Online Video Advertising

March 23, 2008 on 6:03 am | In Advertising

Who’s Using Online Video Marketing?

SignWareHouse.com’s YouTube videos are less than entertaining but practical for those wanting a video demonstration of products such as Q-Series Vinyl Cutters. Any product leading itself to demos is a good candidate for online videos.

Skateboard retailer, Willy’s Workshop owned by pro skater Willy Santos in San Diego uses a simple in-store video on YouTube introducing his staff and providing a tour of the premises. Although the online video received 7,000 views which pales in comparison to Blendtec’s results, it still helped build the stores brand to a select target of skateboard enthusiasts.

Blendtec, a small business based in Orem, Utah budgeted under $100 for a quirky video showing their commercial blender pulverizing iPods, golf balls and other everyday items. The funny viral videos were a big hit; driving millions of viewers to the Will It Blend website. Wall Street Journal reporter Laura Lorber wrote how Blendtec sales were up 43% in 2006 alone.

To harness the power of online video marketing and advertising for your small business, keep in mind the following tips:

Online Video Advertising Tips

Online video advertising and marketing is here to stay. Don’t get left behind join the YouTube video revolution today.

Entertainment Rules: To create a viral online video marketing campaign, it must be entertaining. Take a lesson from the Will It Blend playbook and find a way to make your product, service, or company entertaining or humorous for maximum reach and market penetration.

Be Professional: Nothing can quickly turn off your target audience as a poor quality, slow loading video. No need to rent an expensive studio to create a top-notch online video. Incorporate basic stock photography and video clips from sites such as Getty Images.You can also enlist the help of video production services for easier and cost effective production and distribution such as SpotRunner who charges $500 for a 30 second ad.

Stay Focused: An online video isn’t meant to convey your entire product line or multiple features. Hone in on one key message with the strongest lead benefit. SignWarehouse.com uses one video to demonstrate one product. A simple clip is more likely to be viewed in its entirety for today’s distraction driven viewers.

Broaden Your Reach: YouTube isn’t the only site to submit your video production to. New competitors have emerged including Google Video or Blinkx, a video search engine with over 18 million hours of video. Another tool introduced by the company allows advertisers to place targeted text ads in any video embedded in a website.

Virtual Spokesperson - Integrating one of our website representatives into your site will give your visitors a unique experience they will not soon forget.

Hiring the wrong bookkeeper can destroy your business!

March 17, 2008 on 6:03 am | In Advertising

What must you consider when hiring and managing your bookkeeper?

Why are we so concerned about making sure that you hire the right bookkeeper? Two reasons. First, yes, we do have something to sell that will help you be sure to get the right person for the job (honesty is the best policy). Second, we believe that, even if you don’t purchase anything from us, this information will help you hire and manage the right bookkeeper and be more profitable. And, if you’re more profitable that means your business will be around for a long time to come and, in the future, we may be able to provide you with some other valuable product or service.

With that said, take a look at the following links for some really great and valuable information from which any business hiring or managing a bookkeeper can profit.

- First, an urgent note about your bookkeeper and accounting issues..

- What do you need your bookkeeper to do?

- How will you know if they’re doing the job you need?

- What are the signs that your bookkeeper may be setting up a potentially business-life threatening situation?

- Could your bookkeeper be “helping themselves” to your hard-earned money?

- Let your bookkeeper help pay their own wages!

- “Who needs a bookkeeper with those easy-to-use, do-everything, no-brainer business bookkeeping software programs I got with my fancy new computer?”

- Finding the right bookkeeper and setting up some simple steps can help you save bundles of money on your CPA’$ bill$.

Ask your CPA.

What, you thought your CPA would automatically tell you if they thought there might be a problem?

Well, generally, yes. But, frequently your CPA may not be dealing directly with your bookkeeper on these types of issues. In fact, very often it will be one of your CPA’s junior staff that has the majority of face-to-face contact with your bookkeeper. Now, this is just fine, but, maybe the CPA’s staff is the one who has gotten what they need and formulated an opinion of the bookkeeper’s work product. And, just as likely, unless the bookkeeper’s work is really awful, may not have found it to be a big enough issue to bring up. So, make sure it is brought up… ask your CPA.

Ask your bookkeeper.

Well, why not? In general most of us can be fairly objective about our own work, our challenges and issues. You will find that if you set up a safe environment and are genuine about using this “self-review” to improve things the results can be very rewarding for you, your company and your bookkeeper.

What is a safe environment? It has nothing to do with the physical environment, but with the emotional environment. It is important to make sure that the person performing the self-review knows that it is to enhance their job security and satisfaction, and their value to the company. Further, I believe that it is important to also make a point of stating affirmatively that pointing out areas needing improvement in their work, will only be discussed in a positive light. That is to say you will help them find ways to hurdle the obstacles.

Certainly, there are as many ways to measure the effectiveness of your bookkeeper as there are companies. But, if you follow these fairly simple guidelines you will be well on your way to a truly satisfying experience with your bookkeeper.

Fast and long term extermination of pests.

January 12, 2008 on 9:01 am | In Advertising

“Oh, my God! And why only Noah took few cockroaches along at the Ark?!”- think you when umpteenth time see this pest at your kitchen table. If the pests decided to settle down in your house be sure they will be anywhere! Yes it’s sadly. And sometimes, you think that there is no way out and ready to share your housing space with cockroaches, flies, ant, termites and other pests.

LicensedPestControl.com created to help you to evict pests from you house. Remember, that not all pest problems are the same, and not all homes need the same types of treatment. All specialist’s joined at our pest control web site are trained to identify and treat the root of your particular pest problem. After your house has been inspected, professional will recommend a customized treatment plan that effectively targets pest problems exactly where they appear in your home – both inside and out, all year long.

Pest Control in Charlotte exterminate all pests, termites very fast and for a long time. You can trust a pest control specialist, as some of them have been in business for more than 30 years and have faced just about every pest problem you can imagine. Due to the world spread network system, you can connect with pest control specialists and arrange a meeting. He will come and do all possible to make your life better and to unload you “undesirable guests”.

So, don’t worry, LicensedPestControl.com will solve all your problems with pests.

The best plumbing service.

January 11, 2008 on 1:01 pm | In Advertising

Are you tired of constant flood at your kitchen or bathroom? You waste money deal with unqualified plumbers, which always are late and do their work for the high prices but with the lowest quality. And in few days you have the same problem…What to do? Your spirits courage sank into your boots. But it’s not the end and not everything is so lamentably. In ever changing world, where we live, everything is possible! Through the network system you can find the best plumbers in your country, in your state and call them for a help.

QualityPlumber.com is a network of the finest licensed plumbers in the United States. All specialists provide you with the high-quality residential and commercial plumbing services. Now consumers found a simple way to reach qualified plumbers online at the special website. All plumbers, which joined in our site have license and well skilled in their area. You can contact them to discuss your problem and arrange a meeting.

You just hit the point, if you are if you are looking for a full range of plumbing services!

Cape Coral and Fort Myers Plumbers provide quality residential and commercial plumbing solutions. You can easily contact them through the Internet completed the information requested and they will contact you as soon as possible.

When you need high-quality plumbing services in a hurry turn to Columbia and Ellicott City plumbing contractors! They provide you the best and fast solution to your problem. They work, when its convenient for you and ready to help any time!

So, do you want to find a trustworthy, reliable plumber to repair a leaky pipe, repair a worn out toilet seal, or to install plumbing fixtures in a new addition to your home – come here at QualityPlumber.com and you won’t be disappointed!

Leave a new life, painted your house!

January 8, 2008 on 7:01 pm | In Advertising

The world of art is so beautiful and inevitable, that sometimes we can’t understand it by ourselves, thus resort to the help of professionals. People, worked in art sphere feel it the best and can help us in different problems, connected with build or just design of our houses, flats, offices etc. Today painting jobs became a very popular and profitable business. So, if you like art, have perfect skills, why not? You bring a beauty to the world and this is so sweetly!

Finally, you decided to change your conditions but don’t know how to do it the best. It’s not a problem. The BestHousePainter.com was designed special for you to solve all your problems. Here you can find the finest painters in the United States, which provide the high-quality residential and commercial painting and surface refinishing solutions. The painters take pride in their work, and will always make sure you are 100% satisfied with their service. The system works very easy, you just need to choose the State, where you live and look what painters work there. For instance, you live in Washington DC, point this state and choose among a great variety of Washington painters those one, the works of which you like more.

If you’ve recently bought a new house, or you just want to redecorate your existing one, it might pay to consider bringing in expert help. A lot of people think that hiring an interior decorator is a luxury, but the truth is that an outsider can often look at your home with a fresh and unbiased eye, and if you are careful to remain in control of the project, the results can be spectacular. But even among the numerous painters it’s difficult to choose the one. Baltimore painting contractor is still one of the most popular. Painting Contractor is a skilled professional, who can paint your house, or provide wallpapering, paint your furniture, fence and so on.

All this and much other interesting information you can get to know, when visited our site.

They still be popular today!

September 17, 2007 on 9:09 pm | In Advertising

The Verve (originally Verve) are an English alternative rock band formed in 1989 at Winstanley Sixth Form College, Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, by vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Simon Tong later became a member. The band split in April 1999 due to inner conflicts which led to McCabe’s departure. They reunited in June 2007. The band has announced an album due at the end of the northern-hemisphere summer and a tour scheduled for November 2007.

Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to space rock and shoegazer music, by the mid-1990s the band had released several EPs and two acclaimed records. They also endured name and lineup changes, breakups, health problems, drug abuse and various lawsuits. The band’s commercial breakthrough was the album Urban Hymns and its single “Bitter Sweet Symphony“, which became a massive worldwide hit. Soon after this commercial peak, the band broke up citing creative struggles between band members. By then The Verve had become one of the most influential British alternative rock acts of the decade.

Mike Gee of iZINE said, “…The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft] promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of the critics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longer the question mark or the clich?. They were the statement and the definition.”

A leave legend

September 17, 2007 on 7:09 pm | In Advertising

The Beatles were an English musical group from Liverpool whose members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. They are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music.

The Beatles are the best-selling musical act of all time in the United States of America, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries: their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion discs and tapes worldwide. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles #1 on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Their innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence on pop culture is still evident today.

The Beatles led the mid-1960s musical “British Invasion” into the United States. Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and homegrown skiffle, the group explored genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, styles, and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.

Promote Your Translation Services Through the Open Directory Project

August 21, 2007 on 7:08 pm | In Advertising

Disclaimer: Although I am an ODP volunteer editor who can review translators’ web sites, I do not represent the ODP in any official capacity.

Introduction

As you may know, having a professional website is very good and important for a freelance translator as well as for an agency. But what can you do with your website without promoting it. There are many ways of promotion, such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but I’d like to dwell on a web directory called DMOZ (ODP – Open Directory Project).

Open Directory Project (ODP) is the biggest links directory, organized by human volunteer editors, but not by machines as most website directories are. The information from ODP is taken by such search engines as Google and Yahoo! Besides them there also other popular search engines which take the details from DMOZ.

So, if you are a freelance translator, one of the best ways to promote your services is to make a nice, professionally looking website and get it listed in the Open Directory Project.

In this How To article I will dwell on some tips how to make a proper submission to ODP, how should your website look when it is getting listed in Open Directory and other things.

As a volunteer ODP editor, I must tell you that you can’t be 100% sure that your website will be listed in DMOZ.org (the ODP official website). The reason is that only websites with high quality and unique content are listed in this directory.

The submission

When you want your website to be listed in ODP, the first thing to do is to find a proper, the most appropriate category. Only sites submitted to proper category have chances to be listed. Note: a website can be listed in one category only, all other submissions will be deleted automatically.

If you submit a website to a wrong category, an editor will move it to another category, then it will be checked by another editor, and because of it the listing of your submission will be delayed.

Being a translator you can submit your website, for instance:

if you translate mostly written texts – Business/ Business_Services/ Communications/ Translation;

if you are an interpreter – Business/ Business_Services/ Communications/ Translation/ Interpreting;

if you translate in one language combination – Business/Business_Services/Communications/Translation/Single_Language;

if you translate in more than one language combination – Business/Business_Services/Communications/Translation/Multiple_Language;

But these are the categories for websites with English content. For other languages you should submit your website to World category where you will find other subcategories, similar to that written above.

Content

DMOZ accepts only websites with a unique content, i.e. two or more websites with the same text will be automatically removed.

For the successful submission and listing your site should contain company or freelancer’s name, a list of services offered, valid contact details.

A website structure should be of high quality, if there are “404” pages when pressing on a link or links don’t work at all, such a website won’t be listed in.

Titles and Descriptions

Also the important case is when submitting your website, write a proper, nice title and description. For instance, I have many cases that websites are submitted to my category, but their descriptions are written in foreign languages, not appropriate for the category.

So, pay attention to these facts.

Conclusion

So, as a conclusion, I must say that the best way to get your website listed in the ODP is to make a good, proper submission of websites with a unique and high quality content.

And the final thing to be said is that the ODP editors don’t like such things as cloaking, forwarding, multiple submissions. All these sites will be removed as soon as possible.

Tips for a speedy listing

Note: These are not my tips; they are common and partially taken from my colleague volunteer editor.
Submit in the correct category.
Submit your web site’s main page only.
Make sure your web site is complete or looks complete.
Make sure your web site works in any browser.
In the Description: Mention your languages.
In the Description: Mention your subject fields, if highly specific.
Use your business name at the title or your own name, if you’re a freelancer.
In the Description: Mention if you’re a business, agency or freelancer.
In the Description: Mention your physical location, including country.

© 2007 Roman Soluk, All rights reserved

The future of the Internet-advertising

August 20, 2007 on 1:08 pm | In Advertising

Computer and Internet technologies develop so quickly and successfully, that more and more aspects of business are moved from the real world into the virtual world. This process has not passed by the advertising.

Some companies have already started to redistribute the budget in favour of advertising on the Internet, gradually reducing volumes of traditional kinds of promotion, for example, work at exhibitions or the outdoor advertising as they carry out the functions not so effectively.

At first sight it seems, that the Internet-advertising doesn’t differ from usual advertising. What the difference, whether you have seen a banner on some site or an advertising board on some street? The announcement in the newspaper or in one of numerous thematic catalogues?

However advertising on the Internet is much more flexible and convenient tool. If you have paid attention to this or that company on the Internet, then, having visited its site, you can learn a lot about it. The street advertising cannot carry the same volume of information. Besides in a network there is also a contextual advertising which the user sees in reply to search on the certain keywords. Its advantage is that it “comes across one’s eyes” when the user is most of all interested in the goods or services and he is ready to make the order. And such advertising pays off more quickly, in fact the company pays only for transition of the user to a site, instead of for its display.

The Internet-advertising as a special kind of business has started to develop recently. Some experts speak that there are no special market researches which would show efficiency of such advertising. But the largest representatives of this industry, such as “Yandex. Direct” or “Begun”, have started to publish financial reportsand to make independent audits.

And soon the first serious estimations of productivity the Internet-advertising will appear. Though many companies, carried out own marketing researches, have already come to conclusion, that feedback from such advertising really serious. Some companies have already started to redistribute the budget in favour of advertising on the Internet, gradually reducing volumes of traditional kinds of promotion, for example, work at exhibitions or the outdoor advertising as they do not carry out the functions so effectively.

Here is the brief review of kinds of the Internet-advertising:

Banner advertising

The oldest kind the Internet-advertising, became already traditional. Represents the link in the form of the static or animated advertising image/inscription. Advertising through banner networks (purchase of displays) is practised, it’s simple - you place a code causing loading of a casual banner of a banner network on the site, in exchange other sites will show your banner for as many times minus the commission of a network (about 10 %), at the majority banner networks there’s a repayment of displays but the prices are different and one can’t earn big money using this system, unless he has 2-3 thousand visitors a day.

Contextual advertising

Contextual advertising is very effective method of the report of the information up to a target audience in fast terms. Usually it is paid on cliques (transitions), instead of on displays, the advertiser pays only for target visitors. The quantity of the spaces on advertising platforms is strongly limited, and announcements of those advertisers who has appointed a bigger price for cliques will be shown. Therefore in competitive subjects the price for one clique is very big. A huge plus to your site is that it has any certain subjects: in this case visitors click on announcements much more often.

Contextual advertising in search machines

Idea is simple up to ingenious - in parallel results of search by the inquiry set by the user commercial announcements (adhered, certainly, to this inquiry) stand out.

Advertising in dispatches

Often many underestimate this kind of advertising though, owing to thematic dispatches, it allows to address easily to a target audience. By the way, it’s rather cheap and effective.

Search optimization

Complex of measures on increase of positions of a site in search systems on the set keywords differs from contextual advertising by smaller expenses (the truth, in long-term prospect). It’s not a direct advertising, however helps to involve target visitors (i.e. solves one of the main tasks of advertising on the Internet).

There are also others not the traditional (forbidden) kinds of the Internet-advertising, it’s a kind of spam. The following methods refer to it: mass dispatch of mail, a spam through ICQ, mass posting of advertising messages on guest books, forums, a search spam and other.

As you see, there are many kinds of the Internet-advertising, therefore it is necessary to assume, that it will exist and develop in the future very actively, probably there will be any other forms of advertising or laws of the market will change. To speak that it will supersede an offline advertising, is not necessary, but that fact, that it already became the effective tool of promotion is obvious.

© 2007 Pavel Ustianovsky, All rights reserved