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Viral Marketing Case Study-A Super Bowl Proposal
Many of you remember the hype and hoopla generated back in Novemeber from the My Super Proposal website, a true gem of viral marketing, and definitely a case-in-point. Today we return to the story, digging in a little deeper and unveiling some of the mechanics that have kept this engine revving for the past three months.First, the history:My Super Proposal is a blog promotion project with the goal of aqcuiring major advertiser sponsorship for a televised Super Bowl wedding proposal. 2 mil was the goal. Though all advertiser spots have since been occupied, and though a total 85 thousand to date is a far cry from needed funds, Super Guy is definitely on to something. (The 85K is set to be donated to a local childrens hospital.)Let’s take a snap shot look at some of visibility this project has received, just to illustrate the point:An excerpt from Equitymind ’s blog:To sum all of the exposure up, here is a list of media and press

graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve.

CRM: “Customer Relationship Management” This is software that organises all your sales contacts, schedules activities and is used in targeted marketing campaigns. This is vital to all sales operations and there are many packages to choose from costing anything

Energizing Your Internal Audit Program
Planning for the Internal AuditThe key to an effective, thorough and value added internal audit is in the preparation. If internal auditors are spending one to two hours preparing for an internal audit, it is not enough time. To properly prepare for an audit, it should take twice to three times that. If the actual audit time will take an hour, there should be at between two and three hours spent in preparation. A good rule of thumb to spend about two and half times as much time in preparation as the audit will take. Often times, auditors plan for a two hour internal audit and spend 1 hour preparing which leads to them running out of questions about 30 minutes into the audit. I can’t stress this enough if you want to be a successful internal auditor or manage a successful internal audit program then make certain you spend adequate time in preparation for the audit.This sounds easy, but it is actually very difficult. The major obstacles to allocating enough time for

Terminology / Acronyms

ABC figures: This is the independently audited sales figure for all recognised publications in the UK. By using the ABC figure, you can quickly establish how much the advertising will cost per 1,000 readers. Account Managers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximising revenue returns from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Account Manager” will be good at winning new clients.

Blue Bird: This is an unexpected sales opportunity that has a high chance of turning into profitable business.

BRAD: This book lists every UK publication including magazines, newspapers, vertical publications etc. It also contains key information i.e. “ABC figures”, advertising deadlines etc and is one of the most useful tools available if you are looking to place advertising or embark on DIY PR. Comfort Factor Statements: Also known as credibility statements they show that you can deliver exactly what you say you can. They must not be emotive i.e. include words like “the best”, “fantastic”, “amazing”, “superior” or contain anything that cannot be proven i.e. “high level of customer satisfaction”, “unparalleled support”, unless supported by facts. Commission Plans: This is how a salesperson is paid for their efforts. It is strongly advised that you include a minimum contribution and ensure that if you plotted a graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve.

The 90 Day Sales Blitz
Are you worried about your sales slumping? Are your first quarter numbers looking lower? Is your pipeline looking softer than you'd like it to be at this point even though the economy is strong? Here's an idea that you can use to quickly pump up your sales. Its' called the 90 day sales blitz. The whole premise behind this is to rally the whole company around doing everything it can to support the sales team to close deals, expand the pipeline, get more opportunities into the forecast, and close deals that have been out there languishing for some time. Create a sales turn around plan with your team by pulling together everybody from sales, marketing, and operations and figuring out where's the low hanging fruit in the short term that we can go pick in order to bump our sales numbers up in the right direction.Where are our best opportunities that can close the fastest, what can we do to create more opportunities quickly through lead generation? How do we do direct m

turns from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Account Manager” will be good at winning new clients.

Blue Bird: This is an unexpected sales opportunity that has a high chance of turning into profitable business.

Think You Don't Have What It Takes To Own Your Own Business? Think Again!
Years ago when the Internet first started, just about everybody thought they could jump in and profit from their own home-based business. And why not?The optimism is warranted. A home-based business can give you immense time freedom to be with the ones you love, pursue your interests, or simply earn a good income without having to commute to a job and boss.Within a few years, just about all of us working online knew people who had succeeded magnificently in their home business,many earning hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars.But, sadly, the vast majority of people didn't make much if any money in their home-based business. They quickly discovered some of the pitfalls.The biggest problem was after you sold your shiny new product to your friends and family, you didn't have anyone else to sell it to. You made some money your first month, but soon the business died from lack of customer interest.Let's face it, ad

ains key information i.e. “ABC figures”, advertising deadlines etc and is one of the most useful tools available if you are looking to place advertising or embark on DIY PR. Comfort Factor Statements: Also known as credibility statements they show that you can deliver exactly what you say you can. They must not be emotive i.e. include words like “the best”, “fantastic”, “amazing”, “superior” or contain anything that cannot be proven i.e. “high level of customer satisfaction”, “unparalleled support”, unless supported by facts. Commission Plans: This is how a salesperson is paid for their efforts. It is strongly advised that you include a minimum contribution and ensure that if you plotted a graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve.

How to Conduct an Information Interview
An informational interview is simply a means of gathering information you need in order for you to choose which career path is right for you. It is not the same as a job interview because the job hunter is the one who conducts the informational interview.An informational interview is a great idea to undertake if you are just starting out and are not really sure what job suits you. Another reason to conduct an informational interview is when you are thinking of changing your career path and as such do not know much yet about the industry you want to break into. It is also a means to expand your network and talk to all kinds of people in a specific business area.By conducting an informational interview, you are in effect preparing yourself (1) for a better job, (2) for better chances in a new field, or (3) simply improving your current ‘market worth’ by networking and learning new things.Following are some simple steps on how to conduct a successful informati

he best”, “fantastic”, “amazing”, “superior” or contain anything that cannot be proven i.e. “high level of customer satisfaction”, “unparalleled support”, unless supported by facts. Commission Plans: This is how a salesperson is paid for their efforts. It is strongly advised that you include a minimum contribution and ensure that if you plotted a graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve.

Is a Business Plan Really Necessary?
You bet it is. Whether you want to borrow millions or only thousands; whether you've got the greatest idea of the 21st century or whether you just want to start up a small home based business, you need a Business Plan. One of the great myths is that you only need a Business Plan if you are going to borrow money from a bank. Not so. To go into any business requires a decision by you to do it. The Business Plan will help that decision. It is first and foremost for you.Going into business entails serious financial risk, a major investment of your time, even disruption to your home and family. You must understand your products, your customers, your competitors. You must be able to sell yourself at a minimum, as well as your products and you must have sufficient financial knowledge to start and run your business. The only way I know to be almost sure that your business will make it is to prepare a Business Plan for yourself first and later perhaps for others, including lendin

graph of gross margin and percentage of target it would create an incremental curve.

Double Bubble: Sales slang for two people being paid out the full amount of commission on a specific deal / incentive or the same person being awarded double the amount of commission.

Elevator Pitch: This term comes from the theory that if you are in a lift on the 10 th floor of a building you should be able to explain what you do before it gets to the ground floor i.e. about 10 seconds. This is often the opening statement of any form of communication and is predominantly used in lead generation and marketing activities.

Farmers: These are sales people who have great skills in getting repeat orders and maximising revenue streams from existing accounts. It is very rare that a good “Farmer” will be good at winning new clients.

Gross Margin: The difference between your buy price and your sell price.

Hunters: These are sales people who are very good at winning new accounts and getting the first order but tend to lose interest when they know that the new customer will continue to buy, this often makes them very bad farmers. Also known as New Business Sales Exec’s.

Kick Back: This is when a company gets an extra soft margin when they buy sufficient numbers / value of a product. i.e. if you buy 10 cars we will give you / or the company free servicing.

Minimum Contribution

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There are thousands of merchant account providers to choose from with all sorts of rates and fees associated with them. So how can you possibly save your time and money making the right decisions for your business?

‘A 5 percent increase in customer retention increases profits by 25 to 95 percent.’ ‘The greater the loyalty of customers, employees, suppliers, and shareholders, the greater the profits reaped .’ This is the received wisdom from experts on the nature and importance of customer loyalty. Yet in a world of product and service commoditization and as the timelag between imitations to innovation declines, how can organizations differentiate themselves to build loyalty? The answer lies with Customer Experience Management creating the ‘emotional responses and connections with products and brands tha are difficult to build in any other way’ . In effect marketing is not just concerned with the uniqueness of the 4 Ps and more focused on the way customers feel about you through the emotions evoked by the customer experience. Need this be surprising, or is this long overdue? after all a dictionary definition of loyalty refers to it as a ‘feeling or attitude of devoted attachment and affection’.

If you are setting up an aircraft washing business you need to be concerned with your management skills and the need to start by writing a business plan. I started my first aircraft washing service when I was 12 years old at a small airport in California.

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