Essential Marketing for Every Company, Product and Service

Consider marketing to be an ongoing process, rather than a discipline with a 'start' and a 'finish' and you are likely to reap far better benefits from your efforts.

Because marketing deals with an ever-changing entity: markets.

And markets are made up of dynamic, ever-changing buyers. They age, change their spending habits, adapt their tastes and their needs; people come and people go.

One of the most fascinating things about aging has been the realisation that I am no longer considered part of any real target market. No one fights to sell me property, insurance, furniture, music or fashion any more. I already have so many of those things. But if I want to replace a saucepan, I find they are now sold in sets. If I want one, I must buy six. Surely only newlyweds need six new saucepans...what on earth would I do with the other five?

And, let's be honest, I am no longer sylph-like, so in more ways than one, I no longer fit the mould. I'll only want a new home if I down-size; my furniture is mainly antique, not mass-produced; my music is mellow and has stood the test of time and I've bought all the insurance I can afford (and some I no longer can).

Marketers look to much younger people to buy most of their products: the teeny-weenies, the teenage hellions, the upwardly mobile or future families; in short, Generations Y and Z. On my part, that's good! The only marketers who still bother me are banks (and if they checked my bank balance and debt load first, they'd leave me alone entirely!)

Where to start with a marketing mix?

Affordability is as good a guide as any. No SME would book ongoing national TV coverage, for instance. Not only is it unaffordable, but only large companies and franchise systems can service national response to great TV advertising.

Here are ten great commandments for successful management of the marketing process:

1. Your market knows what it wants. You may be bright; you may be clever, but the people who buy (or don't) also have opinions and are easily swayed. Never assume you know what your market needs. Ask it! Tons of companies target markets that provide little of their income.

2. Continually ask questions. The best marketers have insatiable curiosity and questions reveal questioning, intelligent minds. Products fail daily because they are the wrong colour, are too big or too small...questions need answers; find them.

3. Back up all argument with evidential rationale. Argument without facts or proof to back it up is merely opinion. Just because we like something, doesn't mean others do.

4. Lead with strong conviction. It's management's job to lead onwards into new territory. If your team grumbles and disagrees, get them to find their own answers, but don't discount their opinions. Continually 'pushing the envelope' is essential to good marketing management.

5. Surround yourself with positive people. I'm in two minds about this...while essential optimists make every team easier to co-ordinate, I don't believe marketing should forge ahead without relevant research, assessment and report-back. If people don't like the taste, they'll only buy the muffin once and sales will drop before the marketing campaign is done. Ra-ra people may bolster your confidence, but they could also easily miss essential detail.

6. Learn from your mistakes. If you don't take risks and make mistakes, you won't learn anything about your products, your services or your market. Marketing without ongoing research markets to a vacuum. Always aim to reach beyond what you already know.

7. Don't do it alone. Whether you have an internal marketing team or you use an agency or freelancers, listen and include every opinion you can. Discover each person's value and apply it to the tasks in hand.

8. Commit to generating momentum and dynamic activity. Campaigns include providing feedback, like researching target markets, product popularity, service needs and follow-ups. How many enquiries did your promotion generate? Activity based on logic generates momentum and gets results, creating confidence in the marketing process.

9. Hire people who are smarter than you. For true innovation, new ideas are essential and new ideas are generated, not learnt. Find people who think differently and, once tested, let them manage new initiatives. By all means, expect status reports, but give them relative freedom to operate.

10. Honour your failures. That's right! With no failures, you've not learnt what your buying public doesn't like! Whether you use this approach in product design, service orientation or in the promotional context, failures give you valuable contextual information for future decisions.

National Nurses Day Celebration - May 6 Every Year- Thank Your Nurses And Nominate Them To Win Award

National Nurses Day on May 6 in the USA is a wonderful opportunity to honor Nurses throughout the profession. This is a profession that proliferates our lives from birth to death and with bittersweet emotions. Hospital Nurses work long arduous hours to cure the ill without the honor and benefits of many other occupations. They are often silent in their endeavors; yet, they are there when your Doctor is not!

We are all dependent on Nurses in many areas of our lives; school nurses help us, occupational nurses are there for our immediate injuries, emergency room nurses offer stat care to reverse many dangerous traumatic situations for us and our relatives and relieve our worries, home care nurses offer the opportunity to remain in our environment during illness, amusement park nurses provide first aid services, case managers are to act as our advocates with insurance companies, legal nurses can offer opinions on care or after care and even on lawsuits for poor care.

Some Nurses are visible in health newspaper columns such as some that I have written for newspapers and even on television as producers and hosts to inform the public. Some nurses are authors such as on the book" Nurses On Our Own" IUniverse publishers offering a unique perspective into the mystical land of the psychiatric unit, movie sets and home care visits as well as professional relationships with Doctors and the Police.

Where would we be without Nurses from the moment we are born to the moment we pass on , they hold a special place in the hearts of soldiers, children and the senior communities. We could remember them with awards such as Nurse of the Year Contests at AmericaNurse.com (not AmericanNurse) or by recognizing them on Calendars, sending flowers, sending special Nurses Day Cards and Thanking them for their dedication and sacrifice with their knowledge and emotions which enrich all of our lives. You may nominate a special Nurse at asktvnurse@yahoo.com who may be chosen for a TV appearance with Karon Gibson, R.N. on Outspoken with Karon TV Show in Chicago and California. Phone is 815 773 4497. Karon is a speaker on this issue and others. Info at AmericanTVProductions.com

Karon Gibson, R.N. CCM is a Registered Nurse with entrepreneurial skills. She has been the ER Charge Nurse and Psychiatric Head Nurse in Hospitals as well as the creator and President of an Independent Nursing Practice Business in Home Care and Consulting. As an occupational health Nurse, she worked with many TV stations and major motion pictures such as Risky Business, Doctor Detroit and others. She has written newspaper columns in Chicago. As winner of many awards in business and Nursing, she has provided a forum for the public to learn new and innovative health care trends and options in natural health health on TV and radio. As coauthor of NURSES ON OUR OWN, she offers inside information and insight on the health care system. As a speaker on Nursing and Business as well as A CPR for crime, she has taught men, women, children and seniors much information on wellness as well as illness. She has a wealth of information on alternative care treatments such as endermology, reflexology and irology. She is available at http://AmericanTVProductions.com or call 815 773 4497. A TV/HOST & SPEAKER!

Broadcast Interviews Sell Books and Every Author Should Take Advantage

Most of you who are reading this article probably have never stood in front of a microphone and can't believe they will be chosen for an interview on radio or TV.

Admittedly, unless you are fortunate enough to have a local TV station, chances are your appearances, at least early-on, will be limited to radio. But with the ever-increasing influence talk radio has had on syndicated shows and on Web radio, opportunities to reach large audiences are easily available to you.

Making It Easy

One of the great benefits of talk radio is the fact that you do not have to be present in the studio to be interviewed. Most shows are either taped or performed live with the interviewee sitting at a telephone at home possibly still dressed in his/her pajamas. The one major caveat is do not use a cell phone for this purpose. A landline is much clearer and reduces the possibility that connections will be lost.

Start small by booking interviews with small, local talk shows. These will introduce you to the medium, and will give you the opportunity to hone your broadcast skills as you climb up the ladder to larger local shows, then to regionals and finally to some of the bigger syndicated shows that have a national reach.

Don't dismiss these smaller local broadcasts. Many success stories have started on one of them. Producers of larger shows often listen to them in the car or elsewhere in an attempt to find new talent to interview on their show.

Also be alert to stations or niche talk shows that concentrate heavily on your special subject. Finding a program that targets your niche audience is far more effective than using a larger station with many more listeners, most of whom are not particularly interested in your topic.

Preparing for the Interview

It is always wise to try and listen to several editions of the show on which you are booked. That way you can get a far better sense of its format and the style of the program host. It will help you create a list of potential questions that you might be asked. That will help you plan answers that are relevant, intelligent and to the point. This exercise will make you much more comfortable when the actual interview begins.

If you haven't been booked, the exercise is extremely beneficial because it will help you frame a meaningful letter with precise points about which you are able to talk effectively. That kind of professionalism will impress the producer. You may want to present the topics as individual bulleted points.

Many authors submit a Press Kit along with the cover letter, and include the list of talking points. You will be surprised to find how many hosts actually use your listing as the guide for the interview. That is particularly true when you stress the way in which the show's listeners will benefit from what you say. Producers and hosts also appreciate a author who speaks passionately about the subjects he/she writes on.

On Air

It is extremely helpful if you are able to hire a professional media trainer before you begin broadcasting. However, they usually are expensive and many authors simply train themselves by continuously practicing until the subject is second nature and they are able to speak fluently and without hesitation on it. That way you avoid wandering off point or hesitating before you answer. Performing in front of a mirror is very helpful if you are headed to a TV interview.

When you go on air, it is important to recognize that listeners are far more interested in you than they are in the book you have written. As an author of a book they have read or one they have heard about, they want to learn who you are and what you think about many different issues.

Don't overwhelm, the listener with talk about your book. Of course, you should mention the book from time to time, but wherever possible, do it obliquely. You don't want the interview to sound like a sales pitch. More than that, a good host will cut you off if you dwell too much on praises of your work.

A number of studies have demonstrated that listeners tend to buy your book if they like you as an individual. So if you sell anything, sell yourself by offering crisp, meaningful answers delivered with a real sense of confidence. Not cocky. Not boastful. Just self-assured.

After the Interview

Be certain to thank the host when the interview ends. Send a note of thanks to the host and one to the producer who arranged the interview. Radio personnel frequently socialize and talk about their experiences. There's a good chance you may be touted to another host or producer, if you spoke well and left graciously. At the very least, you might even be invited back again.

So you see, the microphone is not a fearsome machine. If you prepare adequately and practice what you plan to say, your performance will be relaxed, light and informative. It's just that easy to take advantage of this superb promotional tool.

View more than 60 free, informative articles written by author and editor Charles Jacobs. They'll help you write, publish and promote your books. Find them on his new website http://www.wisewriter.com. Read his widely-heralded book "The Writer Within You," named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR seven times and a gold and bronze medal winner.

Most Americans Watch the Super Bowl Every Year

Each and every year, millions of people all around the world cook up their favorite junk foods and settle in to view the National Football League's championship game. The Super Bowl is televised in many countries all around the world, which has caused American football to rise in popularity. Viewing parties have become extremely popular and are a tradition within many social circles in the United States. Super Bowl Sunday is practically an American national holiday and spawned a culture all its own.

The first Super Bowl was held in 1967 and featured the Green Bay Packers versus the Kansas City Chiefs. Green Bay beat the Chiefs with ease and were crowned the champions of the newly formed NFL. Each year, a host city is chosen for the Super Bowl and all the events surrounding the game. Because of its massive popularity and draw, local businesses flourish during the week leading up to the event. Tickets for the Super Bowl are often scarce and expensive, so most people elect to watch the game from the comfort of their own home or at a local sports bar. No matter where you choose to watch the game, food and drink is an integral part of the experience.

According to a number of sources, Americans consume nearly as much food on game day as they do on Thanksgiving. Popular snacks include the standard chicken wings, nachos, chips, and other typically unhealthy fare. Many fans will also drink an excessive amount of soda, beer, and liquor. Although the game falls on a Sunday every year, that doesn't stop die hard Super Bowl fanatics from throwing a large game-viewing bash. Some even take the following Monday off from work so they can let loose and really enjoy the game. It's also common for fans to place a variety of different wagers on the game.

Exclusive broadcasting rights are sold to one of the major television networks each year. Extremely high ratings have caused Super Bowl commercial airtime to become the most expensive and sought after advertising slots. Many companies produce completely original and entertaining commercials just for the event and fork over millions of dollars for a very small number of runs during the game. A number of people that don't particularly like football watch the game just for the advertisements. The day after the game, the talk around water coolers all across America tends to be more about the commercials than the actual Super Bowl itself.

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Nearly Every Nation is Now Making UAVs and That Means the Terrorists Have Them Too!

In the war on international radical extremist terrorists the United States sure has the advantage in part thanks to all the new technology in the battlespace. For instance, consider the use of UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles if you will. Today, these technologies are being developed in nearly every nation on Earth. Did you know that Saddam Hussein once had a UAV program too?

Leveraging such technologies sure offers an advantage to whichever side makes the best use of it. Up until now it has been us in the United States, but that may not be the cause in the future. Since nations like North Korea, Venezuela, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, China and Russia all have UAVs and some very sophisticated equipment, it will not be long until the international terrorist cells are using these technologies against us and against civilian soft targets as well.

Even a model aircraft can carry enough explosives to kill large numbers of people. One Al Qaeda sympathizer had a diagram for a model airplane to carry a hand grenade and when it crashed the hand grenade would become live as the light weight frame around the aircraft crumbled. You can already see the problem with such flying UAV type scenarios. Although a weaponized model aircraft is not too alarming, it shows those who oppose freedom are thinking here.

The next step is logical and no one needs Tom Clancy to write about it in a novel to realize that it is inevitable. Let's face facts; nearly every nation, both friendly and foe is now designing and producing UAVs and that means the International Terrorists have them too! Think on this.

"Lance Winslow" - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/.