Here is the plan and approach.

1) Facebook Method : Creating fan pages, adding new friends and earn from posting CPA offer. All Whitehat method

2) Youtube Method : Posting videos, making video comments. All Whitehat method

3) CPALeads : Using Web 2.0 to promote content blocker.

4) Hot trends CPA: Quick money with CPA offer.

Target:

1) Facebook method : 100 per day

2) Youtube Method: 100 per day

3) CPALeads: 50 per day

4) Hottrend CPA: 50 per day.

Personal Challenge Start today. Will post update daily.

Where are the audiences NOW?

Internet users are constantly searching for information, researching on a particular product, getting involved in social networks and many other activities online. In this age where information rules over our daily lives, it’s hard to deny that providing valuable information will actually keep your audiences closer to your business. Let’s be frank here – We all love FREE information, period.

So the trillion-dollar question goes: Are you doing anything about it?

Guerrilla Marketing weapon No.1 – Email

One thing you need to know about the Internet is that it’s a direct-marketing weapon for Guerrillas. Many tactics and nuances of Direct Mail (offline guerrilla weapon) definitely continue to apply to Internet Marketing.

Email is a fantastic platform that allows you to deploy guerrilla-marketing tactics, easily and successfully. Marketers often have lots to say but when faced with a 4 page brochure, they often tend to keep the ‘promotional’ content and discard the educational bits that play a vital role in acquiring customers. With email, you can say as much as you want … strategically.

Cost Effectiveness

Email Marketing is the most cost effective way to perform your Direct Marketing campaigns. It completely takes away the need for marketers to perform Direct Marketing through printed flyers or brochures.

Guess how much your business would save in terms marketing dollars if emails were to replace printed brochures? Depending on the frequency, quantity and quality of prints, a minimum of $2,000/year is easily spent on printed marketing materials, and that’s excluding the cost of postage of these mails to your respective mailing list. You do the math.

Comparison of Email Marketing and Traditional Mail

This comparison chart is available at http://www.shoutlabs.com/lang/en/blog/guerrilla-email-marketing-part1/

With great power comes great responsibility!

Sounds familiar? We’re not doing the sequel to Spiderman 3 but it’s about the responsibilities that Guerrilla Marketers should joyfully embrace when it comes to using email as a powerful marketing weapon. At ShoutLabs, we advocate responsible use of email marketing strategies that inevitably, empower Guerrilla Marketers with a technology/weapon that will cause serious damage to their competitors.

Be warned, Email Marketing (at the level Cyclone deploys) is like a grenade. When used appropriately, it will dish out some serious firepower at your opponent. If not, you might even blow yourself up into a million pieces … not a pretty sight at all.

Using the same logic, Guerrillas should always use permission based Email Marketing to reach out to their targeted audience. Failure to comply means hurting your brand name, poor campaign response, high un-subscription rate and ultimately, be known as a SPAMMER.

You are not alone!

For a Guerrilla Marketer to be known as a spammer, it’s like being seen as an ‘Internet Terrorist’ bombing the ’sacred and holy’ inboxes that they’ve taken incredible pains to build up. The ‘fire and forget’ sort of tactic may have worked 8 years ago, but today, the maturity of the Internet also calls for respect. I’m sure no guerrillas out there would want to be misunderstood, when their branding is at stake.

So if spamming a purchased list isn’t going to help you today, how can you capitalize on what you have and grow your mailing list beyond the five-digit line and get high open/click rates? Our white paper on list growth is available on request; fill out this form to get it. Until next time …

Read ‘Guerrilla Email Marketing‘

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www.guerrilla-marketing.pl – Unconventional campaign – Guerrilla and Viral marketing – Launch new brand of beer – Golden Fire Dragon

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Originally posted 2009-07-15 11:22:21. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Creating Internet Income is quite a daunting task for anyone however the challenges seem insurmountable for most newbies, especially those who are technically challenged. If you’re considering marketing online or engaging in any form of Internet Marketing there are a few common pitfalls that you should consider.

Though I’m no “Internet Guru, these are just a few of the common mistakes and pitfalls that beginner Marketers typically face. For many, these mistakes don’t surface until the negative effects of these actions surface. Many new marketers develop tunnel vision early in the online business building process. Hopefully this top 10 list will help you avoid the most common pitfalls.

1. Procrastination – The King Of Failure

Procrastination is by far the KING of failure with respect to online business success. If you fall into the trap of “putting things off”, you will e doomed to failure. Be certain that you develop a consistent habit of taking action. Even if you consistently make mistakes it is imperative that you take action on a consistent basis. Create some form of time management system that you can use consistently. Prioritize your tasks and keep lists of everything that needs to be done. If you feel that your confidence level concerning your online activities is not quite up to par, do not allow this to hinder the execution of your planned activities. What ultimately matters is the consistent execution of your key activities. Your comfort level with specific tasks will improve over time!

Develop A Plan And Work The Plan…

2. Seeking Perfection From The Very Beginning

Many new online marketers go to extreme lengths to create the perfect scenario as they begin to execute their online marketing plans. The fact is, no matter how hard you try, it’s very unlikely that you’ll hit the “home run” you seek right out of the gate. Many newbies seek the perfect web site, the perfect email marketing campaign, the perfect online ad or banner, unfortunately it’s VERY unlikely happen. It really doesn’t matter whether your efforts are perfect or not! What’s important is that you get started as soon as possible with the plans that you’ve developed. Your online marketing efforts will always be a work in process. As you move forward, you can easily tweak things to your liking. Some people set specific scheduled times to review work that has been previously performed and update as necessary. If you try to get everything perfect from the start you will hamper your long term success..

3. Wasting Money By Not Prioritizing Your Spending

This is important and key to your long term success. If not handled properly, this simple mistake will kill your spirit and put you out of business immediately. If you don’t have money to try each any every enticing offer that claims to help your business. DON’T spend money unnecessarily!

The Internet is full of fantastic copy and enticing offers, some of which are great others not so great. Don’t get side tracked by jumping from opportunity to opportunity, help program to help program or buying everything that lands in your inbox. The fact is, most online business essentials can be obtained for FREE. This is particularly true when you’re first starting out. If you commit to engage in a little research, you’ll be quite surprised at what you will find. Not only can you find great resources you will find them in many cases at no charge. Try to control your urge to purchase resources and tools. Think and evaluate carefully before you make purchases for your online business. Write a list of what you need. Examine the pros and cons, and make sure that your purchases are essential to achieving your goals.

4. Not Investing Enough Money On The Right Resources

Converse to point #3, many new online marketers fail to make the proper investment in the proper things. Anyone that tells you that you don’t have to spend ANY money to grow an online business is lying to you. Unfortunately you will have to spend money to sustain your business. When you initially start, you won’t have to spend much, as most of your time should be spent engaging in RESEARCH. You will need more money as your business continues to grow. For starters, you’ll need a domain, a hosting service and an autoresponder, all of which are pretty affordable. As you move forward, the bulk of your expenses will be on testing and promotion. If you’re paying someone to create a product or you’re buying resell rights to a product or service, you must account for these initial expenses as well. Starting out with affiliate products can greatly reduce these types of expenses and allow you to gain a greater understanding of the processes involved as you market online.

5. Pursuing Difficult Markets Due To Ineffective Market Research

This is a typical mistake but an easy mistake to make for the new online marketer. Most new marketers pursue markets that THEY THINK will be profitable. Before you decide on a product or market that you wish to target, make SURE that you’ve performed exhaustive market research. If you don’t, it could be months, even years before you realize that you’re involved in pursuing profits in a market that is NOT commercially viable for a beginning marketer. Perform thorough and exhaustive research BEFORE you invest time and money in your online marketing campaigns. Understand exactly what the term “niche” market means and adhere to that definition strictly. All niche markets are NOT profitable. Before you target your market make sure that customers within the targeted market are willing to spend money! If the market that you seek is not commercially viable, refocus your efforts and pursue a different market!

6. Lacking The Desire To Grow

You must develop an unquenchable desire to grow. Continual growth of your marketing knowledge and your perspective with respect to online marketing activities is essential. Learning online marketing is continual process not a destination. It’s essential that you develop this mind set immediately. If you’re not open to continual learning and growth you and your online business will become stagnant quickly. The skills needed to market online are constantly evolving and changing. One of the most important things you can do is to constantly update your skills and knowledge base with respect to your marketing internet marketing efforts. It is important to note that this doesn’t always occur in a linear fashion. There will be times where you’ll feel that your learning curve has stagnated but keep reading, listening and learning and your insights will continue to expand. Don’t get stuck using the same skills and ideas or doing things the same way for long periods of time without exploring ways to improve what you are presently doing.

7. Trying To Do Everything That Needs To Be Done… Alone

When starting an online business there is lots of activities and tasks that you need to address. This doesn’t always mean that you have to do it all yourself. Of course, you can do it alone but it will make the road ahead much harder, and in most cases a much longer road. Without the proper support and assistance you are more likely to experience burnout very quickly. You don’t have to outsource each and every thing, however it is wise to target certain areas that will monopolize your time and obtain help when needed. On-line forums, blogs and other portals can be a valuable source of ideas, and sources to provide assistance from other people in this area. Leverage your efforts by seeking assistance in areas that are not your best strengths.

8. The Pursuit Of Smaller Profit Sources / Setting Your Internet Income Goals To Low

Many new online marketers find it less intimidating to sell products or services that cost 10-20 dollars. They are misled into believing that these types of products or services will be easier to market. The fact is, in most cases, it takes just as much time, energy and effort to successfully market a $20.00 product as it does to successfully market a $100.00 product or service. Don’t dismiss the idea of varying the types of offers that you intend to market. Be sure to include a few higher ticket items in your offerings. If you’ve done your research, and handled your marketing correctly you can find success marketing these types of items even during the infancy stages of your online internet marketing experience. Undoubtedly, you’ll get less sales, but you’ll also enjoy more profits. You won’t know if you can market these types of offers unless you’re willing to give them a try. Don’t assume that these types of products and services are off limits to your internet marketing efforts. Do the research, target your market, develop your marketing campaigns and promote offers that give you a chance to earn higher commissions along with your small profit offers. Many high ticket offers perform better with existing customers. You typically have developed a relationship with these customers and many will try your offers based on your business relationship and your credibility.

9. The Failure To Separate Your Business Life and You Home Life

Many new online marketers start their online business in hopes to escape the hustle and bustle of traditional offline business activities. Don’t fall into the trap of creating another JOB at home with your online business. Though initially, getting your online marketing efforts up to par may take a little extra time and commitment, you don’t want your online business ventures to dominate your entire life. One of the biggest pitfalls of working from home is the fact that work s always accessible and so is your home life. Knowing how to separate the two is essential for maintaining balance and a healthy perspective.

You’ll find that your personal home life can also creep into your work activities. The fact that you’re at home makes it easy for the lines that separate these two aspects of life to become blurred. Try to separate the two by establishing fixed times when you work, and fixed times for your personal home life. In many cases it’s a good idea to establish a specific work area for performing your business activities. Work doesn’t have to take dominate your life, define distinct barriers that separate your home life and your work life.

10. The Inability To Remain Positive and Ambitious

When you start to pursue your Internet business, you will undoubtedly have those that will not have faith in your long term success. Conversely, you’ll have others that will encourage you and cheer for you every step of the way. I encourage you to surround yourself with positive thoughts and uplifting people to help you maintain your belief in YOU. Starting any type of business can be a daunting task. You absolutely must believe in yourself and remain ambitious to move forward.

Don’t allow ANYONE to tell you what YOU can’t do. Focus on your goals and set them in stone. Decide to decide to decide…. Once you’ve made a quality decision about your online marketing goals stick to them and pursue them CONSISTENTLY. Over time you will experience tell tale signs of success that will keep you motivated and moving forward. Create your own profitable mind set and don’t allow anyone to rob you of that mind set. If you THINK you can you CAN!

Creating an Internet business that consistently generates Internet income is no small task, however if you execute consistently and stay focused in a few key areas it is certainly accomplishable. Avoid these costly mistakes to help you as you pursue your internet marketing goals.

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Originally posted 2009-07-24 11:26:51. Republished by Old Post Promoter

When most people talk to us about their marketing, they focus on advertising. While advertising is a part of the marketing mix, that’s all it is. A part. Marketing is much bigger.

We want to help you think about your marketing in a whole new way and will start by sharing a key marketing concept we learned from Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of Guerrilla Marketing:

“MARKETING IS EVERYTHING you do to promote your business, from the moment you conceive of it, to the point at which customers buy your product or service and begin to patronize your business on a regular basis. The key words to remember are everything and regular basis.”

Whether it’s sending an invoice, answering the telephone, handling a complaint, running a radio ad, sending an e-mail or launching big buzz ideas, you are marketing your business every time you touch a customer, prospect or potential partner.

Be creative! We brainstormed a few big buzz ideas around contests that would snag attention, boost sales and get your business in the limelight. Spin your own ideas off the following:

* If you’re a hotel, host a “fastest employee contest” to feature your housekeeping staff competing to see who can make a bed the fastest.

* If you’re a restaurant, sponsor a “waiters contest” to see which waiter can carry a glass of wine on a tray, or an entire tray of dishes, from one end of a big room to the other without spilling anything.

* If you’re a medical office or hospital, sponsor a “walking contest” with nurses, doctors and staff to see who tops the charts in weekly or monthly steps.

* If you’re a grocery store, follow the lead of the National Grocery Association. Each year they sponsor a “Best Bagger Contest,” designed to find the bagger who can get the job done the fastest. The contest is in its 21st year and created a huge buzz for the annual convention.

What kind of fun “fastest” contest can your business sponsor? These contests are perfect for TV because they offer people, color and motion–the three elements of a story that TV news producers want. Plus you’ll be able to leverage your efforts through print, radio and web media as well. Fun stuff to create a big buzz.

Guerrilla Marketing is all about stepping out of the box and launching unusual tactics that capture attention and sales.

The big buzz ideas above are the tip of the iceburg for a low cost, high impact, off-the-charts fun approach to skyrocketing business success. Read on to discover why the Guerrilla Marketing approach is ideal for small business owners like you.

Guerrilla Marketing Pros:

1. A proven program that has benefited more than 1 million people since 1984

2. Low cost, high impact

3. Bottom line focus on profits

4. Unconventional tactics emphasized to stand out from the competition

5. Focus on marketing goals, marketing calendar and tracking

6. Collaboration emphasized to maximize and leverage every marketing effort

7. Clear focus on target audience and benefits offered to them

8. Publicity opportunities abound

9. Step-by-step sales process increases conversion rate of prospects into customers and raving fans

10. Accountability and success

Guerrilla Marketing Cons:

1. Requires time, energy and imagination

2. Requires planning, follow through and tracking

3. Requires development of fusion marketing partners and collaborations

See, learning more about Guerrilla Marketing is a no brainer! Learn how to take advantage of all the “pros” so you can skyrocket business success.

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www.guerrilla-marketing.pl – Guerrilla marketing aktion for new Mini Clubman in Germany in Munich

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Originally posted 2009-07-11 11:22:27. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Major corporate houses choose open source partly due to the economic gains and mainly due to the control the open source system gives to their hands.

The quest for control is a serious problem in open source arena. The problem sometimes seems trivial, but is really a loss of manpower by the professionals developing programs in open source environment. The problem is seeking too much of control leads developers develop their own solutions for specific issues.

Reinventing the wheel is quite a common problem in open source arena. Instead of using an already popular script, developers tend to write there own scripts for specific tasks. There may be hundreds of scripts with similar functions. There are however instances when a developer has to come up with something new when the existing system doesn’t give the expected results. Developing a code from scratch will be faster than modifying existing program.

Proprietary software, in this sense is quite advantageous here. The developers working with proprietary software hardly ever goes to coming up with their own script as a solution for immediate problems at hand. Then again, proprietary software developers too invent their own wheels, but the goal is to avoid nasty situations like legal problems.

The nature of shared development of software development appeals to the human nature to have control over their destiny. This is true even when they can get customized ’solutions’ by proprietary software vendors. The future is in open source, but it is premature to make predictions as to when Linux or an open source OS cross runs on 50% of the computers of the world.

Incidentally Microsoft Corporation’s Shared Source Program is an effort by the corporate giant to somehow win the trust of open source community. Though Microsoft allows a peek into the source code, redistribution rights are neither granted nor expected. Only an illusion of free handling of source code, shared source program lacks the democratic nature of all open source initiatives.

Back to open source initiatives – open source initiatives find it quite difficult to get professionally talented developers to the fold, especially in the beginning stages. This is true for almost all open source initiative. The situation reverses when there are enough people in the fold and the project takes momentum at SourceForge.net.

There is one last thought for major corporations that have become so stepping on open source shoulders – spare some of your resources to enrich free software and open source software community.

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Originally posted 2009-04-12 11:07:50. Republished by Old Post Promoter

IP telephony refers to the system of transmitting voice over a data network such as in broadband Internet connection. In comparison to the traditional analogue phone line, as an extension to the practical Internet applications, it presents a cheaper and more accessible option to communicating with people from any part of the world. With its call sound quality that is comparable and sometimes better that that observed in analogue telephone conversations, it presents a modern and improved system for call management having total flexibility in using and locating phone numbers.

IP telephony, broadband telephony or Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications is operated over the Internet through packets of switched network. It introduces a system of voice transmission that carry telephony signals as digital audio, which reduces data, rate through speech data compression methods. It encapsulates the digital audio signals into the data packet stream over the IP. In sense, as a particular call is made, the conversation is broken down into tiny packets for faster and clearer transmission, which is then reassembled at the receiving end. One common misconception about IP telephony is that it needs to access a computer to operate. That is not the case; however, it does need a broadband Internet connection to operate.

A VoIP service usually comes in two types of public switched telephone networks (PSTN), the access numbers and the direct inward dialling (DID). In access numbers service, the caller is required to have the extension number of the person called through VoIP. It needs to key in the extension number of the person being contacted. On the other hand, DID presents more convenient and direct solutions to callers; it does not need codes or extension numbers to contact another VoIP user. The great thing about these services is that they provide solutions to the difficulties encountered in implementing traditional PSTN calls.

Through Internet lines, VoIP services connect people in a number of ways:

• Computer to computer applications is perhaps the easiest way of availing VoIP services for free, no matter the distance. There are also companies that offer free and very low long-distance call fees. All it needs is a computer with a microphone, speakers, sound card and Internet connection that also runs software that supports VoIP applications.

• Computer to telephone VoIP calls, similar to computer-to-computer calls, requires a software client. It allows a person to call anyone from his computer. While the software usually available for free, the calls may require minimal fees. Call rates depend on the software provider or on the VoIP service setup provider.

• Telephone to computer calls is now made possible. Today, a number of companies are providing special numbers and calling cards, which enable phone users to call a computer user. However, the computer needs to have a vendor’s software installed but is a lot cheaper than making traditional phone-to-phone long-distance calls.

• Even telephone-to-telephone calls are possible with VoIP. By using the gateways, anyone can easily and directly contact any standard phone in the world via IP-based network.

The practicality, accessibility, value and ease of use of IP telephony or VoIP services are increasingly gaining popularity. Today, more and more businesses and companies are installing and using IP telephony systems. Time will only tell on when with IP telephony or VoIP services find their way into today’s modern homes.

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www.gammatelecom.com- Assured IP Services provides an end to end solution for IP Telephony services allowing your business to generate increased revenue with complete peace of mind. Whether SIP Trunking or Hosted IP, Gamma manage the access solution, on site CPE and network service on your behalf. Put simply, it’s IP Telephony with SLA’s.

Help answer the question about IP Telephony

Originally posted 2009-06-19 11:19:58. Republished by Old Post Promoter

There are many ways in getting leads through online methods and here, I will give a brief introductory lesson before I went in-depth into the details.

First, you need to have set up your squeeze page. If you have been online sometime, you will probably have discovered there are many squeeze pages like those find on the picture on the right. In fact, some argue you need to have a long letter, but the proven method is short and straight to the point. Now, let me go with you in how to build your squeeze page.

In the squeeze page, you need to stir your prospect by giving urgency; in fact it is one strategy to pull your prospect into making a quick decision. Stirring the emotion is the starting point. Next, you will need a powerful headline. Now, creates a BOLD statement in your headline addressing the solution to a problem. This is done to create curiosity and attention to your target audience.

Instead of letting your prospect guessing what the content is, gave a preview of what your prospects will be expecting. This will make your prospect feel they are getting something valuable here. Look at the benefit statements as shown in the picture. Firstly, it stresses on the benefits you receive by opting into the newsletter. In addition, the author adds extra value by giving a bonus.

Lastly, you need an opt-in form to allow your prospects to opt into your newsletter which you can follow up later.

With that, let’s move on. The next thing is to set up your auto responder. It is a way of following up with your subscribers through emails. This helps to build relationship with your prospects. In fact, it is part of guerrilla marketing which I will cover on later on in the next series.

Some good auto responder in the markets is aweber and getresponse. These are good software to do the follow up and they had done well with email delivery for up to 99%. In fact, most marketers make it as the first choice for an auto responder.

After signing up for an auto responder, you have to build a series of emails to follow up with your prospects. It is very vital in relationship building and of course; don’t try to sell something to your prospect on every email. Give something of good value to your prospects and as you continue providing good stuff, they will trust you. In a way, marketing is about branding, and by so doing, you are selling yourself as an expert. In fact, all successful marketers are good emailers who offer values to their subscribers.

Besides emails in your auto responder, send your prospect a report as well. This will win their trust in you as you have your unique report and this literally brand you as an expert.

Now, with all the system set up, you need to market out and expose your squeeze page to the world. There are a few best known and effective methods of marketing. First, you can distribute it through article marketing. You write some good articles like how to or solve a problem article. Then you distribute your articles to articles directories. Very soon, many readers or newsletter publisher will take or read your articles. Your article will be exposed and it will bring traffic to your website through your articles resource box. In addition, many will read your profiles in the articles directories and if they are interested in what you have to offer, it will drive more traffic. To make life easier, you can use article submission software like article submitter software.

You can also use forum marketing method to drive traffic. You visit forums in your niche market and give something useful to the communities and then you add your signature in the end. This helps to drive traffic as well. In fact, you build your presence in the communities. The objective is again to brand your self as an expert.

The other method is through ezine marketing. Ezine marketing is submitting your solo ads to an ezine publisher who already had a subscriber base. This will bring fast and targeted traffic.

Classified ads are another option. However, it is most effective in informing events and please, don’t ever try to post at FFA links. It represents free for all links and serves as ads posting sites. The best classified sites are crag list, US Free Ads and yahoo classified.

Search engine optimisation is another method to drive traffic. However, it a special skill where it involves building your website for the search engine and you strives to get keywords ranking high in goggle search engine. This helps to bring free organic traffic. Its a very big topic altogether. I will cover it some other time.

Pay Per Click is a fast method of traffic driving. However if it is done incorrectly, it will burn a hole in your wallet and does not even build good result. It has a long learning curve and how to do PPC, it is another subject altogether.

The buzz today is web 2 marketing. It makes use of online social communities like blogs and video sites to market your services and products. Again, it is a powerful way of building a relationship with your prospect and exposed your website to the world. We had squiddo lense, facebook, friendster, myspace and youtube.

You can also view the step by step video of this article called How To Get Free Network Marketing Leads at http://www.Awesome-Online-Marketing.com/blog.

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Originally posted 2009-07-09 11:22:40. Republished by Old Post Promoter

IP telephony, or Internet Protocol telephony deploys the Internet infrastructure to transmit voice and fax calls. IP phone systems digitize voice and transmit it in the form of packets to unique IP addresses designated by the user. Slow to get off the blocks, Internet phone systems have gained significant ground in the recent years. This is largely due to the rapid rise of convergence as the ultimate destination for communication technology. In this context, voice over ip phone systems are seen as a crucial first step in the march towards achieving seamless low-cost connectivity by integrating data, voice, and video onto a single Internet based platform.

Enterprise communications at the cross-roads

A recent study by META group, a subsidiary of the global consultancy major Gartner, indicates that convergence is fast catching up among businesses across the globe. As per the study, 26 per cent of the Global 2000 Enterprises are in the process of migrating to converged networks, whereas another 42 per cent will be taking it up in the next one to two years. Impressive figures indeed! In the same vein it predicts that the IP lines deployed by the hybrid ‘computer phone systems’, are bound to see a 50 per cent growth annually in the coming years. One reason why enterprises are boarding the IP telephony bandwagon is that it enables them to generate substantial cost-savings by using their existing IP infrastructure for voice traffic. Plus, prominent communication equipment vendors, such as UK based Actimax Plc, have clearly cast their mandate in favor of the Internet phone system. Going by the Actimax Web site, the benefits of adopting an IP phone system include:

1. Connecting remote workers at no extra cost
2. Integrating IP applications with telephones to harness the best of two technologies
3. Connecting geographically disparate sites together at no extra call cost

IP telephony – the roadblocks

From the above, the IP phone systems appear simply unstoppable and clearly the future of the global communications. But then why is it still moving at a relatively slow pace? For example, an overwhelming majority of enterprises in upcoming markets still remain unconvinced by its efficacy. In the developed world too the picture is not so rosy. As per estimates put forward by world telecoms major Ericsson, ‘pure-play VOIP phone system PBXs account for less than five per cent of customer premises equipment (CPE) shipments’ across the globe. Apart from this, businesses implementing VOIP phone systems too prefer to remain on line with the traditional wire line telephony. The reasons are not hard to find. META group studies point towards the a still lingering adverse public perception about reliability, degree of integration with legacy systems, and the money that needs to be pumped into the new applications.

Besides, a number of countries, including India and China, are still to recognize IP telephony, which puts a big question mark over its usability in these fast growing markets. Apart from this, convergence require a high degree of customization for companies in different sectors. Experts also point out that converged networks are still to come up with common technical standards that are essential to make the technology ubiquitous.

An idea whose time is nigh

Despite the remaining hurdles, it clearly emerges that the future belongs to converged networks, which means that we are in for a greater proliferation of voice over IP phone systems both at the workplace and in life away from office. The technology has got too many things going for it. After all how can we turn away a system that offers advantages such as greater efficiency and productivity while lowering your total cost of ownership? Those of you who have had a feel of concepts such as ‘Computer Telephone Integration’ will know what we are talking about. And, to those still to get a taste of this upcoming communication revolution, we can only say: Go out and try it for yourself. It makes more sense to be an active participant in the technology sweepstakes than to wait and let the convergence wave sweep you off your feet.

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Originally posted 2009-06-05 11:19:42. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Alternative marketing isn’t so revolutionary any more. Not so long ago, guerrilla marketing, with its creative, irregular, quirky ways of reaching the public was a real eye-opener. You’d see an ad for some product or other on the sleeve of your morning Starbucks, on the tunnel wall of the subway, or on the handrail of the escalator you were riding, and you’d notice it, because it was so unconventional. You would probably pay more attention to what it was saying – especially the second or third time you saw it – than you’d been paying for a long time to television commercials.

It’s more than likely now that when a TV commercial begins, the little device you attached to your TV set mutes the sound. Or maybe you get up and go get a snack, or swing your chair around and check your e-mail till the program resumes. As for print advertising, can you even remember the last time you actually read the ads in your Sunday paper? But guerrilla marketing and buzz marketing have been around for a few years, and consumers have begun to recognize them for what they are. With recognition of marketing tactics comes the origin of immunity to them.

Consumers tend to be intrinsically cautious, especially where their money is concerned. They know that the marketers’ single goal is to persuade them to spend their precious money on one product rather than on another. In some cases, a marketing scheme is intended to convince people that one brand is better than any other. For example, almost everybody now spends at least a few minutes every day online. People shop via the Internet for all sorts of commodities, from clothing to food to entertainment. They make travel arrangements online, they keep up with their friends by e-mail, and they even pay their bills online.

Thus, it’s up to the Internet service providers to compete against each other for your patronage. Will you still choose a dial-up connection, which is usually your cheapest option? There are dial-up companies waiting to tell you how much faster, cheaper, and better their connection is. Do you want much faster connection capability? The cable companies want to talk to you about speed, value packages, and technology. Whatever questions you can come up with about Internet service, the service providers will have a variety of answers for you.

In other cases, it’s not only a matter of persuading customers to buy a particular brand, but of convincing them that they even need this type of product in their lives. Now we are talking about the luxury goods market. This is the level of sales that is most lucrative for the marketers, and most expensive for the consumer. The luxury market attempts to make consumers believe that by owning a (fill in the blank: fancy car, designer jacket, wall-size television screen…) they will become fashionable, hip, cool. They’ll be part of the trendy scene. For this kind of market, word of mouth has been found to be especially effective. Buzz, too, is useful: the trick is to get people talking about your brand or your product because it’s trendy, exciting, and newsworthy.

Unfortunately for the marketers, even word of mouth and buzz are getting a little tired. And so are consumers: they are becoming fatigued just by the effort to keep up with fashion and ahead of their neighbors. One sign of this “fashion fatigue” is the increasing popularity of magazines like “Natural Living” and “Real Simple.” These publications focus on getting back to the basics of life, “going green,” recycling and reusing old stuff in new ways. Their readership is growing rapidly.

We are becoming almost as bored with the cleverness of alternative marketing as we have been with the insipidness and shallowness of the traditional marketing media. The cynicism and irritation we once reserved for commercials are beginning to spill over onto street team campaigns and viral videos on YouTube. How will the alternative marketers find new ways of building trust in what they say about the products they are pushing?

Blogs to the Rescue!

Wikipedia.com defines “blog” – short for “web log” – as “a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.” Similarly, Merriam-Webster Online tells us that a blog is “an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.” Sounds friendly, comfortable, believable, doesn’t it? When you are considering whether or not you should purchase a particular product, would you sooner trust a corporate web site, fancy and slick, cleverly produced, or an online personal journal? Alternative marketers are hoping you would choose the latter.

Anyone who can connect to the Internet can set up a blog. You can buy the services of a webhosting company to create a website exclusively for your blog; or you can use the free blogging that comes with social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Classmates.com, or LiveJournal. There are so many possibilities for blogging on the Internet that the term “blogosphere” has been coined to encompass blogs and their interconnections.

Blogs began as online diaries written by ordinary, everyday people in their own personal voice. Many still function that way; but others have taken on the role of commentator on news events, often in contradiction and criticism of the media. Such commentary is usually expanded by the inclusion of links leading to backup stories.

It was inevitable that the marketing sphere and the blogosphere would intersect at some point. Generation Y-ers and hip young professionals go to the Internet to find services their parents look for in print. You can get instant driving directions from any place to any other place. Whole telephone directories are online. You can look up people you haven’t heard from in years, and find them wherever they may be. And increasingly, this segment of the population gets its daily dose of world news online. The Internet is the perfect place to attract new customers; and blogs – friendly, homespun blogs – are the perfect medium for creating credibility. What better way to create “buzz” for a product than through the interconnection of personal online conversations?

Business Blogging

At the same time, that very quality of friendly, personal, down-to-earth communication that’s found in many blogs is exactly what makes blogging tough to use in advertising. Consumers need to trust that bloggers really are just everyday folks who want to share their thoughts and opinions online. They will pay attention if one of those everyday folks says something positive about a brand or a product, only because they believe that the blogger is, indeed, just an ordinary person.

Bloggers are not television actors portraying fictitious characters for entertainment. They are real people, expressing real, personal ideas and opinions. The television audience is entertained by the actions of the characters, but entertainment comes with a price: the suspension of disbelief. Bloggers interacting with other bloggers are unwilling to suspend their disbelief. Trust and transparency are the very essence of blog communication. To pay a blogger for promotion of a product would be a violation of the audience’s trust.

But of course, now that they are emerging as a viable marketing tool, blogs will be commercialized. In fact, it’s happening already. Commercial blogging websites like Smorty, Reprisemedia, and ProBlogger offer endless tips to marketers on how they should use blogs to sell their products. Here are a few from Macromedia, a blogging pioneer:

Realize that blogs are not the voice of the company; they are the voice of individuals who are passionate about something.

A firm and unfailing commitment to honesty in blogging is a necessity.

Guidelines for postings need to be established from the start.

Blog authors should be chosen from among your “company evangelists.”

And most importantly: if you’re hoping to market your product through blogging, never forget to keep it real!

Watch the video related to Guerrilla Marketing

Video de www.bloguerilla.it. Un blog nada convencional donde se habla del nuevo marketing: Street, Ambient, Ambush, Viral, Buzz y Guerrilla Marketing. Sorprendentes ejemplos de como SI puedes llamar la atención del consumidor de hoy!

Help answer the question about Guerrilla Marketing

Originally posted 2009-07-30 11:22:50. Republished by Old Post Promoter

A revolution in the communication field has come about with the advent of IP telephony services. There are number of questions which many have been trying to get the answers for with regards to this new much hyped VoIP technology. Understanding this technology is crucial since this is going to be the next big thing. This fact is backed by several research findings which point out that the VoIP users grew by 34 million in 2006.

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What is VoIP?

Simply put, it is a mode of transmitting calls over the internet. It converts analogue signals into small digital IP packets so that it could be taken by the computer. Digital packets are then reconverted into analogue signals when the reach the listener on the other end. The entire process takes place over the internet.

Equipments Needed For Using It?

You can make use of voice over IP service with the help of a computer or an IP enabled phone, sound card, headset, internet connection and an ATA adapter. This is as simple as it gets!

Benefits of VoIP?

1. Call cost comes down tremendously.

2. Quality of service remains the same as PSTN

3. International and long distance calls at almost half the cost can be made.

4. VoIP service is more efficient and increases productivity.

5. It provides mobility being location independent.

Is It Safe To Make VoIP Calls?

Safety issue definitely comes into picture while using IP service but this can be taken care of by taking the services from a premium VoIP provider. Various safety related options can be utilized like encryption of VoIP signaling i.e. the two protocols- H.323 and SIP. These kinds of options have made a secure telephony service.

Is IP service beneficial for businesses?

Most definitely yes! One of the main advantages is that the total call cost comes down. Try calculating the yearly bill that you get from your PSTN provider with that of a VoIP service. You will be in for a surprise! Moreover with the help of business VoIP you can get a complete solution to all your business needs complete with value added features like follow me and 3 way conferencing at no extra cost. The advantages are infinite. Just be creative and get services from a good provider and see your business flourish!

Why Hasn’t Everyone Opted For VoIP If It’s This Good?

IP call termination is still a relatively new technology and even though increasingly large number of companies and residential are switching over to it, there is still a section which is apprehensive about changing from a service that they have become accustomed to. However it is not long before others too finally make this leap.

Million Dollar Question – Should We Make The Switch To VoIP?

Yes! Undoubtedly one should consider opting for IP termination service for their personal use as well to take this as a business in order to maximize their profits with minimum risks involved.

Watch the video related to IP Telephony

NEC Product Marketing Manager Keith Bromley discusses common misconceptions about the cost savings for convergence. For more information visit: www.necunified.com

Help answer the question about IP Telephony

Originally posted 2009-07-03 11:19:49. Republished by Old Post Promoter