Are you stuck in the wilderness of old fashioned marketing techniques or are you part of the new revolution?

You might ask, what is Social Media? I’ll ask you: under what rock have you been the last couple of years?

If you want to be part of the revolution I’ll share a few facts with you that will show you why Social Media is one of your most important and powerful marketing strategies to promote your business online TODAY.

What is this Monster then?

“Social media are media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues.” As defined by Wikipedia

It is Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace, Blogger, Digg, Orkut, Flikkr to mention a few.

Lets ponder on a few interesting facts that will undoubtedly demonstrate the enormity of this ever evolving media that is fast becoming the new economy of the world – A Big shift indeed!

– When you look at the worlds population, over 50% is under the age of 30 and 96% of them joined some kind of Social Media Network.

– Baby Boomers are joining in their masses

– Personal relationships are formed on these networks – 1 out of 8 marriages today met through Social Media

– It grows faster than any other media in history. To reach 50 Million users:

– Radio took 38 years

– TV took 13 years

– Internet took 4 years

– iPod took 3 years, BUT

FACEBOOK alone added 100 Million users in 9 months,

– today it is the number one activity on the web, outperforming the previous number one- pornography,

– In the USA today there are more online students than students who receive face-to-face education (revealed by a study done by the US Department of Education)

– There are 15 Million articles on Wikipedia (Wiki-Hawaiian term for QUICK). These articles is as accurate as the Encyclopedia of Britannica

– It is a truly on the go media/platforms

– People using it everywhere and at anytime

– It is used by young and old

– This will undoubtedly have an impact on the way you market yourself, your business and the quality of the product or service you render

– This bring a truly new meaning to the term “Word of Mouth Marketing”

This is the NEW ECONOMY, driven by people for people. Instead of having a selling mindset you have to shift to a listening mindset before you can even think of selling to that customer.

You have to come to the party. You must focus on providing high value content, product and service. If you get this right you’ll be able to start showing profits. Why?

People will trust YOU!

This is true for your business. It does not matter if you’re a business from home, a traditional brick and mortar business, an online internet business, or a big corporate business. YOU have to get educated.

Look out for Part 2

Is the gathering area (a.k.a. family room, living room, den, great room) in your home chaotic and cluttered? If so, try the following prescription to create a calm, comfortable and orderly space you’ll love to relax in and entertain family and friends.

1. Pin down the purpose(s) of your room. Is it your intention to use the family room as a place to watch a movie, curl up and read, play with the kids, take a short nap and gather with friends? Whether you have the foregoing functions in mind or something different, move objects unrelated to the purpose of your room (shoes, clothing and the ironing board) to other more appropriate quarters of your home.
2. Specify the major categories of items to be kept in your family room. For example:

• Reading – books, magazines and newspapers
• Media – TV, VCR, DVD, stereo, videos, CD’s, DVD’s and remotes
• Toys – dolls, action figures and vehicles
• Games – board games, puzzles and cards
• Collections – photos, baseball paraphernalia, etc.
• Sort everything in your family room into piles that represent the major categories identified in step #2. Begin with all surface items, and then move to objects stored in baskets, drawers, and cabinets. Smart tip: If you haven’t edited your belongings for a number of years, you will find it easier to sort large quantities of things by using a large box to hold the contents of each major category; the boxes will ensure your piles don’t spill over and get mixed up.
• Cut out the clutter and organize what remains. Working with one category at a time, evaluate each item using the following rules: don’t keep anything you don’t love or use; reduce multiples of any single item; recycle all but the current issue of magazines and newspapers; dispose of broken and unwanted items by pitching them, giving them to someone else, selling, or donating them. Then put the remainder of items in order. For example, eliminate: duplicate pictures, out-of-focus pictures, and unflattering pictures. Then arrange the pictures you want to keep by date or theme, such as home, family, school, vacations, etc. Smart tip: As you’re weeding out clutter from each major category, let go of 20% more stuff than you have room for, that way new acquisitions will have a ready made home.
• Arrange your room for comfort and functionality. When you have one space that serves multiple functions, consider setting up your room in zones – each to accommodate a different activity. For instance:

• Reading and gaming. Place a game table and chairs where you have a good light source, it makes a great spot for perusing the paper and playing board games. The same table top can also double as a place to set out snacks when you have friends over. Mount shelving or spot a bookcase on an adjacent wall to house books and gaming materials.
• Watching TV. Pick a good place to locate your TV and hide electronic gear in cabinetry if you don’t want to see it. Coordinate the arrangement of key seating pieces so you can readily see the screen (and take advantage of the view, if applicable). Position a magazine rack nearby and toss a throw over a plush armchair so you can cover up and catch a cat-nap when it’s chilly.
• Playing. Tuck toys into baskets or storage ottomans that blend with the aforementioned zones. These types of containers offer an ideal way to store distracting clutter and make the family room a welcoming adult space after the kids have drifted off to dreamland.
• If needed, use containers you have around your home to accessorize and containerize items that are easy to access. Family rooms are a magnet for books, papers, magazines, and supplies that get piled on the floor and table tops. However, you can organize these items with budget friendly solutions you likely have around your home.
• Shoe boxes of the same size and color can be used to corral photos, letters, CD’s and more. Using multiple containers with the same color and symmetry will elevate the ordinary into an appealing collection.
• Fruit crates, baskets, and sturdy totes can be used to hold books, magazines and newspapers.
• Pottery, glass jars, and mugs are good holders for pens, clips, rubber bands, and push pins.
• Ice cube trays, muffin tins, box lids, and cutlery trays make great drawer organizers.
• Vintage luggage and picnic baskets stacked on top of each other work well as side tables and make for durable, attractive storage.
• Slip items you want to confine into their new vessel and place them where they’ll be pretty and practical. That’s it! You now have a family room that’s organized, easy to clean, and makes smart use of your space.

Stay tuned-the next addition of the Decluttering Blueprint will be released soon.

The professional company logodrawstringbags provides all the information on imprint drawstring bags.

Starting a social media campaign for your business is like entering into a relationship. For it to succeed over the long term you must be committed to it and have realistic expectations as to what you’ll get out of it.

Current statistics show that that 73% of Twitter registrants have posted fewer than 10 messages and one third have posted none at all.

The majority of Facebook fan pages give visitors no incentive to “like” the page. As well, they rarely develop ongoing communication campaigns catered to their fans.

These trends are a clear indication that both people and businesses are participating in social media with either no plan, no goals, or no idea why.

So before you make your first tweet, create a Facebook fan page, or start searching for Linked In connections, ask yourself these questions. The answers may help you better focus your time, resources, and better understand how to include social media into your company’s marketing program.

Why do I want to participate in social media?

With social media “experts” declaring that any business not tweeting or without a Facebook fan page is losing business to competitors, many entrepreneurs feel compelled to participate out of fear. This just leads to frustration when time and money is spent on setting up accounts and custom pages, only to not see any measurable results. The fact is that social media is like any other marketing tool and may not be right for every business. Even so, it must still be used effectively, perhaps as part of a bigger campaign, for any benefits to be seen.

Do I have the time and resources?

Unlike conventional marketing such as ads in a newspaper, direct mail, or even a web site, social media requires continuous attention. Depending on your business, this could range from a few minutes a day to over an hour. Do you have the time, desire and patience to make regular and relevant tweets or update your Facebook page? And while you could have a staff member or virtual assistant do this for you, that means allocating resources and money that you may or may not be able to afford, or could better be used elsewhere.

Can I continuously come up with great content?

Unlike a blog where you can post content on your own schedule, making social media work means posting interesting and relevant content on an ongoing basis. Depending on which guru you listen to, this can mean a few tweets a day to more than 10 per hour. Can you keep up this pace? And do you really have enough to say? Even sharing a mix of personal anecdotes, relevant links, retweets, and business information can only go so far before you start getting mentally exhausted – and frustrated.

What are my goals?

Unless you’re involved in social media for purely social purposes, it’s likely that you are hoping to get some form of financial return out of it. The goals of attracting more clients and more sales is what drives most businesses to social media in the first place. So let’s be realistic – from a business perspective, followers, friends, fans and connections are really nothing more than lists. And if the names on those lists are not the kinds of clients you would like to attract, then you may be preaching to the wrong crowd. The best thing to do is decide what your goals are from the start. For many businesses, clients can come from any geographic area or be any demographic, so social media may be ideal. Think about if you’re trying to create awareness for your company, product, or just you

What are my alternatives?

Social media is just one of hundreds of ways to reach people. Depending on your goals you may find some old fashioned methods produce better results with less resources. Trade shows, direct mail, email, seminars, networking events, newspaper ads, or publicity stunts can still garner the kinds of result you may be looking for. Many companies have successfully used social media to build word-of-mouth “momentum” that originally started from a conventional marketing campaign. Remember the old spice guy? That campaign started as just a television commercial and went on to become the most successful social media campaign ever.

Do people really care?

The open forum concept of Twitter, Facebook and Linked In groups allows for huge numbers of people to talk about common interests. But let’s be honest here. Is your business worthy of discussion? A client of mine who is a self employed dental hygienist was disappointed when her tweets and Facebook postings garnered little response. While they were quality posts, it seemed teeth cleaning was just not a big draw for online discussion. It can be tough to hear, but sometimes the world does not share your passion about your product or service.

How do I measure success?

While many web designers and consultants will point to Google Analytics when asked about return on investment, the fact is that ROI can only be measured in dollars and cents. Your time and resources are worth something, so you must put a value to them and factor that in when developing your social media campaign. If you make $80.00 an hour doing what your core service is, then investing 10 hours in social media will cost you $800.00. If you don’t make that money back in a reasonable period of time, then you will have a negative return. Factor in other costs such as a graphic designer or marketing consultant, and your costs will be even higher. Success should be defined by a set of criteria before you begin your campaign – social media or otherwise.

Think of social media as just one tool in your marketing toolbox. And the most effective marketing campaigns come from knowing what tools to use and when to use them, either alone or in combination.

As we watch various TV shows at home, there is something that you may notice after taking a break. This is what we call commercial breaks. It is some kind of advertisement that are placed in a TV network during break time. Advertisers are paying the TV company on a pay-per-view basis until the credits expired. It means that for every advertisement viewed by the cable TV customers and subscribers, credits will start to charge. Why is it that lots of advertisers are willing to promote their product, service or company through TV commercials?

First of all, cable and satellite TV providers are having a huge market. The reason that cable or satellite TV is a huge market because of the great demand. In other words, everybody loves to watch TV all the time. This is where the advertisers came in, and they’re willing to spend their money for advertising credits. But how would they benefit from their advertising credits through TV commercials? For example, if you advertise a shampoo product through a pay-per-view basis, you might target a lot of women who are watching cable TV.

The channels that you are targeting for the product must be related to beauty, fashion, lifestyle and other variety channels. As cable TV providers and the advertisers agreed to a deal with this campaign, the commercial mode starts to roll. As you are targeting the right niche or audience, it gives them a lot of interest to check out the product advertised on TV. If there is a possibility that your product or service made sales through your TV commercial campaign, it is a sign of success for your business. This is where businesses are very successful through their campaigns.

However, if you choose the wrong target or demographics, you will get no or less sales from your products or services. It is important for your campaign to be targeted by means of pay-per-view, and it reflects the performance of your product or service itself. There is no guarantee that you may have a successful campaign with any cable TV provider, because there are lots of advertisers out there. In other words, there are some competitors in your niche or area that are running their campaigns through TV commercials as well.

Overall, it is worth for your business to test anything for the best. If you don’t test it out, you will not succeed. It needs you to take action to make your business profitable, especially in terms of promoting products and services. There are lots of ways for you to advertise the product and service, and it has no limits for you. As long you have a big budget to run a campaign for your product or service in a cable TV company, you’re good to go. This is the real power of TV commercials in running their campaigns through a pay-per-view basis. It may give you a real risk, but it’s normal for all businesses.

Online video marketing is increasingly the chosen option of businesses to establish their online presence. One of the most effective video marketing strategies is the use of social media to widen and diversify audience reach. There are many ways to create a social media presence but statistics show that the use of video is the most popular way. There is no question about video’s popularity by now as its claim to popularity is fully backed by impressive statistics.

Another important thing to remember about videos is that it can work well with various forms of social media. For example, a YouTube video that viewer like can be shared with other Facebook accounts, blogs as well as other social media sites. It will be the viewers themselves who will make the video go viral for the following reasons:

1. Easy to Share

If you have a fun, exciting and informative video, viewers will not only ‘like” or click a thumbs sign, they will share it with other people so that they can talk about it later. It’s a natural tendency to share something that makes one excited, sad, happy or inspired. The same thing will happen to those who were affected by the shared video because it only takes a click to share.

Even news videos now have links to share with various social media platforms. Viewers usually want to share videos with controversial topics. Eventually, if more sharing recipients like the video, it will go viral. Videos are not only easy to share, they are the type of content people would like to share. Generally, videos are easier to understand than text.

2. Billions of Potential Video Viewers

You can’t share if there’s nobody to share with, right? But there are hundreds of millions of users in the top social media sites. Facebook alone has over 1 billion users. In 2013, eMarketer forecasts social networking users to reach 1.43 billion, an increase of 19.2% from 2012.

Targeting social media users is like targeting a captive audience for your videos. That’s why it’s one of the most considered video marketing tactics to promote brand awareness.

3. Extended Accessibility

TV commercials are played only based on how much air time you bought. It’s not something that’s available if you want to see it. For example, a friend can only tell you about an impressive TV commercial. You have to watch TV and hope it will be shown. On the other hand, online videos are continuously available unless you delete them.

For instance, Justin Bieber’s music video “Baby” with over 756.4 million views has been continuously available at YouTube since April 25 2010. Until now there are still viewers without the need to buy more air time. It’s the same with the popular Volkswagen advertisement with over 53 million hits and counting. If the Justin Beiber video was shown only on a music site like MTV, it would have been taken off after a few months to give way to newer releases. It couldn’t have been viewed at least 756.4 million times.

If you are not using online video marketing strategies to establish your social media presence, you could be limiting the reach of your online marketing efforts.

The late Terence McKenna, the American ethnobotanist and mystic, once exclaimed, “We have to create culture, don’t watch TV, don’t read magazines, don’t even listen to NPR. Create your own roadshow. The nexus of space and time where you are now is the most immediate sector of your universe, and if you’re worrying about Michael Jackson or Bill Clinton or somebody else, then you are dis-empowered, you’re giving it all away to icons, icons which are maintained by an electronic media so that you want to dress like X or have lips like Y. This is shit-brained, this kind of thinking. That is all cultural diversion, and what is real is you and your friends and your associations, your highs, your orgasms, your hopes, your plans, your fears. And we are told ‘no’, we’re unimportant, we’re peripheral. ‘Get a degree, get a job, get a this, get a that.’ And then you’re a player, you don’t want to even play in that game. You want to reclaim your mind and get it out of the hands of the cultural engineers who want to turn you into a half-baked moron consuming all this trash that’s being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world.”

Indeed, the media has been responsible for propagating the widespread misinformation we see today. This insidious plot of social engineering, whether we acknowledge this or not, can be found in tailored TV, radio and newspapers, that are filled with celebrity tittle-tattle and government propaganda, (ISIS, Syria, et al.), essentially giving their recommendations on what to wear, who you should aspire to be, and what to believe. Most of it bile with endless fear-mongering and lacking any semblance of truth.

Impartiality is not their concern, and control and obedience is, and remains their sole aim as they continue to churn out half-truths and innuendos that line a popular political narrative that stick like barnacles on a whale, to nudge and cajole a susceptible viewing public to align with one commonly held point of view.

Most people are aware of this of course, however, as social conditioning is part of the fabric of our media culture this can go unnoticed, and is transferred as if by osmosis, and we are affected regardless, unless are concerted effort is made on our part not to react in the negative. The general populace can seem so burdened by the very act of daily living, they can feel almost powerless to mount a rebellion. However, a sea of change is afoot and those among the elite know this, and the movement is now gathering pace.

What we can do now is to resist this element of mind control by refusing to listen and to explore other sources of information to keep up to date and well-informed. Turning off the TV and radio in the first instance, and in so doing taking some of our power back. Effectively shutting the hatch on the rising tide of excrement that you may hear lapping against the shutter door, but just enough to prevent it seeping through. Expunged of government and media brainwashing tactics, we will hopefully develop a clearer mind and become instinctively aware of the many injustices around the world, and by refusing to accept the status quo, potentially enable everyone to live more empowered and fulfilling lives and finally usher in the long-awaited collapse of the controlling elite.

It’s almost the beginning of July 2006. The Direct to Home (DTH) scene in India is getting ready for the mother-of-all battles. The Subhash Chandra owned Dish TV is going to have a competitor in the Rupert Murdoch backed TATASKY DTH platform soon. Though TATA owns seventy odd percent in the venture we all know where the technical expertise is going to come from.

Newscorp via STAR TV will no doubt be building a strong product for Indian households. Let us not forget that they own and operate BSKYB in the United Kingdom where they are almost considered untouchable in both quality of service and reach. DISH TV too is not sitting still. Only a few months from their launch, they started offering services like Movie On Demand and of course the more recent announcement of the inclusion of extra channels including SONY on their DTH platform.

STAR having stayed off the DISH TV platform with only STAR UTSAV making a token appearance, have made their intentions clear. This year promises to be an all out exciting one for television viewers in the country. Both the players are known to be aggressive. They are not going to pull any punches and surely aren’t taking any prisoners. When BSKYB launched to a lukewarm reception in the UK, SKY started giving the set top boxes free, they also bought all the exclusive football rights for an astronomical amount to bring in the viewers. Free set top boxes plus the only place to watch their football the Brits bought into BSKYB big time making it a thundering success. ZEE on the other hand back home is constantly updating their services portfolio. The latest addition to their list is Mobile DISH TV. Yes, that’s right you will be able to watch all their channels on the move in a car or a bus. They have a year’s head start over TATASKY and are looking to consolidate their lead.

TATASKY on the other hand has deep pockets and a vast library of content to dish out on their platform. It’s too early to tell who will win this fight but signals are out there that the fight will be long and fought hard. Especially now since SONY has joined DISH TV the lines are drawn. Like I mentioned some time back, people do want all the goodies that a DTH service brings but how many will want two different boxes at home is the question? Maybe it will lead to the mother-of-all mergers…the TATASKYDISH TV Network!

Did you ever have a friend who was a perfectly nice, normal guy most of the time and then as football season approached turned into this in-your-face obnoxious football-loving freak?

I do.

Don’t get me wrong, even though baseball is really my thing, I like football as much as the next guy, as long as the next guy isn’t Alan. He and I have been friends since high school and ever since I’ve known him he’s been a huge football fan…no, wait; make that a huge football junkie.

He can’t seem to get enough. He’s a walking encyclopedia of football trivia and loves to share his knowledge, whether you want it or not.

So I was more than a little surprised to learn that Alan, of all people, still didn’t have the Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket!

When I asked him why, the poor guy actually looked embarrassed. He said he’d seen where it was over $200 to sign up and he didn’t think he could afford it.

So he spent a lot of hours on several different occasions trying to find a good deal online, but every time he’d go back to a site he liked, he never could find the same offer he’d seen before.

I would’ve been inclined to think it was just Alan – that he’d been hit one time too many as a linebacker back in high school, but I knew exactly what he was talking about.

I’d been there myself a few months earlier. If I hadn’t found one site in particular that keeps track of all the best deals not only on the Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket, but also on other satellite deals, including Dish Network, I’d probably still be searching.

You don’t have to take my word for it. I listed it down at the bottom of this article so you can see for yourself.

I explained to him what I had learned. First of all, you don’t have to pay the total all at once, Direct TV will let you spread your payments out over several months.

I actually did the math, and with all that they offer, you’re getting a steal. The package actually works out to about a buck a game!

No where else can you get up to 14 games each week and have them automatically download to your DVR on Mondays. You can also track the performance of your favorite player, see real-time scores and stats, and hear play strategies straight from the coaches’ mouths.

But here’s what makes finding the best deals so difficult to do.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of websites to slog through, most of them poorly designed or full of graphics so obnoxious they make it hard to find what you’re looking for.

Some of them won’t even be in existence the next time you look for them. And the so-called ‘deals’ they offer seem to change almost daily. That’s why I think you’ll be impressed if you click on the links at the end of this story. Those guys stay right on top of the latest and greatest offers from Direct TV, which of course includes the NFL Sunday Ticket.

I’m happy to report that Alan finally got his Sunday Ticket and he claims he has me to thank for it.

I’ve giving you the same advice I gave Alan, so now you can get the Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket and know you’re getting the best deal.

Go to the websites listed below. Get the facts. Get the most current offers available. Get your own Sunday Ticket. You know you want it. You deserve it. Just do it. You can thank me later.

A lot of technological advancements in communication and broadcasting have paved the way for bringing people from across the globe closer through an international conference call. However, people have been calling internationally without so much the thought of doing it the right way to save costs. If not, their telephone bill could amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars every month.

On the bright side, thanks to technology and modern times, there are a lot of international calling methods that are existent nowadays than there did many years ago. The humble telephone is not anymore the only means to call someone half a world away, but there is now a new method that relies on new technology like VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol. VoIP makes phone calls over the Internet possible instead of traditional long distance calls.

To effectively communicate with other people across the globe without making a hole in your wallet is fairly easy. Just like making a regular conference call, an international conference call follows the same basic principles:

(1) participants dial in to a conference call access number, (2) they enter the access code or PIN for their conference, and (3) they join the conference.

International conference calling is unique in a way that international participants need special access numbers to avoid paying expensive international call rates. If you go to the larger services providers you might get an international toll-free number to access the conference. Other providers set up local access numbers in countries where their customers normally call.

For instance, you want to hold a conference call with clients in England, Japan, and Canada and you’re located in the United States. All you need to do is dial either an international toll-free access number or a local access number. Those who use the local access number are right away connected to the central conference bridge via a global IP network.

Using a dial-out system rather than a dial-in system is another economical way of making these kinds of calls. In a dial-out system the moderator dials out to each participant individually, thus absorbing the costs of each international call.