls another institution.

Purchase and Assumption
A Purchase and Assumption (P&A) is a transaction in which an institution purchases assets and liabilities of another institution. This transaction results in a major change to the seller's primary business. The seller's charter may or may not continue.

Regulator
Federal Banking Agencies that supervise banks and other financial institutions depending on each institution’s specific charter or mission. The five federal regulators are as follows:

* Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
* Federal Reserve System (FRS)
* National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
* Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
* Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)

Report Date
This date generally corresponds to the last day of the report period.

Routing Transit Number (RTN)
The RTN is a bank identifier found on the bottom of checks. It is commonly referred to as an ABA (American Bankers Association) number and is nine numerical digits in length.

RSSD ID
The RSSD ID is a unique identifier assigned to institutions by the Federal Reserve. While the length of the RSSD ID varies by institution, it cannot exceed 10 numerical digits.

Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) see Insurance
The fund that provides deposit insurance for savings institutions. SAIF was authorized by Congress in 1989 to take over the thrift deposit insurance role held by the former Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). SAIF is administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Split
When one entity (E1) transfers between 40 and 94 percent of its assets to one or more newly formed entities (E2). Both entities continue to exist. E1 has not failed, and government assistance is not involved.

Status

* Current: institution that is open as of a specified date
* Non-Current: institution that is closed as of a specified date
* Current and Non-Current: all institutions that are open or haven been closed as of a specified date

Top 50 BHCs
These are bank holding companies with the largest consolidated total assets and are ranked each quarter on a scale of 1 to 50. The list changes periodically and is often referred to as the "Official Top 50 List."

Top Holder
The highest entity in a multi-level organization.
Sources: www.ffiec.gov

Branding vs. selling: Which is more important?


Branding has not traditionally played a big part in the creation of direct mail, ads, and other forms of direct response advertising. That’s because direct marketing is all about selling directly to consumers and relies less on product recognition than retail marketing.

In recent years, however, as direct marketing has become mainstream and is now being used by businesses that sell through multiple channels, branding has become more important.

People like me who work on the front lines creating direct response advertising have to deal with clients who want to sell but who also demand adherence to branding guidelines, usually in the form of font, color, and graphic specifications.

It can be a difficult juggling act. The guidelines may be simple, requiring only the use of a logo, or difficult, enforcing highly restrictive design rules that curtail selling techniques.

When branding guidelines become too restrictive, it can hurt sales. Years ago, I began working with one of the top communications companies, helping them sell products and services such as DSL and long distance. I decided to break out of the overly restrictive branding guidelines and create mailers that I thought would sell better.

This didn’t go over well with others in the company and I received many complaints about the “look” of my mailers. However the response rates were high. In one effort, I created a self-mailer that met the annual call generation goal within 9 weeks. So I was allowed to continue.

Eventually, my “ugly” mailers provoked the branding department so much, I was asked to test a “pretty” and properly branded mailer. I did. The ugly mailer won hands down.

Do I think I hurt the brand with my ugly mailers? No. I think I made them a lot of money and created a larger customer base.

I’m not one of those direct marketing neanderthals who think branding is irrelevent. But having dealt with the issue of branding vs. selling for many years, I have a few thoughts on the matter.

* Branding is often confused with design. Design is a part of branding, but there is much more to a brand than how ads look. Companies grow through sales, not through graphics.

* In direct marketing, selling should be the goal. If you’re not trying to sell, you’re wasting your money. Why even bother with direct marketing channels if you’re not interested in making sales?

* Branding people will argue that design guidelines aid selling. If that’s the case, then branding should be viewed as “support” for selling not a substitute for it. If certain graphical guidelines suppress sales, then those guidelines should be modified.

* Consumers are not as sensitive to branding rules as some would assume. If a color is a bit off, for example, most people won’t even notice.

* Not everything needs to be highly branded, including acquisition efforts. Getting the customer is the most important thing. The branding will be there in the form of follow up materials, billing, Web site, TV commercials, in-store products, other ads, and so on.

* Following branding guidelines so strictly that every direct mail piece or ad looks the same can actually hurt sales. If prospects see 2 or 3 promotions and turn down the offer, future look-alike promotions may be ignored. Sometimes it’s beneficial to fly under the radar.

Sources: www.directcreative.com

Tuesday

How consumer buy product


The buying process is concerned with some process and it follows some way that is important factor for a marketer. Most of the time marketer follows the stages to develop their product. Also they will follows the process when the product launce in market to know the buying behavior.

The product will be effective when the marketer will be concern about their product selling. And will be concern about the buying process of the consumer. The consumer most of the time search their alternative and best of the product and also want to know the price and the others that is related with the product.

The buying process follows the process those are: problem recognition- in this process the consumer thinks that they have need about the product. Normally they fill something about the product or they are missing the benefit opportunity in their mind. . They want to achieve that product and want to get the benefit of the product. And normally they want to buy the product for getting the benefit of the product.

Information search- when they think that they need to buy that product and when thy fill that they need to own the product at that time they want some information about the product. Then the consumer inters in the active information search and they use various kinds of ways to search information. Normally they use reading materials, make a phone call on their friends to know the product opportunity and other about product. And they also use the commercial sources, public sources and also experiential sources to know about the product.

Evaluation of alternative- when customer search search the information they does not know the single product behavior they know various kinds of the product. In this stage the customer normally use the alternative on the basis of their needs and they are searching what product best for them and what product meets their actual demand. Some basic information is here to help us to understand the process, the consumer is trying to satisfy a need. The consumer is looking for some benefits from the product. The consumer wants to know the various attributes on a product.

Purchase decision- when consumer find the alternative then they make a decision about buying the product. And in this stages customer want to know the attitude of other about the product, by the intensity of the other person negative attitude towards the consumer preferred alternative product. The consumer motivation to comply with the other person wishes.

After buying the product the consumer shows the post purchase behavior. And this process normally depends on the post purchase satisfaction, post purchase actions and on the post purchase use and disposal.

Selecting A market segment


For evaluating different marketing segment, the farm at least see two factor those two factors are the segment overall attractiveness and the company objective and the resources those make it generally attractive, like attractive, size, growth and profitability those factor are very much affective in segmentation. And we will consider that factor when we make our segment.

Company long run effectiveness always related with the perfect segment of the market and if we can make a positive segment on our market that will be a most effective investment in our business. And an ineffective market means that there was some gap on segmentation.

Having evaluating segment we can differentiate our market in five sector and those are
Single segment concentration: in this sector a company concentrates on the single market and company will operate in that market, Like Volkswagen concentrate on the small car market.

Selective specialization: in this concentration the firm selects the number of the segment and they want to operate at those levels and for operation they are making the rules and regulation and they made the operation activity those they will use in their marketing area. Here we can mention that each promises to be a money maker.

Product specialization: in this area marketers will concentrate on the product and they will produce the product and those products will sell on different market segment. Here the main concentration on the product not on the market segment, they produce the product and the product will be sell on different market reason of product specialization.

Market specialization: here the firm concentrates on the selective market. And normally the firm wants to produce various kinds of product for the customer group that is selected by the marketer as a market of the product. In here the firm will get a good reputation, reason of the serving the product on the selective customer group.

Full market coverage: it is actually a big think for a big firm. And here the firm will operate in all the market and the customer in all the market will be treated as a customer of their own. And the form wants to produce all kinds of product for all the market and also for the all customer segment. In this market area their market will be strong and the brand name will be the asset for the company and we think that the market will be treated as a single concentration market. These kinds of market segment are quit difficult to introduce.

Social factor that influences consumer buying behavior


Sometimes social factor influences on consumer buying behavior and that has great influences on society. And sometimes it is a major factor in our buying behavior. We can not forgot and forgive this factor at all.

We know that social factor is also influences on our society and the social factor relate with the reference group. Reference group is the group that has direct or indirect influences on the buying behavior. And it also influences the consumer attitude also. Groups who have direct influences is the membership group. Most of the members are the part of this group. And some membership groups are primary group and other are related with the secondary group.

Primary groups are consisting with the family, friends, neighbors and many more are related with the primary group. And secondary group are consist with the religious people, professionals, and trade union also.

Most of the time people are influenced by the references group and formally and informally they are affected on their decision making by the references group. We can not easily remove those factors from our society and from our normal life.

Sometimes most of the people are influenced by those people who are not belonging those people or who have a minimal relation with the people. But people have a intention to join in those group. Here have also a group that group’s behaviors are people normally rejected. And normally groups people are do not accept the behavior.

We are in familiar with another group that is a opinion leader, people on this group advice or information about a specific product. Like which of the several brand is best and how a particular product may be used. In this behavioral group influences more on thy buying behavior.

Family is a social factor and most of the great influencer on the buying behavior. And no one can live the influences of the family. Here we know that most of the factor that is related with the family is a option of the experiment. Most of the experiment is related with the family and we can not forget the opportunity of the family.

Family is divided on the family of orientation and family of the family of the procreation. Here family of the orientation is related with the parents and siblings and normally we can told that it is a joint family, and family of the procreation is the family of sibilings.

How To Calculate Gross Operating Income (G0I)


Here's How:
1. Let's use our already calculated Gross Potential Income result of $54,000. This is if all units are full and all rents paid.
2. Based on experience, the current market and rental occupancies, we estimate that our losses due to vacancies and non-payment will be 5%.
3. $54,000 *.05 = $2700
4. $54,000 - $2700= $51,300 for our Gross Operating Income
What You Need:
• Calculator

Monday

How to Never Lose Money in the Stock Market


Now that’s a pretty controversial heading, isn’t it? It reminds you of Will Rogers’ line: “I’m more interested in the return of my money than the return on my money.”

Losing money seems to be as big of a part of stock market investing as wealth building. Losses and their devastating results certainly draw more attention. In fact, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other stock market watchdog agencies, require a warning to investors that losses are possible.

So how can I get away with that heading? Simple: Because it’s true! A man named Benjamin Graham first wrote about the system in the ‘50s. Warren Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway company followed these rules and became the most successful stock market investor of all times. These are their rules, and their system. And here it’s presented in easy-to-follow terminology.

You must have a hook, and the acronym I use for this system is this: D.A.B.L. (Don’t dabble in the markets, DABL instead). Each letter of the acronym stands for a part of investing; a rule if you will. Follow these four rules and you will never lose money in the market. Break even once, and you’re gambling. There’s an old time Brooklyn comedian, named Myron Cohen, who said this about gambling:

“Here’s how you come out ahead in Las Vegas: When you get off the plane, walk into the propeller!” So don’t walk into the propeller, follow the D.A.B.L. and build your wealth as sure as sunrise.

“D” Stands for Diversification. To be properly diversified you need thousands of stocks encompassing all descriptions. Large Caps, Mid-Caps, Small Caps, International, Growth, Value, Growth and Income, etc. When you have a widely diversified portfolio, individual stock losses are swallowed by individual gains. The “Enrons” will be offset by the “Microsofts” and “Exxons.” In our practice, we use 54 mutual funds to achieve this. Each fund owns hundreds and thousands of stocks. Diversification upon diversification. Now you might ask, “But what if I’d bought Microsoft and Exxon 20 years ago? Wouldn’t I have made much more?” Yes you would have. But what if you’d bought Enron? Before it crashed and burned, Wall Street analysts wouldn’t shut up about what a great buy Enron was. You’d have lost everything, and it wouldn’t have recovered the same as the rest of the market when times got better. In short, diversification removes the gambling aspect of stock market investing.

“A” Stands for Asset Allocation. This goes hand in hand with diversification. This is simply allocating investments in varied sectors of the economy to minimize market downturns and profit on the inevitable upswings. Here’s a conservative asset allocation for all seasons:

Small Cap Growth funds 5%

Mid Cap Growth funds 5%

Large Cap Growth funds 5%

Small Cap Value funds 10%

Mid Cap Value funds 10%

Large Cap Value funds 10%

Value Blend funds 10%

Aggressive Growth funds 10%

High Yield Bonds fund 5%

Investment Grade Bonds 5%

International Global Bonds 5%

Global Emerging Markets 5%

International Growth 5%

International Value 10%

The word “cap” refers to Capitalization – the size of the stocks the fund purchases. “Blend” means the fund invests across all styles and sizes in its area. International usually means outside the U.S., while global includes U.S. investments. This allocation uses strictly mutual funds. Software like Morningstar places each fund in the “style boxes” described in this allocation. If you don’t have enough assets to buy all those funds, start with “value” and “growth,” and leave “aggressive” and “emerging” markets for last. If you’re investing in your 401(k) and don’t have all those options, do the best you can to duplicate this allocation with emphasis on “value.”

“B” Stands for Buy and Hold. Buy and hold works, as proven repeatedly by the likes of Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett. Buying and selling securities results in losses or minimum gains for most investors. It does generate lots of commissions, which is why the brokerage industry hates that one fact. However they’re coming around with fee-wrapped account, tacitly encouraging buy-and-hold.

“L” Stands for Long Term Goals. The minimum holding period is five to seven years. Diversified buy-and-hold investments have achieved this goal in every seven-year period since 1969. Stock market investments should always be held for the long term. Anything else is gambling.

Now here’s a question that always comes up: “I will be retiring next year. Shouldn’t I be invested mostly in safe investments like treasury bonds and CDs?”

Well that depends on how much money you have for retirement. The D.A.B.L. system is strictly to make money grow – make the pie bigger. Most retirees have enough funds to leave a certain amount alone for seven years. That’s the amount that should be invested for growth. It’s going to vary for everyone. There’s no pat answer – you’ve got to analyze your own situation. Remember, this system is for growth, and every retirement portfolio needs growth – a certain amount of money targeted to get much larger in a given number of years to offset the ravages of inflation.
sources: www.myarticlearchive.com

How we can make an ultimate marketing plan


If we want to make a marketing plan or want to write a marketing plan first we need to select our massage and massage will be create on the basis of some criteria like, we need to serve or we need to visit our local or current market how they operate and they provide their services and facilities those are provided by the marketer. When we can select the market offering product, opportunity and many more then we will select our massage on the basis of the competitor offering or on the basis of the competitor massage. But be sure that the massage you select that is more powerful than your competitor.

Then you need to prepare the unique selling proposition. What will be your offer and what will be the unique those will not be copied by your competitor. It is very important factor selecting a unique selling proposition in a competitive market you will be making your place by this unique selling proposition. And for that reason it will be developed by the expert and that will be use carefully.

Select some activity those are performed by your competitor and then make some speech on the basis of the activity and on the basis of their offering and use this speech on your marketing. For got attraction of the customer.

Then need to develop some irresistible offers compatible with the unique selling proposition. It is also important factor for making a market unique. If the product offering is irresistible then customer will got that product and by this way you will make your unique market. But be sure that that offer you will be given as a unique or as a irresistible those is not easily copied by the other competitor.

And then explain your customer need and the offerings or services those will be provided by you against the customer needs and offerings. And at a same time you will justify your price and give the reason why customer should by this.

Then select some way how you can build the customer interest on your product and services and so on. It is a very important factor to select a way to build customer. And then you select your call action how customer reacts on your product and on your services.

Then describe your geographic target market where you want to serve, describe your demographic target market, and describe your association target market. It is also important to select your geographic target market or the demographic target market for lunching your product effectively.

The 10 Big Lies of Multi-Level Marketing


Lie #1: MLM is a business offering better opportunities for making large sums of money than all other conventional business and professional models.

Truth: For almost everyone who invests MLM turns out to be a losing financial proposition. This is not an opinion, but a historical fact. Consider some notable examples from among the largest MLMs.

In the largest of all MLMs, Amway, only 1/2 of one percent of all distributors make it to the basic level of "direct" distributor, and the average income of all Amway distributors is about $40 a month. That is gross income before taxes and expenses. When costs are factored, it is obvious that nearly all suffer a loss. Making it to "direct", however, is not a ticket to profitability, but to greater losses. When the Wisconsin Attorney General filed charges against Amway, tax returns from all distributors in the state revealed an average net loss of $918 for that state's "direct" distributors.

Extraordinary sales and marketing obstacles account for much of this failure, but even if the business were more feasible, sheer mathematics would severely limit the opportunity. The MLM type of business structure can support only a small number of financial winners. If a 1,000-person downline is needed to earn a sustainable income, those 1,000 will need one million more to duplicate the success. How many people can realistically be enrolled? Much of what appears as growth is in fact only the continuous churning of new enrollees. The money for the rare winners comes from the constant enrollment of armies of losers.

The vast majority of the losers in MLM drop out within a year. In a 1999 court case brought against Melaleuca, one of the country's largest MLMs, the company claimed it has the highest "retention" rate among distributors in the entire MLM industry. Melaleuca boasted a drop-out rate is 5.5% per month. This equates to about 60% per year, if the dropouts are replaced each month.

In its annual report to the SEC, Pre-Paid Legal, another large MLM, revealed that more than 1/2 of all its customers and distributors quit each year and are replaced by another group of hopeful investors.

This pattern of 50-70% of all distributors quitting within one year holds true also for NuSkin, the industry's second largest MLM. NuSkin also exemplifies the accompanying pattern in which a tiny percent of the distributors gain the majority of all company rebates. In 1998, NuSkin paid out 2/3rds of its entire rebates to just 200 upliners out of more than 63,000 "active" distributors. The money they received came directly from the unprofitably investments of the 99.7% of the others.

In 1995, Excel Communications, another "fast growing" MLM, reported to regulators an 86% turnover rate of distributors and 48% drop-out rate among all customers.

To obscure their dismal numbers, some MLMs classify their distributors as "active" and "inactive." The Active group includes only recent participants and those still buying products or receiving rebates. Payout and retention statistics are then disclosed only on the "active" group.

If ALL distributors who participate are included the losses and the average incomes are exposed as much worse. And, if all the distributors who enroll and quit over several years are included, the odds of success for a new distributor/investor are shown to be absurdly low. Yet, these companies typically advertise their business as "an opportunity of a life time" with "unlimited potential."

Lie #2: Network marketing is the most popular and effective new way to bring products to market. Consumers like to buy products on a one-to-one basis in the MLM model.

Truth: If you strip MLM of its hallmark activity of continuously reselling distributorships and examine its foundation, the one-to-one retailing of products to customers, you encounter an unproductive and impractical system of sales upon which the entire structure is supposed to rest. Personal retailing is a thing of the past, not the wave of the future. Retailing directly to friends on a one-to-one basis requires people to drastically change their buying habits. They must restrict their choices, often pay more for goods, buy inconveniently, and awkwardly engage in business transactions with close friends and relatives. The unfeasibility of door-to-door retailing is why MLM is, in reality, a business that just keeps reselling the opportunity to sign up more distributors.

Lie #3: Eventually all products will be sold by MLM, a new form of marketing. Retail stores, shopping malls, catalogues and most forms of advertising will soon be rendered obsolete by MLM.

Truth: MLM is not new. It has been around since the late 1960's. Yet, today it still represents less than one percent of US retail sales. In year 2000, total US retail sales were $3.232 trillion, according to the Dept. of Commerce. MLM's total sales are about $10 billion. That is about 1/3rd of one percent and most of this sales volume is accounted for by the purchases of hopeful new distributors who are actually paying the price of admission to a business they will soon abandon. Not only are MLM sales insignificant in the marketplace, but MLM fails as a sales model also on the other key factor ­ maintaining customers. Most MLM customers quit buying the goods as soon as they quit seeking the "business opportunity." There is no brand loyalty.

These basic facts show that, as a marketing model, MLM is not replacing existing forms of marketing. It does not legitimately compete with other marketing approaches at all. Rather, MLM represents a new investment scheme that uses the language of marketing and sales of products. Its real products are distributorships which are sold with misrepresentation and exaggerated promises of income. People are buying products in order to secure positions on the sales pyramid. The possibility is always held out that you may become rich if not from your own efforts then from some unknown person who might join your 'downline,' the 'big fish' as they are called.

MLM's growth is a manifestation not of its value to the economy, customers or distributors but of the recently high levels of economic fear and insecurity and rising expectations of quick and easy wealth. It is growing in the same way day trading on the stock market, legalized gambling and lotteries are.

Lie #4: MLM is a new way of life that offers happiness and fulfillment. It is a means to attain all the good things in life.

Truth: The most prominent motivating appeal of the MLM industry as shown in industry literature and presented at recruitment meetings is the crassest form of materialism. Fortune 100 companies would blush at the excess of promises of wealth and luxury put forth by MLM solicitors. These promises are presented as the ticket to personal fulfillment. MLM's overreaching appeal to wealth and luxury conflicts with most people's true desire for meaningful and fulfilling work in something in which they have special talent or interest. In short, the culture of this business side tracks many people from their personal values and desires to express their unique talents and aspirations.

Lie #5: MLM is a spiritual movement.

Truth: The use of spiritual concepts like prosperity consciousness and creative visualization to promote MLM enrollment, the use of words like 'communion' to describe a sales organization, and claims that MLM is a fulfillment of Christian principles or Scriptural prophecies are great distortions of these spiritual practices. Those who focus their hopes and dreams upon wealth as the answer to their prayers lose sight of genuine spirituality as taught by all the great religions and faiths of humankind. The misuse of these spiritual principles should be a signal that the investment opportunity is deceptive. When a product is wrapped in the flag or in religion, buyer beware! The 'community' and 'support' offered by MLM organizations to new recruits are based entirely upon their purchases. If the purchases and enrollment decline, so does the 'communion.'

Lie #6: Success in MLM is easy. Friends and relatives are the natural prospects. Those who love and support you will become your lifetime customers.

Truth: The commercialization of family and friendship relations or the use of 'warm leads' which is required in the MLM marketing program is a destructive element in the community and very unhealthy for individuals involved. Capitalizing upon family ties and loyalties of friendships in order to build a business can destroy ones social foundation. It places stress on relationships that may never return to their original bases of love, loyalty and support. Beyond its destructive social aspects, experience shows that few people enjoy or appreciate being solicited by friends and relatives to buy products.

Lie #7: You can do MLM in your spare time. As a business, it offers the greatest flexibility and personal freedom of time. A few hours a week can earn a significant supplemental income and may grow to a very large income making other work unnecessary

Truth: decades of experience involving millions of people have proven that making money in MLM requires extraordinary time commitment as well as considerable personal wiliness, persistence and deception. Beyond the sheer hard work and special aptitude required, the business model inherently consumes more areas of ones life and greater segments of time. In MLM, everyone is a prospect. Every waking moment is a potential time for marketing. There are no off-limit places, people or times for selling. Consequently, there is no free space or free time once a person enrolls in MLM system.

Under the guise of creating money independently and in your free time, the system gains control and dominance over people's entire lives and requires rigid conformity to the program. This accounts for why so many people who become deeply involved end up needing and relying upon MLM desperately. They alienate or abandon other sustaining relationships.

Lie #8. MLM is a positive, supportive new business that affirms the human spirit and personal freedom.

Truth: MLM marketing materials reveal that much of the message is fear-driven and based upon deception about income potential. Solicitations frequently include dire predictions about the impending collapse of other forms of distribution, the disintegration or insensitivity of corporate America, and the lack of opportunity in other professions or services. Conventional professions, trades and business are routinely demeaned and ridiculed for not offering 'unlimited income.' Employment is cast as wage enslavement for 'losers.' MLM is presented as the last best hope for many people. This approach, in addition to being deceptive, frequently has a discouraging effect on people who otherwise would pursue their own unique visions of success and happiness. A sound business opportunity does not have to base its worth on negative predictions and warnings.

Lie #9. MLM is the best option for owning your own business and attaining real economic independence.

Truth: MLM is not true self-employment. 'Owning' an MLM distributorship is an illusion. Some MLM companies forbid distributors from carrying additional lines. Most MLM contracts make termination of the distributorship easy and immediate for the company. Short of termination, downlines can be taken away with a variety of means. Participation requires rigid adherence to the 'duplication' model, not independence and individuality. MLM distributors are not entrepreneurs but joiners in a complex hierarchical system over which they have little control.

Lie #10: MLM is not a pyramid scheme because products are sold.

Truth: The sale of products is in no way a protection from anti-pyramid scheme statutes or unfair trade practices set forth in federal and state law. MLMs that sell useful, quality products have been successfully prosecuted under anti-pyramid scheme laws by state and federal officials. MLM is a legal form of business only under certain rigid conditions set forth by the FTC and state Attorneys General. Many MLMs are currently in gross violation of these guidelines and operate only because they have not been prosecuted. Recent court rulings are using a 70% rule to determine an MLM's legality. At least 70% of all goods sold by the MLM company must be purchased by non-distributors. This standard would place most MLM companies outside the law. The largest of all MLMs acknowledges that only 18% of its sales are made to non-distributors.
Sources: www.falseprofits.com