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e_Marketing Blog Free Blog or Your Own Domain? Once you've decided to create your own blog, the first question you have to address is whether you want your blog to be hosted on your own web hosting account or be part of an already established site like wordpress.com, blogger.com, or one of the many other free blogging sites. If you use one of the free "hosted" blogging sites (Wordpress.com, Blogger.com, LiveJournal.com, Blog.com, and many more) you can create a brand new blog in about 15 minutes. When you choose this option you become part of a larger site such as wordpress.com and your address will be something like http://yourtownrealestate.wordpress.com or http://yourtownmoneymanager.blogspot.com The advantage of this approach is that it is fast and cheap. Plus you will get some traction and search engine exposure for your blog because it will be part of a much larger network that gets crawled by the search engines on a regular basis. But in my estimation, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. 2009 Will Be Pivotal for Microsoft 2008 has not been the greatest year for Microsoft, but they have still done surprisingly well in spite of the economic slowdown around the world. In an article from PCWorld called Microsoft's Top Three 2008 Mistakes, Shane O'Neill of CIO.com discusses some of the things that went well for MS, and some that clearly did not. In spite of aggressive marketing by Apple, Mac sales fell 1 percent over the year and Windows PC sales were up 7 percent. Microsoft's grip on the PC market remained firm - with 90% of users running Windows, and 70% of internet browsers using Internet Explorer. One has to think that the bad press MS keeps getting will have to impact these market shares eventually. Although it sure seems like both Apple and Firefox do not understand that their elitist attitude ("we're so much better and smarter than the other 90% of you") is an implicit criticism of the very customer they are trying to reach. 2009 will be a pivotal year for MS as they continue to try to beat off Apple, Google and Mozilla (Firefox). According to the PC Word article Microsoft's biggest mistakes for 2008 were: 1. Poor marketing of Windows Vista - They've been letting Apple get away with bashing Vista for years now. It's just not as bas as the critics say it is, and MS's own lack of promotion reinforces the idea that the critics are right. 2. Letting Apple Build Anti-Vista Momentum - Even though the sales figures may not yet show it in a convincing way, Apple has taken the marketing game away from MS with their constant Vista-bashing. MS has not shown that it can adequately respond. Expensive ads featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld missed the mark. Just recently I saw an ad touting the unique features of Vista in a straight-ahead way. It's about time. 3. The Failed Yahoo Bid - Early in 08 the bid for Yahoo looked like it might be a case of two search losers getting together. The failure of the bid did nothing for MS's image as a "winner" or a company forging into the future. As it turned out it was probably good for MS that Yahoo rejected their offer. Now Yahoo is worth a fraction of what MS offered, Jerry Yang, the big Yahoo opponent of the bid is gone, and new Yahoo investors are now courting MS. MS is still interested in Yahoo's search business, and may very well end up with it in 2009. Upgrading to Wordpress 2.7 Just finished upgrading one of my many Wordpress blogs to v 2.7 - the newest upgrade which was released on Dec. 10 makes several attractive improvements to the interface. This upgrade is not so concerned with functionality as it is with improving the user interface. I was able to upgrade my Article Marketing blog in about 15 minutes when all was said and done. There were no suprises and no hitches along the way. I'm sure subsequent upgrades on other sites will go faster. |
Cottage-Sales.com - Looking for a cottage or summer home in Canada? You've come to the right place. We have valuable background information on cottage sales and what to look for in a summer home. If you've done any searching for cottages or summer homes, you know this market changes daily. Cottage-Sales.com is a member of the Linknet network of websites. Market Your Company with Cards that Match Your BusinessMay 14, 2006 - Linknet Business News Business Card Printing - Business card printing services at low rates by Printpelican.com Ink Cartridges - Ink cartridges manufactured in ISO-9001 & ISO-14001 factory certified manufacturing facility and batch tested to ensure consistency. Wedding Photography Toronto - International Wedding Photographer : Lifestyle Wedding Photography : Wedding Photojournalist Market Your Company with Cards that Match Your Business by Ray La FoyIt's hard to make a good first impression or leave the right impression behind if a business card doesn't represent a person or company correctly. Whether bright and flashy or simple and elegant, business cards should speak to those who hold them about the qualities of the company in question. They should also entice those who receive them to keep them and use them when the occasion arrives. Creating the best business cards possible for a business will, of course, depend on the business in question. Holographic, flashy metallic cards might look funny coming from a lawyer, but they'd look great from an artist. Simplistic, but elegant cards in the converse are ideal for legal professionals, but don't speak to a creative business' line of work at all. Fit the card to the profession and it's likely they'll become very valuable marketing tools. When choosing business cards for your company consider the following things: * What you do and what you stand for. If your company is a more traditional mainstream business like an accounting firm or a legal office, something elegant, yet simple will likely more than suffice to leave the right impression. * If something that makes your card stand out from the competition matters, is there a graphic element that can be added that defines what you do without words? A tire background for a garage, for example, or splashes of paint for a painting company? Go for something simple yet eye-catching. * If elegant is required, but a little bit of flash is required, consider higher quality paper or even translucent paper to leave a smart, sophisticated impression. * Artists, graphics designers, photographers and other creative professionals should have cards that stand out as a little more than average. Just make sure the important information like the company name and number doesn't get lost in the flash. No matter the type of card that's chosen, a good business card conveys important information about the company its meant to represent. Smart cards have the following information: * Company name. This should definitely stand out on the card. * Address. This should include the full physical address if a storefront is involved. * Telephone and fax numbers. Make sure to include an 800 number if the company has one and employee pagers and cell phones if they're available, too. * Employee name and position. * E-mail address if it's available. * The company's business should be clearly stated if it's not evident from the name of the business. Bob Brown Inc. doesn't tell anyone anything if they forget. But, Bob Brown Inc., Graphics Design Specialists, does. Business cards should leave behind a strong impression about the business and the people who work for it. A card should serve as a reminder for people to call your firm if they're ever in need of like services. They should stand out, but also remain clear enough that there's no confusion over who you are and what you do. When well designed and well written, business cards can really serve as a strong marketing tool. About the Author - Business cards | Online business cards Article Source - Click-Partners.com
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