Strategic Collaborative Marketing
Strategic collaborative marketing is a style and system of marketing. Marketing is a science and getting the word out about a product or service is vital to business. It is a known strategy that one cannot use just one method to market products and services. There needs to be at least two in play for each campaign. This goes for Internet marketing as well as traditional marketing principles. The more people who are spreading the word about your product or service the better off you will be at making money.
One of the oldest methods is to reciprocate marketing of services. Reciprocating services is one example of strategic collaborative marketing. If your product or service fits into the business strategy of another business, consider asking if they would put out your cards and flyers if you did the same for them. Another strategy is to offer coupons or discounts to customers referred to you by a strategic partner. This is a win-win situation for both of you. The other thing that could be done is to offer your services to them and vise-versa as a means of standing behind your products.
We all can’t provide the same services and be able to afford the start-up costs for adding additional services. By partnering with another associated business, you can take advantage of their expertise and they get yours as well. This method allows for businesses to work together and have synergy.
In order for many businesses to succeed, there has to be a unified strategy and a collaborative one. This planned initiative is considered strategic collaborative marketing.
Posted in Promotions | 
Tags: Collaborative marketing, marketing, strategic marketing | 
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Google: The New Microsoft
The other day I was watching TV and saw an ad for Google Chrome. The various scenes in that ad which all had to do with Internet Marketing and cloud computing using Google Docs, made me think. With all the new tools that are coming out from Google such as Google Apps, Chrome and the Android OS for smartphones and tablets, is Google becoming the Microsoft of the 21st Century? It seems like it as just about every new mobile device not made by Apple is using the Google Android IOS. This is basically where PCs were twenty some years ago.
The other thing about Google is its dominance in the Marketing arena. All the major tools we in the Internet marketing field use are from Google. There are a few tools outside the rink, but for the most part all the decent and known solutions all are coming out of Google’s camp. The one nice thing about the solutions is that they are not under attack yet. Everyone seems to be happy with Google’s dominance in the Internet realm.
The most interesting thing will be the competition between the Android based devices and Apple’s devices. The Android based devices are all Flash friendly compared to the Apple OS devices coming out into the market. Yes, the new version of HTML might phase out the need for Flash, but does that require jumping ahead of the gun and not supporting it? Obviously Google sees the need to keep it around awhile just as Blackberry does. There are more things that I could get into about this, but this discussion is on my other blog, MyFavoriteTechie.com.
Overall, I think the products that Google has given to us have been great and more keep coming. As I said earlier, the interesting thing will be where Google goes in the future between Internet marketing and operating system development for a new generation of computing devices.
Posted in Cloud Computing, Internet Marketing | Tags: Android, Google Analytics, Google Dos, HTML 5, HTML5 | No Comments »
The Future of Telephony
Alexander Graham Bell new thought that his telephone invention would change the world in the way it has. The strange thing is that even though advancements have been made to his invention, it has pretty much stayed the same in how the connection is made. From the beginning, the connection was always by wire. Now, those long distance wires seem to be disappearing as we move to a wireless and Internet based world.
People, both individuals and business, have been migrating from being chained to their desk phones for hours are now relying more and more on technologies that “cut the cord” and allowing more flexibility and mobility during the day. Right now, the residential phone service market has been moving more toward depending on their mobile phones for regular usage and the land line has been taking the back seat as no one is ever around to answer it.
Businesses on the other hand, have been taking a hybrid approach. Businesses have the option of using mobile phones in addition to their traditional desk phones for the times when business leaves the office. Now, there is another newcomer in the mix, IP telephony. IP phones allow the desk phone to go mobile anywhere there is an Internet or data connection available to the user. That could be their home office or mobile smartphone.
Somehow I think that with the roll out of LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile broadband, cellular phone service and IP phone service will converge into one solution. With the increased bandwidth of LTE, data speeds will become equivalent to office and home Internet connections allowing for improved voice and video communications. If these technologies combine, there will be a definite change in the telephone from the way that Mr. Bell designed it.
Lastly, with developments in software based PBX systems in the open source market, the ability to have phone numbers for multiple geographic areas converge at one switching point will allow for people to have an inexpensive solutions to being able to be everywhere and anywhere and not miss a phone call or need multiple physical phone lines.
Posted in Cloud Computing, Telephony | Tags: Alexander Graham Bell, Business phone service, IP Telephony, Long Term Evolution, LTE, Residential phone service, Voip | No Comments »
Inspiration from a Theme Park Attraction
When I was looking for inspiration to move into the business Internet Technologies solutions business, I could not help but reflect and look to one of my favorite Disney theme park attractions. That one attraction which became and continues to be the core source of inspiration is Spaceship Earth at Epcot® in Walt Disney World.
The lesson which I continue to carry through the business today is that man has always had the need to communicate with others. Whether it be a new discovery or an item to market, humankind has always found new and innovative ways to spread the word. From the beginning of recorded time to the Renaissance and all the way to the current Information age, we continue to seek out new ways to communicate, share information and develop new solutions to share our thoughts.
Just as Gutenberg’s printing press changed how printed information was published, the Internet has done the same but in an electronic manner. Whether we rely on web sites, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other interactive online communications methods, we are sharing with the world at large our findings.
We don’t know what will come next, but together we will continue to develop new means of communications with one another. From today, we will build a better tomorrow, therefore tomorrow’s Internet is being born right now.
Posted in Regarding the Company | Tags: Epcot Center, history of communication, Spaceship Earth | No Comments »
Hoboken NJ WordPress Theme
New Jersey is famous for several important cities and Hoboken is one of them as it was home to Frank Sinatra. This town was one of the worst towns for decades and then saw a renaissance in the last decade making it one of the most sought after places to live for young people with Washington Street as the key street in town.
Therefore, I have created a WordPress theme showcasing this little city located on New Jersey’s Gold Coast on the Hudson. I hope all who buy it and download it enjoy it.
Features:
- WordPress 3.0 compatible
- Title header
- Custom menu (optional)
- Large photo banner of Washington Street
- Two columns
Price: $4.95
To install:
Method 1
Go to your WordPress admin panel > Appearance > Themes
Click on “Install Themes” tab
Click “Upload” (link just under tabs).
Browse Computer for file.
Click “Install Now”
Click on “Manage Themes” tab
Locate “Washington Street Hoboken” theme and click “Activate”.
Method 2
Unzip “wash_st_hoboken_1.zip”
Upload contents to folder /wp-content/themes
Go to your WordPress admin panel > Appearance > Themes
Get More Results with Soft Marketing
Getting product to market is very important in order to see sales and return on investment. The trick with marketing nowadays is the approach to which marketing is done. Customers are tired of the obnoxious methods of marketing which very rarely yield conversion. The methodology which seems to be the most successful is soft marketing or “un-marketing”. What do we mean by this? The best way to make a sale is to build a relationship first with the customer and then the customer will come back to purchase the product from you. Yes, you do need to market the product traditionally, but do it with a friendly approach. People are not going to buy if they are pounced upon.
There are many ways to market products to customers softly. Some of those methods are through publications such as email newsletters, blogs, newspaper articles and the like. Another method is by just establishing a relationship with personal contact either face-to-face or with remembrances of special days like anniversaries and birthdays. People will come to you to purchase whatever product or service from you because they like you and remember you for what you did for them. The product becomes irrelevant to the situation. Greeting cards do a great job of this.
One company which has seized this niche is SendOutCards. They allow people to easily send custom greeting cards to customers for various reasons. By sending a card for a birthday or any other special day, the customer will come back to you for whatever product or service you may be offering. The best part of the product is that it ends up being cheaper than traditional cards purchased in the store. I can attest to this system because I am a customer myself and have found it to be inexpensive and efficient.
I can’t share enough how many people have tried to get me to buy into things by slipping them past me via lunches which were intended to be friendly. Personally, I don’t like being sold goods this way as it rushes the relationship. Buying a product is similar to dating someone. There has to be a period of getting to know the person before a bill of goods can be sold easily.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Relationship marketing, Send Out Cards, soft marketing, un-marketing | No Comments »
Cheap Template Sites
One of the many ideas that I have been playing with in the last few months has been the creation of a site with themed WordPress and Joomla! templates. I know there are thousands of sites out there already, but there are still many niche areas that have not been covered. Therefore, combining the concept of themed templates and cheap templates, I think there is room for some great enterprising.
If you’re from the New York City area, I’d be interested in comments on what scenes you’d like to see developed.
WordPress Themes Coming
In the upcoming weeks, there will be several new WordPress themes being showcased. These themes are designed graphically around points of interest in the New York City area and a few vacation destinations. The templates will be made available via individual posts on this and sister sites. Below is a sample of the themes coming…
- Washington Street in Hoboken, NJ
- Hoboken Rail Terminal
- Jersey Shore Beaches (Seaside Heights and Belmar)
- Disney World
The themes are being designed using Artisteer 3.o which one of the leading Web design software pacakages available now. It is possible that the project files for these templates will be made available at some point.
QR Codes with Branding
We have all seen at one point or another the QR barcodes that are scannable with an equipped smartphone. However, it is also possible to personalize these codes with minor modifications such as a logo. Being able to superimpose a logo on top of the QR code also can make a big difference in your marketing and branding.
It is not difficult to do I found. The secret is the location of the logo and the size. The actual editing of the code can be done in any image editor. All that is needed is the QR code in PNG, JPG or EPS format. The editor you choose will be dependent on the file format. Just make sure that the overlay does not cover more than 30% of the total area and does NOT cover any of the three large corner dots.
Posted in Printing and Graphics, Promotions | Tags: custom qr code, hacking qr code, hacking qr codes, QR code, qr code with logo | No Comments »
Putting the Human Element Back into Internet Marketing
Since the Internet came into the picture almost 20 years ago, a critical piece of marketing has slowly been lost. That little piece is the human element. We need to remember that a major element of marketing is through human interaction and relationships. People still buy from people they know and trust. Even though we have many tools now to get our word out online, communicating with people we know is still a key method to getting product out.
If we think back to simpler times, many businesses have started because friends and family were impressed with a unique feature about something we developed and told others about it. Slowly more and more people would find out creating a demand. Well, that same concept still exists with Internet technologies such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The first place we should start with is those in our inner circle. Once the inner circle has seen the benefits of our products and services, they will become the driving force of your marketing effort. The human element has not changed since the dawn of recorded time. The only thing that has changed is the method in which we engage the human relationship.
It seems that in an electronic world, where more and more is done online in order to avoid needing people, people are craving the personal interaction more and more. People want to see and talk to people rather than the ambiguity of being a number or record in a database. Businesses that cater to the personalized and human world are cherished rather than before where it was taken for granted.
