Simplicity Designs

A guide to Marketing Communications in a Flat Market

Friday, October 23rd, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

Introduction We’ve all seen the media frenzy over the banking fiasco, the so named “credit crunch” and redundancies as companies panic. In talking with clients and customers it’s becoming quite clear that there is a need for business as usual. Products still need to be made, distributed and sold and services commissioned.

The car industry has seen a massive decline in sales but just watch any commercial TV station, have the ads disappeared, no, has your favourite newspaper or magazine disappeared from the shelves, the answer is probably no.

In our experience there is much business out there and buyers want to deal with positive and enthusiastic people. Cutting back on marketing budgets is not good for your business and the wider economy. Keeping your company in the public eye is paramount. Adopting hermit strategies and falling back on old campaigns and images only dates your identity and makes you less visible. Just take a look near Christmas time, at a certain men’s aftershave featuring a man and the ocean. It’s been recycled for the last ten years as I can remember.

Ask you self this question; “Who would you rather do business with, a positive, enthusiastic company that seeks the opportunities or one with its head buried in the sand crying credit crunch?”

Recycling is the buzz word of this decade but not when it comes to marketing and PR, your brand image or customer communications, these need to stay fresh and up to date. The same applies internally with your employees, keeping them motivated with a positive outlook reflects in how they deal with customers. People buy from people and they come back to happy helpful people.

So before you all reach for the sick bucket or discard this as pure puff, remember it’s about a steady hand on the tiller but on the optimistic side of the fence.

The Detail behind It So lets take a few of the messages raised in the introduction and look at these in more detail.

Media Frenzy We see this so many times over something that could be described as trivial. Just look at the pandemic swine flu story, breaking it back to the real world, a girl went on holiday and came back with a bit of a runny nose!

Within a few hours of media interest in a story you can be the biggest thing from Boston to Budapest, all caught high def, colour corrected, computer enhanced. But what many stories lack, is depth and realism, it’s easy to whip up a panic or over reaction to an event, it’s harder to take a balanced view and report the facts, why, because that takes time, creativity, but is less interesting and doesn’t sell newspapers or generate viewer ratings and we site page views.

The media can be your friend or you foe - it all depends on if it’s a slow news day and what side of bed they got out of!

Take the banking fiasco as already mentioned, if this had been covered more neutrally then less banks, local authorities, businesses and home owners would have lost out . Fewer jobs would have been lost as less panic and knee jerk reactions created as companies laid off thousands of staff amid a banking freeze on loans and credit. All of which were perfectly acceptable the day before!

In terms of a company’s marketing communications then the media has a lot to answer for, it can make or break an economy, drive a share price higher or lower. As they say in the City “buy on fact sell on rumour!”

Layoffs and Panic Leading to Motivated Staff?

Well that would be great wouldn’t it? Well taking into account what has been said so far, lets take a look at two set ups, the panic company and the realistic company.

The Panic Company

Watches the news and lays off all un-required staff - well un-required in their opinion, so they remove the temps, operations and marketing all seen as an unnecessary balance sheet item. Sounds good to a Financial Director. Wrong. Now you have no market presence, no new campaigns and no new customers and because you sacked operations, no one to do the work!

The Realistic Company

This company looks at its sales, balance sheet and order book. Gathers its staff and makes a statement - no layoffs if we can maintain our current position. What the directors say no growth, what about my bonus! Well they are just that, bonuses not guarantees. This is where maintaining a market presence and sales in a recession should be considered as growth! Alien concept - no it shouldn’t be because your company is not going backwards like everyone else’s. With them cutting back and you maintaining presence and sales you gain market share - just by doing the same thing you did last week with the same team of people.

This company then talks to its employees and motivates them to look for opportunities, the ways to maintain sales, retain customers and to seek the sales and to deliver the service. Other companies will not, because they are panicking, laying off staff and failing to deliver on service. Their staff will be distracted, worrying about redundancy and are unfocused on the job, that or they just will not care.

Strategy

Hermit strategies leading to budget cut backs again are based on knee jerk reactions to a change in market conditions. Companies need to start being led by marketing and market conditions, not by accountants that only have historic information to base decisions upon. Sets of management accounts fail to deliver market opportunities and don’t motivate staff to go that bit further to look after an existing customer.

Now is the time to exploit the panic and cut backs your competitors are making and to raise your presence in the market place. Crawling under a rock and hoping it’ll get better just means people won’t remember you. Your competitors are concentrating on something else, now is the time to make a move. There is also another key opportunity, a market full of skilled people looking for work - you could gain some key assets, a time to change out some dull pennies and gain a shiny new 5p!

Marketing

A company loosing it market visibility is a real problem, we look at how this happens. Being a marketing consultant means that this can be summed up in two ways, less Marketing and PR and less customer communication.

Employees still read newspapers and magazines; it’s one of the last cut backs they make, their favourite read. This is where a well thought out PR strategy can work and it’s cheaper than display advertising and if you can do it in house - it’s essentially free.

Businesses still visit websites - so keep them up to date with fresh content and images. Find information that your customers would need or be interested in.

Direct Mail has for a long time fallen from favour , due to the low response rates. How does 98% wastage sound when you try and justify the cost? Well targeted small campaigns can give 12 - 20% response in my experience. Some of this has transferred online but as the public have got fed up with Junk Mail, so too have they started to shy away from an over full Inbox. Subscription based newsletters are one way to build both customer and prospective customer awareness of your brand .

There are of course other methods like sponsorship but measuring the response and attributing it to direct sales becomes more difficult. Exhibitions and trade shows used to do well, but with more sellers selling to you and less footfall from the buyers, picking the right event is mandatory.

Internal Communications

Internal communications is in some firms far from the agenda of the board room table; in others it is fully integrated into the organisation and embellished with the drive and determination of top management so that it succeeds. Good internal communications strategy and implementation motivates work forces and generates clear, useful communication to drive the company forward and ensures all employees take ownership of the positive side of honest communication of both opportunities for improvement and praise of fellow workers. Employees need to know what direction an organisation is heading in, where their individual and team roles fit in and what they have to do in order to achieve the goals set. People will put every effort into advancing the business if they can communicate their ideas.

So what do Internal Communications strategies look to achieve , well with many organisations it is the desire to further the quality standards needed in the business environment and to transpose that need internally towards its employees. With others, it is driven by the speed at which the business environment is changing and hence the need for the firm to change. In this case good internal communication is delivered through a company vision and a change in focus toward face to face or more personal communication.

In order to achieve this, an organisation must understand several aspects to the organisation. It is necessary to understand the environment of the employees and what likely influences there are. These factors that influence employees include line management, immediate workers and any subordinates. As well as their own set of values, but also, those of their colleagues that surround them in the working environment. The crucial points of influence are, and always have been, our own co-workers. Peers influence more than managers influence subordinates. Added to this are the issues of culture and the sub culture of the company. Politics play a part as does the management style. In all a complex set of variables are at play.

The communication environment is conceptualised via the modification of the concept of communication taken from the Chartered Institute of Marketing. The author has added to this concept to include the environment of the employee.

If the firm understands the environment of the employee then it can use the best methods to get information to each person.

The second aspect the organisation needs to understand are the perceptions of the employees concerning the information they receive. If the company understands this aspect as well, then it will know what information is best received. Hence an appreciation of these two aspects will indicate whether or not an Internal Communications strategy is working. Management is then in a position to either continue or change its strategy.

The importance of this article is to bring to the fore the need for company to appreciate these two key aspects of the organisation and then to plan an Internal Communications strategy that works.

Author : Peter G Davey MA DipM

Step By Step Guitar Lessons for Beginner

Friday, October 23rd, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

When you begin learning the guitar properly, the boring thought of taking simple guitar lessons for beginners is no match for the excitement of impressing yourself and others by playing something that everyone knows. When you tell a guitarist that you are learning to play, he or she may show you some chords to a famous song and you get a buzz from being able to do something and it feels great. However, this can mess things up for you later on, because you might now be thinking:

I’ve just learned a song, so I probably don’t even need to go back to basics anymore, or this is so much more enjoyable than learning the basics, so I’ll just keep on doing this. It’s easy to get lured into learning bits of songs from friends and instead of just spending a little time on learning the basics. By basics, I’m talking about things as simple as holding the guitar properly or what to look out for in hand positions etc.   The more ‘bitty’ the way you learn, the less likely it is that you’ll see it through because you’ll end up glossing over all the early lessons and learning how everything fits together. It’s a bit like learning that 2 x 2 is 4, but without knowing how to count; it will catch up with you at some point. 

Whether you’re starting out, or if you feel that what I’ve mentioned is about to happen to you, try to reign yourself back a little and remember that the simple guitar lessons for beginners set you up for the long term - don’t be tempted to skip over them.  They shouldn’t take long to get through and everything else will slot into place a lot easier so you will be able improve your guitar skills quickly - play the long game!

I’m going to sound like a school teacher saying this but you shouldn’t overlook those simple guitar lessons for beginners that sometimes look as if they’re going to be too easy. I admit that there’s no comparison between them and cranking up the volume of an electric guitar and straight away belting out a few riffs. That’s why so many new guitarists don’t give learning the basics much thought.

Your guitarist friends are only too keen to show you how to half-play a few songs and it feels good to make noises that you can recognize. When you get into this trend, there are a couple of issues that pop up, because:

• You’ve skipped the basics and gone straight to the good stuff
• You don’t know what you’ve missed out on and what effect they would have had

When you miss out the first steps to becoming a guitarist and start a little further along, you won’t notice any problems to begin with, but when the honeymoon period ends, it will be quite difficult to find things that you can play and learn quickly.  With a set structure to get you through the ‘dull’ early stages quickly, you will know how good you are supposed to be at each stage and what you should be playing.   When you learn as you go, progression is usually slower and less thorough meaning, that you are:

• In danger of hitting ‘the wall’
• Easily frustrated by what you can’t do
• Much more likely to give up
• Going to sell yourself short

Something which heavily influences whether someone will stick with the guitar is how you start learning.  These ‘dull’ and simple guitar lessons for beginners do so much more than you realise, so please use them. They help set you up to become a decent guitarist much faster, instead of becoming one of the many that lose interest and in a year or so probably won’t touch a guitar again.

Ugg Boots For Kids Are Available Online

Friday, October 23rd, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

Cooking Tools for The Kitchen Connoisseur

Friday, October 23rd, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

With so many people cooking at home today with concern of things like e coli and botchalism, many kitchen home chefs are purchasing small kitchen appliances. The small kitchen appliance has advanced to an engineering marvel offering so many options and features at a very affordable price. Depending on your circumstance, there are many choices that are open to you.

The first thing to consider is the acquisition of a mixer. Mixers are ideal for baking but offer so much more. A Kitchenaid professional mixer comes in a number of different models and feature sets. KitchenAid is considered to be the world’s formidable mixer, but there are other options if your budget is lower. Look for a mixer that has a good power level, so you do not outgrow the mixer. Also try to find one with the option for adaptability thought the use of attachments. For example, you can buy KitchenAid mixer attachments for their line of mixers. This includes can openers, meat grinders, and juicers. Other mixers will have similar attachments that you can purchase that make owning a mixer just not for making cookies.

The next thing to consider purchasing is a quality food processor. There are many outstanding makes of food processors like Moulinex and Cuisinart. This one appliance is considered the best time saver in the kitchen. When buying a food processor, look for one that has an excellent warranty. Magi Mix food processors have one of the best warranties in the business. A reputable company also has excellent customer service.

Staying healthy and cooking at home is even simpler than ever using the right kitchen tools. Be sure to check online reviews and consumer reports before buying any small appliance.

Our Noni Juice meets the highest standards

Friday, October 23rd, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

Being active and living a healthy life is everybody goal. But it does not just happen by accident. Making healthy choices every day is required.

Noni is a major part of the traditions of the Pacific Islanders. Historically these traditions are centered on the Noni Fruit being a food staple and its medicinal properties it is highly prized. Generally known by its scientific name Morinda Citrifolia this bumpy strong smelling fruit is a light green colour. Its health benefits far exceed the strong smell it gives off when ripe. Traditionally it was a part of the rather effective healing practices. We have universities and private laboratories to study the Noni Fruit and Plant in this century but sometimes the advice of an experienced Tahitian elder still opens up surprising new avenues of use .

One of everybody’s priorities is certainly staying healthy and keeping fit. Our recommendation for a healthy daily lifestyle is to include our Tahitian Noni International Noni products.

For over two thousand years, the people of Tahiti and other Polynesian cultures have considered the Noni fruit a secret to good health. Its widespread use in traditional cultures is well documented. TAHITIAN NONI Juice, our Noni juice is made the same way with the added benefit of modern pasteurisation.

As indicated at the bottom of all our web pages, these statements have not been evaluated by the US FDA and these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Our website has further information and ordering information.

Apple Cider Vinegar Acid Reflux cure

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

Haven’t you heard of the Snow white story where in she was sent into the underground for taking an apple bite. In reality, apples can do wonders that you will be surprised upon knowing that it was an apple that caused it.

Death caused by any illness is the worst fate anyone can encounter. Before you can meet the bad end, you should know that there are still natural treatments that you can do to cure your illness.

Many houses still uses apple cider vinegar cure for a large number of diseases. Many studies have shown that it can cure a large number of ailments such as allergies, acne, sinus infections, flu, high cholesterol, candida, chronic fatigue, contact dermatitis, sore throats, gout, arthritis, and acid reflux.

Large number of individuals still suffer from GERD or Acid Reflux. Acid Reflux symptoms occur when the lower esophageal sphincter weakens. This causes the ingredients of stomach especially the liquids to climb back from stomach. Pepsin is the one responsible for the digestion of proteins while the acid from the stomach causes burns at the esophageal wall causing heartburn or chest pain.

Once diagnosed by your physician, you should comply with the medication and treatment given to you to prevent complications.Acid reflux can be treated by antacids most of the time, but some patients will be complaining that it only makes their condition worse.

Some possible treatment for GERD is usually found in the kitchen and if you cannot find one on your kitchen you can go to your nearest supermarket and buy one.

Consume few drops of apple cider vinegar mixed in water atleast few times a day or before meals as a natural rememdy to treat heart burn. A stronger concoction is needed if you are in the process of treating the disease.

In spite of side effects like burning sensation in tongue, still as long as it provides relief then you can safely use it as studies shows that it is indeed effective.

Learn more about Acid Reflux Recipes and Diets.

How to Get More Customers into Your Small Business with Custom Neon Signs

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

Neon signs were first introduced in 1910 that was shown at the Paris Motor Show by a Frenchman named Georges Claude.   It wasn’t until thirteen years later that custom neon signs made their way to the United States, and the rest is history.

Nowadays, one can order their own custom neon sign that will help get your business noticed.  The meaning of the word neon is neos, which is a Greek term meaning, new gas.  Neon lighting was invented obviously after the traditional electric light bulb was invented.  In the beginning of the days of neon, the only color available was red.  When neon technology started to grow, many other colors became available.  Today, there are over 150 different lively colors that can be used for your custom neon sign.

Custom Neon Display Signs Draw Attention

Even since the beginning of neon signs, they grew in popularity by capturing the imagination of the consumer and businesses.  Nowadays, neon signs are equated to large electronic message boards.  Whether these neon signs announce the name of your company, promote your product, or advise you that the place of business is open, custom flashing moving neon signs not only are easy to remember, they also get your business noticed.

Once retail establishments found out about the power of neon signs, the trend was born and today one can find at least one neon sign wherever you turn while you are out and about.

Affordable Small Business Advertising

What makes custom neon signs an attractive way for advertising is that they are quite affordable.  The brilliant colors grab peoples attentions” from selling cars to selling beer, custom neon signs has a place in every business to promote what you sell or offer.  The other positive for neon signs is that you can decide on the exact message that you want to get across to your potential and existing customers.

Typically, the custom retail neon sign is one of the more popular ways to display the name of your business in bright, big letters.  Actually, if you the business owner needs more exposure after sundown, it is the best option available for you.  Almost all restaurants, motels, and hotels, that caters to an after-sunset market, and if you need to promote yours, custom neon signs are the way to go to successfully promote your business.

Neon Signs for the Home?

Thanks to some intelligent marketing, custom neon signs have made their way into the personal world from the business world—cartoon characters in the form of neon signs being an instant hit for children.  More samplings for the consumer market of custom neon signs are diner signs, neon clocks, and old neon bar signs are quickly becoming a hit on the private market.

With all custom neon sign manufacturing companies would certainly be happy to produce any custom sign according to your specifications.  So, if you need a custom neon sign telling people about your business, or you want to add neon signs of your favorite sports team to your home, custom neon signs are the way to go.

Order a custom neon sign for your business from Neon Signs 4 You.com today!

Why in the world would You Want a Coffee Alternative?

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

Well we all joke about the delirious effects of our beloved Java Juice but in the end we know deep down the stuff is just really not good for us.

Everyone has likely seen the cartoon with the man holding a smoking shot gun standing next to the breakfast table with his family laying there dead as door nails. The caption below reads “a little bit too much caffeine this morning there Bob?”

Sure we laugh at it, but why? Well, because we can in some way relate. You see something is not really all that funny unless there is at least a little smattering of truth to it.

The fact of the matter is we all know what it feels like to have everything from just a little too much caffeine in our systems to whoa someone please stop the planet from shaking type of caffeine loads. And so then it really goes without saying that we should all stock up on a good coffee alternative and at least replace most of our caffeine that way.

One of the real dangers that we face every day with coffee is one that no one is really talking about much in the media these days. The challenge is, toxic pesticides. You see way back in 1972 we banned DDT from being used here in the good ole US of A, but U.S. Corporations still make it in various locations around the world. We make it because the R & D was paid for decades ago, so it’s really, really cheap to produce. Let me ask you, what countries are looking to buy the cheap stuff? You guessed it, 3rd world countries. Next question, who grows our coffee? Right again, 3rd world countries.

So, we ban DDT because we are sure it causes all manner of health problems for humans such as going blind, birth defects, DNA Damage ect.. There is a much longer list of all the problems it causes but I’m sure you get the drift.

We, then make DDT in outside of America under subsidiaries owned by U.S. companies. Then we turn around and sell it to the third world countries that are growing our coffee. They of course use it, why wouldn’t they, it’s the cheapest and it works really well at killing bugs. Let’s face it, if they are hand picking the beans because labor is cheaper than machines and they are carting the stuff down the mountainside on a Burro, do you really think they are paying top dollar for the newest high tech sprays?

No way, they are buying the cheapest sprays they can get that will kill the bugs so they can turn a profit. It’s really just a matter of economics, they simply can’t pay those high prices even if they wanted too.

That’s just one really good reason for you to get a world class coffee alternative as soon as possible. I wouldn’t want to be drinking that stuff, no way. You might say well what if it’s organic? My question to you is then this, in countries where you can forge just about any document for under $100 why wouldn’t a farmer say his crop is organic when it means thousands of dollars more into his pocket for the same amount of work. I’m not being pessimistic just looking at reality.

That’s why I so strongly urge you to get your hands on a high end coffee alternative as soon as possible so that you can safeguard your health.

The Life Cover Quotes Store

How You Can Get the Right Product for Beauty Care

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

How can you find the best beauty care tips for your skin when there are so many products available? The price of some products is high, and who else wants to buy something like that only to find it will not work? Instead, you have to think about your skin, and what product will be great for it. This might not lead you to one choice, but you’ll get some ideas of what beauty care products you should be trying and which ones don’t have any value.

When considering what might be the best skin care product for your face or body, single most important thing you have to consider is the condition of your skin. If you have ever had a reaction to anything, or anything that looked benign has made you break out, you may have sensitive skin or even allergic reactions. That signifies you should consider that the most advisable beauty care product for you is one that is made for sensitive skin. Almost any brands provide a version developed just for that, and those are the products you should be trying first.

Next consideration should be your skin condition. Do you have oily or dry skin, or do you have a mixture of both? The most advisable skin care lotion for your skin will be a product that addresses those specific things. Those with dry skin can profit from shea butter benefits to a larger degree, because skin care creams and lotions that contain natural shea butter are strong moisturizers that need to be used a few times daily. Oily skin can be difficult, because many lotions can cause that worse, but there are some great skin care products out there developed just for women with that very problem. If you have combination skin, things get even trickier, but you behind discover a skin care product that will work by doing a proper research.

At one time you have narrowed down your choices by thinking about all of those details, you have to then try out the right ones to see to it which are the most beneficial natural beauty care products for your needs. You could even ask your friends for recommendations, merely what works for them might not work well for you. Still, that doesn’t stand for you can’t give it a try. You will find your most advisable skin care product by many trials and errors, but there are so many skin products out there, you can be sure something out there will work. You just have to take the time to find it.

Discount Pet Supplies

Top 3 Tips for Buying Whole Life Insurance

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | Always Online | Comments Off

Whole life insurance is a preferred choice among many individuals when it comes to choosing life insurance coverage. This type of insurance remains effective throughout the whole life of the individual that elects to purchase it. It works to provide benefits that are guaranteed when the person who is covered passes away. The only exception to the guarantee is when the individual who is covered commits suicide. In this guide, you will learn the top 3 tips for buying whole life insurance.

1. It is important to understand that premiums will need to be paid in order to keep a whole life insurance policy active. While it is true that this type of coverage is typically more costly than other types of life insurance, there are ways that you can save money. For example, it is best to pay your premium on an annual basis rather than a monthly basis. This will drastically reduce the amount of interest that you must pay over time.

2. If you enjoy earning a little cash, you may elect to become involved in what is referred to as a “Participating” whole life insurance policy. By doing so, you may receive occasional refunds or possibly even specific dividends when the insurance company experiences higher than usual profits.

3. When choosing this type of life insurance coverage, it is important to understand that it accumulates what is referred to as “cash value”. As a result, the policy may actually be considered an “asset” that can be used in making large purchases or acquiring loans. If you fail to uphold the payments of the policy after using the insurance as an asset, you may be required to pay taxes on the value of the policy or fees. You should ensure that you understand the criterion set forth in your policy regarding these areas of interest.

You should take the time to learn how you can save money on your whole life insurance coverage. It is also important to learn how participating whole life policies can benefit you, as well as the details surrounding the cash value of a policy and any regulations regarding using the policy as an asset. By using these top 3 tips for purchasing coverage, you will be able to find a policy that is right for you!

The author of this article runs a web site devoted to gas powered scooter and scooter 150cc and vespa motor scooters.