Monday, 1 September 2008

About Logos

By: Vukan Karadzic

What makes one logo better than another?

Simplicity.

A good logo works in the simplest form. It is a memorable representation of your brand and inspires confidence in your customers. It should be fresh and original -- without visual cliches or amateur effects. A logo is well-designed when it looks as good on a business card as it does on a web page or a billboard. To be functional, a good logo must reduce well to simple black & white or grayscale for use on faxes or in newspaper ads. The best logos are elegantly simple.

Why do you need a logo?
In a way, a logo is a visual shortcut to who you are. Your logo will establish your corporate identity and credibility. It builds loyalty among your clients and employees. You invest in your brand image every time your logo is displayed on a Web page, on a sign, or in an advertisement.

A professionally designed logo enables you to be immediately recognizable and must be unique, memorable and simple. Such a logo will become one of your most valuable corporate assets over time.

How does your current logo stack up?
Run down this logo quick test:

Does the logo have immediate impact?
Is it good to look at?
Is it distinctive?
Does it create or evoke a positive image?
Does it accurately represent the organization or business?
Is it straightforward?
Is it comprehensible?
Is it memorable?
Is it flexible?
Does it copy well?
Will it hold up to both large and small scale use?
Will it wear well over time?
Will you be proud to use it?

Author Bio
Vukan Karadzic is the main logo designer at E Logo Design company.

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Labels: MARKETING

MLM Training: Let Prospects Close Themselves

By: Ed Forteau

Network Marketers lose many prospects because they try too hard to close the deal. It is a natural reaction for people to shun being sold, but they love to buy. By letting prospects close themselves, you will end up putting more people in your downline.

Most MLM Trainers tell networkers to sell features and benefits. When promoting a network marketing opportunity, features and benefits selling is hard work. The prospect is always suspicious, and moving away from you.

The way we eliminate this fear and suspicion is to use what we call a Crossover Move.

Let's demonstrate what happens when a Crossover Move is used:

The Prospect says, "I really like your opportunity."
The Networker says, "Interesting. Based upon our discussion to this point, I would not have guessed you had any interest in my opportunity. What did I miss?"

Did you see the Crossover? Instead of moving in for the close, we gently moved away, and let the prospect close himself. Let's continue and see what happens next.

The Prospect says, "Maybe you missed how your marketing system will solve my problem with duplication."
The Networker says, "Really. I'm still a little confused. Could you be a little more specific?"
The Prospect says, "Sure. By doing... "

Did you see what just happened? The prospect is doing all the work to close himself. The prospect is buying, not being sold. Isn't that easy? Just one last move, and then we're done.

The Networker says, "John, what would you like to do next?"
The Prospect says, "I'm ready to sign-up."

No surprise stalls or last minute objections. The prospect feels in control, and is moving the process forward. And because of this, he is much more likely to sign-up for autoship and start signing up other distributors right away. Because he bought, he is self- motivated.

The Crossover Move consists of two parts: the build-up and the take-away. Here's an example:

"Conversational Recruiting^TM has been called the most powerful recruiting process in Network Marketing, but it's not for everyone."

The build-up is: "Conversational Recruiting^TM has been called the most powerful recruiting process in Network Marketing."

The take-away is: "but it's not for everyone."

The build-up captures the imagination of the prospect, while the take-away entices the prospect to want to know more. The prospect then begins selling you on why they would be interested.

Once you've mastered the fine art of the Crossover Move, you can sit back and watch your prospects sell you on wanting to get involved with your network marketing opportunity. You build up, then take away; build up, then take away... and if you do that long enough, prospects sell themselves.

Why is this called the Crossover Move? Because it is the opposite of what MLM Trainers tell networkers to do when recruiting someone new into network marketing. It crosses over from the expected, to the unexpected. Most of all, like all Conversational Recruiting^TM methods, it just flat-out works.

Achieving MLM Success requires that you step away from the norm. Crossover Moves allow you to do just that, and step into the ranks of the Super Recruiters.

Author Bio
Ed Forteau & Kevin Paschke help you Attract, Sponsor, Retain, and Develop all the distributors you will ever need. Sign up for their 15 Day Conversational Recruiting^TM Advanced Mini-Course at www.ConversationalRecruiting.net and put more distributors in your downline now!

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Labels: MARKETING

How To Gain Monopoly-Like Profits Through Ethnic Marketing

By: Michael Bolden

Introduction
In today's U.S. marketplace, marketing to various ethnic audiences is vital to consumer-oriented product and service companies. Latinos and African Americans already have a critical mass of buying power of over $1 trillion combined and this total is increasing rapidly. The growth of the Hispanic and African American affluent and middle class is occurring faster than the majority of Caucasian Americans. These ethnic audiences are becoming so large and lucrative that even sub-groups of them command substantial buying power. Becoming the dominate player within a sub-group such as affluent and middle class 2nd generation Latinos would allow a company to make substantial revenue and develop a strong loyal customer base. To "own" an ethnic market space would enable a company to obtain monopoly-like profits!

The 4 Benefits of Owning Ethnic Spaces
Tapping into and creating ethnic space monopolies is at the heart of this article and should be the goal of every ethnic marketing plan. Owning an ethnic market space yields the following 4 critical benefits:

1. High Monopoly-Like Profits
2. Loyal Customer Base
3. High Lifetime Value of Customers
4. Low Competitive Dynamics (Competition Blind Spots)

It is for this reason that ethnic marketing and owning market space in the Hispanic and African American audiences is not a "side" item, but a vital strategy which affects the whole enterprise and will only increase in importance as this century progresses. This kind of marketing can turn a marginally profitable company into a revenue generating "powerhouse" and an unprofitable company into a firm that operates solidly in the "black" - no pun intended.

Importance of Perceived Needs
The first step to finding "ownable" ethnic market spaces is to discover which groups of ethnic consumers are underserved or are not actively targeted by an industry's product or service offerings. An executive, manager, or business owner must find an ethnic market space with a differing set of values, and different perceived needs than mainstream consumers. For example, Hispanics believe that family life and the home are very important, so products and services by a company geared toward key aspects of domestic home life have a chance to dominate niches within that space.

The most powerful driver of finding an untapped market space of ethnic customers is perceived need - whether that is for basic functionality or additional comfort or luxury. One may say that this is also true for the general market but a good marketer will understand that this perception of need differs from mainstream consumers. Latinos and African Americans view the world and products & services from a completely different paradigm than Caucasian Americans. Their values, lifestyle, cultural and taste are all different from the mainstream and this phenomenon translates into unique selection, buying, and usage habits for a given set of goods and services. For example, the urban African American 'middle class' higher desire for stylish and designer brand items and the raised threshold for luxury should be a driving factor in developing products and services for this market space.

Capitalize on Heterogeneous View by Competitors
An additional key factor for locating potential monopoly spaces is to examine ethnic spaces overlooked by the competition. In the multicultural marketing of even the most progressive companies, often whole ethnic groups are viewed heterogeneously. Especially for Latinos, this could not be a bigger mistake. Latinos have a multitude of sub-groups that are the result of the following major factors:

1. Country of Origin
2. Acculturation
3. Generation
4. Spanish Language Usage
5. Level of Affluence

A company cannot expect to use mainstream marketing to effectively reach Latinos and African Americans. For Blacks, the "they speak English too" syndrome pervades throughout industry and is used as an excuse for not trying to understand the various segments within the African American consumer audience. For astute executives and marketers, "broad brush" marketing by the competition to ethnic audiences represents huge opportunities to own a substantial set of key niche spaces within the Latino and African American audiences. To many marketers, these ethnic niches are invisible. This creates the perfect opportunity in many industries for companies to choose and capture valuable niche spaces within Hispanic and African American consumer audiences.

Important Relationship Strategy
Strategically, it is important for an executive or marketer to develop deep relationships with a particular ethnic audience. This relationship is particularly important for companies offering a service or providing a product that differentiates itself in the marketplace. This means not just having marketing featuring Latinos and African American characters and themes but targeting specific groups within this audience. This type of marketing will really speak to the target group and develop deep ties with them that will be hard to break by competitors. It is important to concentrate on a key set of sub-groups to maximize penetration and effectiveness, and to create a strong base. A company's product or service should not try to be all things to all members of the larger general ethnic group - this is a recipe for a weak market.

Conclusion
Owning ethnic market space is very profitable and in the near future for the U.S. market, it will become essential to ensure business growth. Companies are now looking to ethnic minority groups as a source to fuel their growth as the mainstream market continues to be over-saturated. To own a space, it is vital to let the perceived need of a targeted group drive the product or service offering, and to understand the nuances in reaching sub-groups within the greater minority audience. This creates markets within the U.S. which are equally or more attractive than China or India, due to their easier accessibility and huge buying power. In most consumer industries, these ethnic sub-space pockets are huge gold ores just waiting to be mined!

Author Bio
Author Michael Bolden is a Managing Partner of the Chatham Consulting Group. To learn more about ethnic marketing visit Chatham Consulting's website at www.chathamchicago.com and also obtain a full report based on this article in the "Free Stuff" section. Readers of this article and visitors to our website are eligible for a free 20 minute consultation on your company's multicultural marketing.

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Labels: MARKETING

Introduction to Trade Show Booths

By: Rob Dougan

Trade show booths come in an array of styles and designs that will show off your products, your services or your company in an unforgettable manner that offers a unique appeal, which is intelligent, chic and contemporary. Most trade show booths are very easy to assemble and transport to make your experience a more enjoyable one.

Choosing the perfect trade show booth to accommodate the products that you wish to display will be very easy once you know just how much room you will have at the trade show and how much material you will be presenting.

A bit of flash and sophistication never hurt a presentation. You only have a few minutes to grab the attention of a potential customer, client, or buyer. As they walk past your trade show booth, you must have something that will draw their attention, whether it is your personality, the products themselves or a very unique design displayed to entice.

To begin with, you should choose a trade show booth that will fit properly with the allotted space you have been assigned. You can choose from 10 feet by 10 feet, 10 feet by 20 feet or 20 feet by 20 feet Truss trade show booths. Each one has a compelling appeal that with the right graphics will draw a crowd to your booth. Be sure to get a trade show booth that will hold everything you wish to present without your visitors feeling claustrophobic, clutter will definitely turn them away. They should be able to walk around and through your display without bumping into items and knocking items off counters and shelves.

Remember most people will notice items that are eye level. This is where the main attraction should be. You want the area to be well lit, colorful, and maybe even add some music. You must attract attention just before they get to your booth. If they notice a pleasant, stylish, elegant trade show booth, they will at least stop and look around.

Now, you should start to think about what trade show booth you should purchase. In the 10 feet by 10 feet style, you can choose from the Carina, the Pluto, the Mars, Mercury, Cygnus, Lyra, Castor, and Sirius. All of these styles offer durable steel construction, 2 or 3 tabletops in either lightwood or silver in color, 2 or 3 silver spotlights, and the tools for assembly.

If you believe a 10 foot by 20 foot trade show booth will present your products better then you can decide on some quality and professional looking booths such as the Andromeda which comes complete with 4 tabletops and 5 silver spotlights, the Hydrus with 2 tabletops and 5 silver spotlights, the Venus with 5 tabletops and 4 silver spotlights, the Saturn with 2 tabletops and 5 silver spotlights, the Polaris with 4 tabletops and 5 silver spotlights, and the Arcturus with 4 tabletops and 7 silver spotlights. Each one of these trade show booths will have potential customers clamoring to your display to see what you are offering.

Next, in line to consider are the 20 foot by 20-foot trade show booths. You may believe these are just too big for your company. Nevertheless, remember you do not want any clutter and you want your guests to be able to walk around and feel comfortable while they are eyeing your products. This size may be the perfect size to display everything you wish without any worries about missing something you believe is an important selling feature. You can choose from Truss trade booths in this size and style that include the Cassiopeia, the Centaurus, the Neptune, the Jupiter, the Vega and the Orion. All have wonderful features that you desire with steel construction and easy to assemble.

Prices for trade show booths may seem a bit expensive, especially if this is your first time being involved in a trade show. But, you must remember trade show booths are an investment. You can use them time and time again and with the quality steel construction, they can last for years to come. Spending the money now to make a statement for your company is a wise decision that can lead to more money and loyal customers in the years to come.

There are also many different accessories that you can add with your trade show booth that will give your company many more options when presenting your services or products to the world. Enjoy setting up your booth and bring in more customers with the perfect trade show booth with a style of elegance, innovation, and style.

Author Bio
Everything Displays is an online retailer offering a full selection of trade show displays, booths, exhibits, and display accessories. Their website is www.everythingdisplays.com

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Labels: MARKETING