3 Ways to Combine the Work/Play Dynamic

By Keith Cook

Now when it comes to working and playing, many of us would much rather play than work. Learn how to combine the work play dynamic which will enable you to do the work you enjoy, so working actually becomes fun.

While working in Corporate America, I began to feel unfulfilled and lifeless. Each day I felt like my life was just wasting away. It became more and more challenging simply to get up and go to work. I knew, deep down, I needed to find my passion and purpose and really be able to transfer that into my business and have it be what I do as a whole.

So I became a life coach. I started learning more about personal development, and online marketing. I first started a website and began writing about my passion. From that point on, we've created tremendous success, incredible momentum, and everything just seems to be falling into place. We really realized that it's the love and passion for what you do that fuels your desire and success.

So if you are unhappy, if you feel that your current situation is not providing you with the freedom, the passion and fulfillment you deserve, you owe it to yourself to take what you love, to really do what's important to you, to use social media, and the internet to brand yourself. Create a business based around your passions. Get out there and connect with people in your target market, learn more about what it is you love. In return, you can share that information with others, which will enable you to transform this model into an infinite income generating system.

Partner up and work together with others in order to create infinite wealth and success as a whole. We can make that shift from the, "I have to do it alone mentality," or "the only way of getting ahead is to get over on someone else," to uniting people, joining forces, cooperation, building partnerships, that will allow us to lift each other up and experience a life beyond our wildest dreams that we couldn't build on our own.

Build a network of followers and friends. This allows you to create an email list which is key to online success and will allow you to create any amount of wealth, any amount of success you want til the end of time. As you continue to share your passion and add value to the lives of others, this in turn builds trust and opens the door for solicitation of products and services.

Keith is a Personal Development & Online Marketing Coach. He empowers and inspires people to discover their passions, fulfill their dreams, and achieve their life's purpose. To learn more, please visit: http://LifePassionNetwork.com.

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Have You Thought of Starting Your Own Online Business?

By Roy Booth


Have you ever thought of starting your own on line business. As you lie back in your easy chair relaxing, letting your mind wander, you can create a website, pick your products, advertise them and then sit back and watch the money roll in.

If only it was so easy. The truth is, if you want to create a successful on line business it takes a lot of time and effort, especially if you are doing the work yourself to cut out some of the initial start up costs. Even doing it yourself be prepared for investment expenditure of around £20.000 equivalent to approximately $30.000. What you may ask do the start up costs cover, well if you are new to the on line business and web site creation, optimisation etc. you will need some assistance. Better to seek and pay for professional advice and get things right than to muddle along trying to figure it all out yourself. The professional advice does not come cheap. Then of course there is Bookkeeping and Tax Returns, it may seem expensive at first but compared to the initial expenditure it can save a lot of money over the long term. Also there is Web Hosting to be paid for, no good having a site if it cannot be published on the web. Web hosting is not particularly expensive by comparison often a reasonably priced re occurring monthly fee. Those are roughly the basic requirements for getting up and running, there will of course be other things but some will be specific to your particular venture.

Having reached the stage where you have a site designed and ready to go, you have selected a domain name that reflects what you are all about and you have decided what you are going to sell. When deciding what to sell remember that although the internet is a vast market place it is also a very competitive market place. If you have a unique product then you could well be a Big Fish in a small pond rather than a Small Fish in a Huge Pond. It is perhaps better to have a large share of a small part of the market than a very small share of a larger market. Do your research before opting for your particular choice of goods. You have at this time as many market advisers would say selected your Niche.

Now you have to decide how to source your goods. How do you source them. If it is something you are making yourself you have no problem, or If you have plenty of money you may decide to buy wholesale and then market the items you have purchased on your site, however, if like many of us that kind of capital is not readily available then perhaps Drop Ship selling is a better option.

Drop Ship selling is where you advertise goods for sale on your site, when you receive an order you pay the supplier who then ships the goods to the customer as though they came from you directly. A good method especially if you do not have the capacity to hold stock yourself. Most Drop Shippers require payment before the goods are shipped and you therefore need to have sufficient funds or business credit available to pay for them whilst waiting for your customers payment to clear into your account.

Remember most people who shop on line pay by credit card. You will have to make arrangements with a merchant bank or similar for this facility to be made available for you. Another part of the start up expenditure.

Once all the basics are in place it is a case of search engine optimisation (SEO) so that customers looking to purchase products you have for sale end up at your site not someone else's. This is an on going process as market trends are constantly changing and the way the search engines calculate your sites importance for its listing place also continues to change.

Having said all that, if you persist and get it right you should manage to recoup your initial outlay and make a reasonable living eventually. Do not expect immediate success it may take 12 months or more before you start to see the kind of traffic to your site you would like to see. How do I know this. I am going through this process at this time.

I have a site up and running with goods advertised for sale, all I believe at competitive prices, the cash flow is, however, still in one direction, outwards. If you would like to check the site out it is http://bestmobileentertainment.com Please pay us a visit and if you like what you see Like us on Facebook, recommend us to your friends so that they can like us on Facebook too or better still become a customer.Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you found it to be of some interest to you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Roy_Booth

An Overview on Group Buying - The New Discounts Trend

By Edan Barak


Group buying (Tuangou) is a process where several people co-operate online (friends and strangers alike), for the sole purpose of bargaining with a vendor in order to obtain incredible discount coupons on their items and services. Even though coupon sites have existed for ages, in SA these types of sites are still fairly new, and yet they have exploded to the scene within the past months.

The way it works is that the website negotiates with various businesses within the metropolis to obtain a group coupon which is offered online. The coupon "tips" and becomes valid only when there is enough interest in the product, at which time customer's payment is accepted (and not before). Usually these coupons offer discounts of a minimum of 50% off, and generally even much more.

As soon as you sign up to the site, you will receive every day deals by email. Every day a brand new offer will be sent, and you are able to decide if it interests you or not. You are able to of course easily unsubscribe if you're not interested in getting them anymore - it is extremely easy! As soon as you determine an offer is for you personally, suggest it your buddies too, as this will help "tip" the deal, and then the deal is on! If the deal doesn't get tipped your credit card is not charged and the deal doesn't go live.

Right: how about a sample of the coupons you can expect?

• Ever thought to go bungee jumping? Although it isn't that cheap, group purchasing can make that dream a reality. Bring your buddies, tip the deal and take your friends to the experience of a lifetime. You are able to effortlessly conserve as much as 60% on these types of offers.

• Massages and spa treatments are all the rage nowadays, providing you a good pause from that hectic schedule to find time for yourself. Coupons for massages at 50% will alleviate the stress within you And your wallet, so it's a win-win for all!

• Enjoying good eating, but not so much the bill at the finish? We offer deals on restaurants, espresso shops, and fine cuisine. Thai meals taste great at 50% off!

• Ladies, feel like pampering yourselves just a little? Pedicures and manicures are expensive, but you may find yourself an excellent coupon at a group buying website.

• You can even discover large savings on day-to-day necessities like hair cuts, dying your hair, and more. We'll throw in some fantastic day-to-day items once in a while, so keep up to date.

Can my business benefit from these services?

Offering deals is an amazing marketing strategy - cheap and effective. It is much better than traditional marketing because it is basically no-cost to the company. Either the coupon tips and you've countless new customers recommending you to friends and trying you out, or in the event the coupon does not tip you haven't lost any money. What other advertising medium can guarantee customers and profits, without any opportunity of loss?

Also, at 50% or more off, you will appeal to customers who in any other case would not be interested, or not be able to afford, your services. Of course, if they're happy with the service they receive, you will discover them promoting you to buddies and family members, bringing in additional potential product sales.

Some companies even admit they were not ready for such a large influx of new clients, and unfortunately couldn't fulfill all the new orders. Don't be one of these - prepare in advance for the day your coupon goes live so you can handle the phone calls and customers lining up at your door.

The author is a financial adviser specializing in home finances. He believes that online deals are the hot new trend, and would like to teach others how to enjoy coupons of up to 50% off without breaking the bank.

Chasing Sales Vs Building A Brand

By DT Turner

Whether you are a restaurant, a distributor, or a tabletop manufacturer, have you ever noticed how there's a lot of attention focused on selling stuff - whether it's a steak off from a menu or dinnerware from a catalog. All the attention is focused on how to get to a higher level of sales.....and, ideally, profitability. In today's economic environment, selling stuff is hard....often very hard....to do. Many times, when the sales effort gets as intense as it is now, what gets lost is the vision of why we got into this in the first place.

Restaurateurs didn't open a restaurant simply to sell more steaks, fish, or wine, they typically started their business to serve guests in a certain level of quality and ambiance. Dealers and distributors started to serve restaurants and hotels with certain types of products.....some specialized in food, some in non-foods. Manufacturers of tabletop products often started because they believed that they had a product that offered truly unique attributes that others had not previously provided. The common thread among these startups is the vision of what the product or brand would be. It is this brand vision - and the commitment to it - of what the brand is to be that gets us through the early stages when money is tight (ok, real tight), when you make mistake after mistake in refining the brand and its message, yet keep on going forward....and seemingly you are the only one who sees the future while others keep telling you that "you could get more sales/customers if you just changed this....or that".

One of my favorite examples where a great brand started to veer off track is Starbucks when, a few years back, tried to become music stores along with being cathedrals of caffeine. I'm sure some bright, well-minded MBA had some research that since Starbucks customers liked music, that music cd's were a natural for increasing sales...and Bam! Just like that, Starbucks was launching McCartney cd's and selling music like crazy. Only one problem - at least to the stores I had a habit of frequenting - Starbucks began to look like a music store that sold coffee.....rather than a coffee store that had a few cds. The music had gotten too prominent in the product mix, too slick in its presentation, and the artists we a little too mainstream. No doubt overall sales went up... for a while. But, I wonder what happened to coffee sales....and especially coffee sales to the original die-hard Starbucks drinker? My guess is that same store sales started to fade. (despite my continuing to invest on a near daily basis!) Certainly, the brand identity was blurred in my opinion.

I'm sure there's a bunch of folks in Seattle that would take issue with some of this, but the bottom line is Starbucks decided to go return to being local cathedrals of coffee.....i.e., rebuilding of the original brand vision. Yes...they still sell a little music - but it seems rather secondary in the scheme of things going on in a Starbucks store. Sort of like the cups, mugs and accessories they sell....all rather secondary to what the real game is all about - and that's coffee. The Starbucks brand is about coffee. What's your brand about?

Remember.....brand vision isn't about selling stuff.....it's about changing the world.

Are you chasing sales? Or building a brand?

Dave Turner is the Editor of Foodservice Tabletop Journal www.tabletopjournal.com, an online publication that focuses on America's restaurant tabletop products, people, and places. F/S Tabletop Journal's readership includes chefs, owners, purchasers, manufacturers and salespeople involved in products used on restaurant tabletops.

Turner has over 25 years of experience in the industry and offers insights into products, branding, brand positioning, and marketing in addition to profiles of products.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DT_Turner

Marketing A Multi-Branch Business Made Easy

By Pam Fuentes


Location based mobile marketing is the latest innovation in marketing strategies designed to change the way businesses will interact with their customers. It is basically a social media marketing technique that focuses on providing coupons, discounts, promotions and special deals to customers on mobile devices. The main thrust of this strategy, which lies between social media marketing and mobile marketing, is to place value literally in the hands of the customers.

Customers can use their mobile devices to take advantage of the deals and special offers of stores merely by "checking into" the store. On the other hand, businesses get the advantage of finding out how their presence on social media sites is bringing business and to what extent. They use social media as a tool to get more targeted traffic to retail stores, restaurants and other businesses.

Location based mobile marketing is an ideal tool for small businesses and restaurants because it is cheap and easy to use. It uses effective mobile marketing strategies in the context of its small business level to garner more customer engagement. This cutting edge strategy has a lot of potential and it has captured the imagination of marketing sites mainly because of its ability to use social media to generate tangible revenue.

The concept of location based mobile marketing has now moved far ahead of merely sending advertisements to a mobile phone by a company or an advertising agency. It is now used to cover all activities designed to deliver or receive information from the target audience through any mobile device or network in an interactive and relevant manner. The interaction with customers becomes more meaningful and interesting with the help of the following strategies.

Location Based Mobile Marketing: This strategy is based on the ability of the cell phone networks to locate a mobile phone user through triangulation or through the user's GPS system, if it is switched on. Once the location of the user is determined, the network sends an ad based on the facility available at that location. Even if the exact location is not specifically found and if he is in the vicinity, the network will send location specific messages or advertisements regarding the nearest store or restaurant.

Mobile Web Marketing: Advertisements, especially designed for mobile devices, are served on websites because many people are now accessing the Internet through their smartphones. Customized versions of the web pages carrying the advertisements are created by the websites so that the phones that do not have a full-scale browser can view these web pages. These specially created web pages carry new advertisements that are viewed by the mobile device users. Advertising spaces on mobile content pages are sold by Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.

Short Message Service (SMS) Marketing: This is a strategy that works both ways. While advertisers can send messages to a network of mobile users at the same time, the mobile users can also send messages back to the short code of the advertiser.

Multimedia Message Service (MMS) Marketing: This strategy is similar to SMS marketing but it has the added advantage of users being able to send videos, pictures or audio in addition to texts to the advertising company.

In-Game Marketing: Due to the increasing popularity of online games, relevant advertisements are placed at strategic locations in the games for a targeted audience. The placement might appear to be a part of the game but actually, it is a paid advertisement.

Location based mobile marketing is very effective as it covers a large range of activities.

BranchMaps.com provides business owners and marketers an instant, white-labeled location-based marketing solution. For more details visit the site http://www.branchmaps.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pam_Fuentes

Understanding the Consumer List

By Alice C Clark


Business consumers are a part of the everyday life of a business owner and they are a valuable part of their business. For one reason, they are the lifeblood of the business as they are the ones that keep these firms alive by purchasing products and services from these companies. Businesses also have a chance to grow when they gather enough consumers to let them purchase their goods.

So how can a business amass such numbers of consumers?

Businesses can get consumers to be interested with their wares by employing various marketing strategies to their sales campaigns. Through these marketing strategies, these businesses are able to pique the interests of their target consumers. This business leads to the consumers purchasing the products or services of the company and ultimately leads to the organization growing for the increase on the incoming flow of income.

It is said that there is not one person in this world that can please everybody. Knowing this, how can a business attract or pique the interests of the greatest number of consumers?

We already know that using marketing strategies can help bring in more customers, yet not everyone will be interested in their goods. So the best thing that a business can do is to first know their target market. The target market is the group of individuals and businesses that may have the highest interests when it comes to a certain product or service. For example, IT companies can target consumers that are technology savvy as they know that these types of consumers are the most likely bunch of people to purchase their products and services.

The next step for these businesses is to search for the consumers that fit into the category of their chosen target market. To do that effectively, businesses can purchase a consumer list from credible lead providers.

What is a consumer list?

Basically speaking, a consumer list is a database that holds entries of a particular category of fresh business sales leads that may have the highest interests with regards to purchasing a particular product or service.

In our example earlier on, since the IT business already knows that they want to target these technology savvy consumers, they can purchase a consumer list that holds contact information about these individuals. This makes sales lead generation campaign a whole lot easier to do and to manage. Additionally, business can save up on a lot of time searching for leads as they can now move on to the next phase of their marketing plan, and that is to properly qualify these leads.

How the business plans to use this consumer list is solely up to them. The list is very flexible in terms of usage for various marketing strategies. For instance, businesses can hold direct mail marketing campaigns towards these consumers or hold telemarketing programs to specifically target consumers located within their purchased database.
Contrary to popular belief, purchasing this list is not an expense but it is thought of as a great investment towards the business. The difference between the two is that an expense are those things that have no benefits that can be attained with the purchase, whereas investments have lots.

Such benefits when purchasing this type of list for a business' marketing campaigns are:

• Create a substantial increase towards the business' rate of income
• Save an immense amount of time doing the first phases of the lead generation procedures
• Entries within the list are already neatly categorized and sorted for the business; convenience
• Businesses are able to completely know and understand their target market

Alice Clark is a sales and marketing consultant specializing in business contact database management. Alice invites you to visit http://www.contactdb.com/ to learn more about business contact lists and databases.

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