Writing your paycheck while fulfilling social commitment!!!

How about writing your own paycheck and at the same time fulfilling social commitment? We know for sure you will raise eyebrows at the first place questioning about the possibility of living with two conflicting interests - writing your own paycheck and fulfilling social commitment. Knowledge is power to you. The best way therefore lies in exploring the topic further.

To begin here let us tell you that this no magic; rather a hardcore profession that demands dedication and professional acumen. Wondering? Well, this is all about a financial advisor. Being in the shoes of a financial advisor you can effectively contribute to the wellbeing of individuals aka societies in your neighborhood or bigger than that based on your scale of operation. A financial advisor therefore takes charge of this social welfare initiative and paycheck writing side by side.

ü  In the capacity of a financial advisor you can reach and help people out of multiple financial necessities such as marriage, mortgage loan at the time of buying home, baby birth etc. People meet you with an expectation of handling their financial requirements.

ü  We can fairly presume that you as a financial advisor are a certified financial planner (CFP) and as such you levy charges against the services rendered. The more you work the fatter your paycheck becomes. This in other words construes to the fact that you essentially write your own paycheck. Isn’t it quite rewarding and fulfilling? Additionally if you can take up the responsibility of syndicating loans etc. you will have additional earning opportunity from the lenders.

ü  Retirement is inevitable; but financial planning for one’s retirement requires skill and adeptness. Why? Because, the person has to take a lot of factors into consideration such as how much will suffice in old days fairly presuming about his/her life span, how to include the inflation quotient into account while arriving at the figure of retirement corpus and so on. The latest study of Hearts & Wallet indicates that three out of five households in US find retirement planning difficult. You as a CFP can essentially assist people in fulfilling their dreams while unlocking your earning potential!!!  

A financial advisor by definition refers to an expert on finance – public or private both.  The crux is earning potential of a financial advisor goes in direct proportion with the number of cases that he/she handles. The profession of a financial advisor is therefore doubly rewarding!!!      

How about becoming eco-friendly???

People all over the world are going gung ho about eco-friendly products. Have you ever wondered what’s so special about them??? Not yet now??? Not an issue; we can always learn things for the better. In fact, if we are NOT learning we are missing something in life for sure.

What is eco-friendly product/s?

Good question. After all knowledge is power to you. You should therefore always question before accepting anything in life.

Eco-friendly products refer to those products which are not harmful for the Mother Nature. In other words the term eco-friendly connotes not damaging to the environment. That’s the beauty of such products that stands tall among all and sundry normally available in the markets around the world.    

Top 5points to use eco-friendly products:

To our experience we find the following points are very useful in deciding whether to go for an eco-friendly product or not.

01.   Eco-friendly products, as the name suggests, are derived out of things which are bio-degradable and they are by default taken from the nature. As such when you choose an eco-friendly product over others you essentially behave like a responsible member of the global community. Simultaneously you save the earth from hazardous and polluting elements.

Mind that this is no mean achievement or insignificant contribution on your part given the rise in greenhouse effect all over the world and the untoward consequences therein.

02.   Your eco-friendly products are by default unique when you compare their aesthetics with their counterparts made of plastics, metals or other elements. These eco-friendly products appear out-of-box creations just for YOU!!!

03.   While non-biodegradable products are basically the hazardous wastes post their use and require special treatments for destroying or condemning them into pieces your eco-friendly products on the other hand do not require any special treatment for decomposition. They will naturally dissolve with the Mother Nature leaving no trail of harmful residuals.

04.   Your eco-friendly products such as sunglasses and watches make a style statement for you. They actually telltale your vanity, stature and care for the environment to the people around you. They in fact become your prized possessions for long in life at the cost of your neighbor’s envy!!!

05.   The best part of the eco-friendly products is that they are all handmade> Hence every piece of eco-friendly product, say sunglass or watch becomes unique. That’s the catch here for sure!!!

Learning by experience always stays on your side. Then, what are you waiting for? Go get your piece today.    

Vehicle title loan VS pawn for cash – which one you prefer and why???

The four letter word ‘L O A N’ plays a pivotal role in our life. Being a bit creative on these four letters I find some interesting story to narrate; namely ‘L’ for lion, ‘O’ for orderly, ‘A’ for arranged and ‘N’ for negotiation. Your ‘LOAN’ should therefore refer to an arranged and negotiated lion in an orderly manner. If look at this new found definition of ‘loan’ you will essentially get to know the underlying truth as to what a loan may mean to you.

Your loan however appears to have the magical powers of fulfilling your dreams in real life. But, the million dollar question is which way to go – cash for title loan or open car title loan supposing that you are willing to buy a car on loan? That’s a tricky question for sure since you can’t afford to take loan providers on their face values. Let’s compare vehicle title loan VS pawn for cash. After all knowledge is power to you and it is this knowledge that can help you sail over the issues of finding the best match for you out of the different loan options available in the market.

Vehicle title loan VS pawn for cash:   

Let me begin with a question here. Which one do you prefer over the other – pawn vehicle for cash or cash for title loan? To make the choice easy for you let me tell you that there can never be a uniform reply to this question as we human beings belong to the different socio-economic strata and therefore our purchasing power or requirement greatly differs on an individual basis. Whether you borrow with your car or not your loan ultimately translates to your liability to be paid off within a stipulated time frame as per the provisions of your loan agreement.

On availing vehicle title loan you continue to use the vehicle subject to the fulfillment of the terms and condition laid down in your loan agreement. Your car remains on lien with the loan disbursing authority. This exposes you to the risk of losing the vehicle as well as the money paid during the tenure of the loan installments in one go the moment you fail to honor your commitment as per the agreed terms and conditions.  

Pawn for cash on the other hand works as a personal loan on pledging your property such as your car or house. This sets you free from losing the money as you have already availed that in advance. But, the crux is you don’t get the 100% market value towards your loan amount against the property on pledge. The percentage of money that you can avail here towards cash differs from company to company. Prior to sanction of the loan amount valuation of the property is done by an approved valuer and then the loan percentage is decided based on your property value and your earning potential in sync with liabilities, if any.

You may be tempted to conclude here to go by the pawn for cash – that’s handy in the matters of fulfilling your wishes come true in life. But, like every other things around you there are two sides of looking at the issue. To precise, in case of pawn for cash you have to first purchase the car for example by paying for it out of your own resources while vehicle title loan allows you to enjoy the comfort of having a vehicle on lien. You however keep paying off the loan amount in installments as agreed. Vehicle title loan therefore sets you free for investing your money into some more productive pockets like your own business where percentile returns has no limit based on your field of operation.

Points to ponder while availing car title loan:    

Ø  Quick loan approval as fast as one hour that in turn eases out the loan documents.

Ø  Handsome money somewhere close to $30,000 or more - that’s useful.

Ø  Low interest rate - as low as 85% over the pawn for cash option.

Ø  Free to use the car.

Ø  Apply online at the comfort of your home and office.

If you agree with my line of thoughts that advocates for vehicle title loan you should then concentrate on the options available in your market. You must weigh every option before closing on a deal. Because, there are several terms and conditions laid down in the loan agreements that you might miss at the time of availing the loan and these would surely come up as hurdles later.

Nothing discussed herein above however would sound flawless or sacrosanct since a loan should always be a subject matter of personal convenience based on your socio-economic strata. But, playing safe in the matters of loan is the sure success way for leading a stress free life.    

Social media marketing strategies of major video game developer

Everybody is going gung ho about media in our present generation. Even 10 years down the line there was not much craze around the media especially in developing and underdeveloped countries though the developed countries used to play the role here.

Traditionally it may be of three types – print media (newspaper), electronics media (TV) and out of home media aka billboards. But, in today’s world another media that has exponentially earned a niche for itself is digital media wherein social media plays a pivotal role.

What is a social media?   

A social media is essentially a social platform for networking with likeminded people across the world over the net. Social media like facebook or g+1 page by default attracts huge traffic and people use these social media for networking around the world. Presence in social media therefore creates more and more visibility for your product or service thereby creates opportunities to sale.

What is strategy and how does it correlate with social media marketing?   

According to Simon Middleton strategy is essentially the marriage between the desire and destination. You for example want to open a coffee shop in your neighborhood market. This is not something unique as there may be several such shops already existing there. What do you do then?

You have to create an edge over the competition. How to do you do that? It’s simple – just understand the customers’ demand and expectations better and create a product backed by services that stands as a unique choice in the locality. To do that effectively you have to understand the elements of marketing. According to Dr. Philip Kotler there are 4Ps of marketing; namely product, price, place and promotion those work in tandem for earning the fortune for your product in a market.

In short whatever you do there has to have a strategy in place for the success of the venture. Going by the rule social media too must have a marketing strategy if it is to promote major game developers around the world. As five fingers on our hand are not equal, so goes with our social media marketing strategies for major game developers. Onus to mention, uniqueness is the way to life here.

Top 05 video game developers around the world as reported in December 2013: (source: http://www.therichest.com/business/the-worlds-most-successful-video-game-companies/10/)

1. 01.   Microsoft earns $ 10.01 billion in revenue from video gaming
2. 02.   Sony with a revenue $ 7.20 billion
3. 03.   Nintendo with a revenue $ 6.47 billion
4. 04.   Blizzard Entertainment (revenue $ 4.85 billion)
5. 05.   Electronic Arts (revenue $ 4.14 billion)

These companies adopt different strategies for marketing their video games out of which social media plays a vital role. Upload a sample game or miniature form of the game on YouTube and if it appeals to the viewers you will see million hits in a matter of a few days. To understand the social media marketing strategy of these players you have to know each game thoroughly and how the game stands unique in the eyes of its players. Microsoft for example heavily bank on content marketing as a part of their social media marketing strategy for the video game.   

Excellent baby gifts to express joy on the newborn

They say marriages are made in heaven. My sixth sense says there is some underlying truth into it. Why? Questioning is good as it opens up the door for knowledge sharing. But, before you resort to ponder over the question you better take a close look on the relationship of a husband and wife that usually gives birth by way of wedlock. As per Hindu philosophy it is one of the finest relations God has ever created or may be our social system has put in place in order to create a healthy relationship for taking generation forward.

This relationship between a husband and wife or two partners of opposite sexes give birth to a baby after precisely nine months of gestation. A baby thus becomes a precious possession of life for every caring parent. It is this baby who takes the generation forward and essentially begins from the place where you left. As a matter of fact anything related to your baby deserves a special attention and care especially with regard to gifts.

Why should you be careful while purchasing new baby gifts?

Good question as the market is abuzz with options in the matters of new baby gifts. Some of these gifts are really cheap; some of them are China made and look damn good. Well, you should know that your baby is susceptible to hazardous chemicals and colors.

At this point the first thing than run across my mind is that cheap isn’t really good all the while NOT all the cheap are bad either. Then, what’s the way out? The thumb rule here is that you must avoid buying China made products. It’s been observed all over the world especially in advanced countries like US that toys made by China are mostly of inferior quality. Colors that they use are full of the lead (a soft heavy toxic malleable metallic element) that’s harmful for your baby.

Besides you must avoid buying too furry products for your new born as your baby might lick these stuffs thereby can effectively swallow some of these furs or can get them into the nose causing respiratory or stomach problems. 

The other crucial aspect that you need to look at is that of the uneven edges that some of the baby toys carry. Such an uneven part of a toy or hard plastic toys will jeopardize your baby’s safety.

What is the way out then for buying excellent baby gifts?  

All that you need is a bit of patience and time while choosing the baby gifts. Excellent baby gift doesn’t mean it has to be a costly one always. It can be cheap as well; but the gift should invariably from the table of a renowned manufacturer. As a blanket advice you can however buy gift items like balloons, chocolates or gift baskets and flowers based on the age of the new born baby. Always bank on the quality products with excellent baby gifts delivery backup. Because you may purchase a good baby gift; but the bad delivery can essentially eat up your efforts and time!!!   

What market may mean to you if you are a marginal player???

In Sanskrit it is said that “Banijjye basati Lakshmi” (business is the home to the goddess of wealth). None can deny the fact. If you look at jobs that the commoners do, it is nothing more than business – be it in the government sector or in the private. But, the crux is wherever and whatever form of businesses you do you must know your periphery of work. It thus becomes imperative for a marginal player to define his/her market first despite the fact that a market is longer constrained by the physical boundaries post the internet revolution.   

Why should you know your market first?

Good question since answering this question to yourself will help you rein over things that become a part of your business endeavor in the long run. In research it’s been found that NOT every product or service will appeal to everyone and it is this reason you get to see so many products thronging in the same segment in a market. Look at the products Surf Excel, Ariel and Wheel. They are in essence the detergents meant for your cloth washing; but they connote different value propositions for different customers who again belong to different socio economic strata.

Defining your market aka customers first in a market can be construed as one of the key elements to your marketing success. From a layman’s perspective if you don’t know your customer who would you approach to sell your product or service? After all it’s the customers who fuel the fortunes for you!!!  

Moreover being a marginal player you are not gifted with the financial muscles like the big corporations around the world who usually spend millions of dollars towards R & D (Research and Development). You in the shoes of a marginal player are to work mostly on a shoe string budget even in the matters of your R & D. Your ROI (Return on Investment) always remains high on agenda as it amounts to life or death to you as a marginal player.

Does defining the market squeeze the scope of work for a marginal player?

Some will opine that yes it is since you stop looking beyond boundaries set for yourself. Let me tell you that it’s a grossly erroneous perception. They argue that by defining the TG (Target Group) in a market you essentially make a blind spot for your business.

According to Dr. Philip Kotler there are 4 Ps of marketing aka the elements in your marketing mix that essentially play pivotal role in making your marketing initiative successful; namely product, price, place and promotion. Onus to mention all these elements of your marketing mix by default revolve around a person – that’s your TG and this TG in other words is known as the market for you.

Defining your TG aka market therefore helps you prune your marketing strategy and skill that in short earn the fortune for you. There are innumerable examples of organizations worldwide that are doing quite successful business this way. I recommend for looking at the Kirana stores (small grocery shops in India) in your neighborhood despite of having high rise malls in the vicinity.     

Collaboration is the name of the game for your success!!!

Too many cooks spoil the broth – so goes an adage that highlights the importance of collaboration. Fortunately these cooks are now collaborating with the common purpose of making the broth as unique as possible. Why? It is because of the fact that time has changed and a change in every sphere of our activities therefore has become inevitable.

How working together contributes to success?

Workings together certainly build trust that lasts and succeeds. There are innumerable examples around the world that have vouched for the fact. On the contrary if you don’t take your people into confidence and work together for attaining the common goal you can never achieve success in the long run, though you can have some success in the short run.

Look at the history of Mughal emperors in India. You will agree to the fact that Akbar’s secular approach and the habit of taking his people along for the good of his empire yielded favorably to the growth and dominance of himself and the successive Mughal emperors in India. On the contrary Aurangzeb’s distrust in everyone and non-delegation of authority yielded to the killings of his own brothers alongside confining his father Shah Jahan. The Mughal Empire in consequence short lived post the demise of Aurangzeb.

Here you can have an interesting reading on the same. Browse the link https://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Mughals/Aurang.html for your knowledge and reference.

Working together – the modern perspective:

Now coming back to the terms of modern day living and succeeding in business you have to heavily bank on the ethics of working as a team for achieving your set organizational goals. There’s no scope for second thought on this given the cutthroat competition in the worldwide market. Moreover, such a practice of collaboration works favorably within the ambit of the economies of scale. Mind that economies of scale through collaboration are no mean achievement; it can rather be the biggest differentiator in the matters of your pricing as well as success.

How does pricing affect your business?      

Collaboration always pays so goes with the element of price in your marketing mix. It always plays a pivotal role there for your success. According to Dr. Philip Kotler there are 4 Ps of marketing that are responsible for your marketing success; namely product, price, place and promotion. You will be deprived of the sweet success unless your pricing is right vis-à-vis the TG (Target Group) over and above the fact of all other elements in the marketing mix like product, place and promotion are doing their jobs fine.

In nutshell success in your business is essentially gets determined by the effective use of the elements in your marketing mix alongside your style of working like bureaucratic, autocratic or otherwise. Listen to your peers and colleagues before it’s too late for the good of your business.

Is working together aka collaboration necessary for you as a niche marketer?

My answer to your query is a big ‘Y E S’. Because it helps you stay grounded in the matters of your customers’ need and preferences and works in the best interest of your business. 

NaMo - the demi god elected to the thrown of 15th P.M. of India

I was first taken a back by the abbreviation "NaMo"; never saw such a peculiar style of writing an abbreviation. But it's well known at least among the Indians. It's none other than Narendra Modi. There lies the magic of journalism.

Narendra Modi will perhaps be fondly remembered as NaMo in Indian history; a man who dedicated his life in working for his likings and philosophies. Our prolific business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambai once said, "If you don't build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs". Interestingly both Mr. Ambani and Mr. Modi are from Gujarat only. 

The first Prime Minister of India who bowed right at the entrance of the parliament terming it as the temple of democracy. If I am to rate Mr. Modi I will perhaps land up in awarding 200 out of 100 at this juncture given his unputdownable charismatic win with his party's majority in 2014 parliamentary elections. From nowhere BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) was instantly visible everywhere. There were sceptics who questioned the winning proposition of Mr. Modi as the 15th P.M. of India and someone even offered to change his name in case. Modi became P.M. He (Mr. Modi) simply came, heard and did the numbers for his party and him at the cost of all those sceptics.

It is still the beginning - a long way to go for Mr. Modi. But morning shows the day as we saw right from the occasion of his swearing in ceremony. He was proactive in the matters of arriving at a resolution on the prolonged bilateral issues with India's neighbouring countries. Those were destabilising India's growth trajectory. I know it's too early to comment. But at least cordial efforts were initiated through a mere invitation during the swearing in ceremony. This shows Mr. Modi's out-of-box thinking ability yielding to positive results for both the countries concerned. 

If you are unhappy over a matter. Let your neighbour hear it correctly. That's what Mr. Modi did while he spoke to his Pakistani counterpart. The fundamental is very simple here. He did let his neighbours know that he's unhappy in clear terms; but in a tone that didn't sound intimidating. Mr. Modi drew flak from some of his country men especially from South; but he proceeded unassumingly with the determination to bring carnage to the burgeoning issues.. 

Selling to a prodigal

Selling to a prodigal – does this sound lunatic? If yes, read on – perhaps I can add a few points to your thoughts to ponder. I'm into sales spanning more than the last 18 years, what I can vouch is any amount of sale takes your guts out.

Who’s a prodigal?

There’s an adage that says ‘a miser robs himself and a prodigal robs his heirs’. A prodigal literally connotes the one who spends lavishly and recklessly. Modern day prodigal however is a different breed of customers altogether that earn high and spend high because of change in life style and high pressure jobs that demand most part of their life. I will therefore confine discussion to this prodigal class only; i.e., people who spend profusely their hard earned money. How? Through pubs, restaurants, high end gadgets, cars and night clubs and what not.

Myths about sales:

There are several popular beliefs about sales and at a glance it all appears very easy to achieve. But, unless you venture to run you won’t get to know what it takes to win the race for sure that aptly fits into business as well.

Popular selling myths are -

• Myth 1: Just select a good spot of your choice and sit down with your items. People will automatically pick them up in exchange for money.
• Myth 2: Sale is not happening, perhaps you need a bit push sale. Just give away discount making a bit inroad into your income. No matter, you will come up soon since people will be thronging around your shop.
• Myth 3: Still no progress, you better should stock costly items as you have opened up your shop in the posh locality; thereby you will be destined to the dooms day finally and for sure.

I can keep on adding the myths; but my friend it will not help you. Why? Because, fads don’t pay – you have to be grounded enough to understand market dynamics and how a market operates based on consumer movements. Please understand that there’s no perfect selling proposition – one that clicks for you should be treated as the best selling strategy for you. Look at the neighborhood stores prevalent in Asian countries that thrive on year after year, may be generation after generation, catering to a niche market only. How? All that I can say on a generalist’s view is that they all thrive on one factor – that’s CONVENIENCE.

Selling to a prodigal is easy:

By this time you must have understood that prodigals belong to the higher echelons of our society with strong purchasing powers and need not say that they don’t like to be at par with the common man in whatever they eat, wear, ride or reside. Based on your business you have to be an expert in addressing one or more such traits of prodigals if you wish to have a pie of that premium market.

Selling to a prodigal therefore in real terms is not easy. It’s as typical as handling middleclass / poor consumers with a difference and the differentiation lies in your approach as befitting products’ image and vanity with the prodigals are much more important than that of their actual needs.

I cordially hope that I could make a point or two for you to ponder. Have a happy selling!!!   

Selling to a miser

A miser essentially refers to a stingy hoarder of money and possessions and the one who very often spend life miserably. Selling to a miser however not necessarily constitutes the group of people who spend relatively less; rather it’s the group of people alias consumers who very much price conscious. Our proposition of selling to a miser revolves around them only.

Who’s a real miser?

There is no such person who can be called a real miser. Still we come across a few people on earth who are too price sensitive on a product or service other than its quality. They are typically a set of consumers with myopic views and in reality constitute a chunk of market share on any product or group of products. You being seller can’t really afford to lose them always.

Dealing with a miser:

Dealing with misers would invariably involve offering deals that must appear catchy to them. But, the question is how to make a deal catchy to a miser or two. Before going further let’s figure out what in effect constitutes a deal.

A deal is an agreement in essence between parties that is usually arrived at after discussion fixing obligations of each. But, as a seller you may or may not get opportunities to fix a deal with a miser during his / her visit at your store. So, where does the solution lie?

Apprehending a miser’s mindset:   

The crux of having business or no business with a miser would greatly hinge on your understanding of that particular miser beforehand so much so that you as a seller can fix up your mindset and be ready with your weapons such as discount schemes, a range of products with varied price ranges alongside great color combinations etc. to name a few. Here too I can’t ask you to devise a straight jacket formula since practical inputs during the course of your interactions with that miser will play pivotal role in deciding what would work best vis-à-vis the situation.

Closing a sale with a miser:

You did the first step in this by way of simple reading / apprehension of the miser’s mindset. You need not have to be a psychologist to apprehend this. We come across hundreds of situations in our life that leave us somewhat adept in handling them in future.

They say, if you can’t convince then confuse. You will find this simple strategy works fine in many a case while dealing with misers. Bombard misers with offers and options over a period of time and you then be at the helm of affairs. The ball will soon begin rolling in your favor for sure. 

Admiring a miser:

You can make a huge difference by way of just admiring the miser. To make this happen you pay due respect to the miser’s opinion by way of your simple nods or a line of acknowledgement. While doing so you must be serious enough to be heard loud and clear to that miser. Follow this over a period of time and feel the difference.

You can’t really afford to lose a customer even if he / she is a miser. They say bad news travel fast – really very fast.    

Selling through E-commerce

E-commerce is the name of the game today in corporate world. Irrespective of the country or region everywhere e-commerce ventures are soaring high – high enough to attract investments by corporate biggies throughout the world.  

What is E-commerce?

E-commerce is otherwise called online business or e-business. In nutshell, commerce conducted electronically can effectively be called e-commerce. It is growing by leaps and bounces throughout the world today.

Reasons behind growth momentum in E-commerce:

The reason behind the double digit (more or less) growth of e-commerce on YOY (year on year) can be attributed to the hectic work schedule, work / life imbalance thereby less opportunities to spend time freely in shopping. More and more nuclear families have contributed to the growth saga of e-commerce as it’s been congenial for saving your valuable time and money by way of availing goods/services of your choice at the comfort of home and that too at a discount. Delivery timing too has been simplified based on your availability at home. What else can you expect?

Future of E-commerce:

There are highs and lows in every business given the circumstances and business environments in which a business operates. By business environment I mean political turmoil, recession, inflation etc, which in general greatly affects any business establishment. But, given the current trend and life style e-commerce holds the potential of making your fortunes for the years to come.  

Selling through E-commerce:

To ease the process of e-commerce let’s take an example, say gift selling through e-commerce. The merit of selling gifts is that it has wide acceptance spanning a year such as birthday gift, wedding gift, mother or father’s day gift and so on to name a few. The process, even though can’t be a straight jacket for all and sundry, may generally involve the following steps.

• Excellent Procurement: This is a critical aspect of running a successful e-commerce venture. Because, an e-commerce venture not only runs like an e-store but also has to give away discounts to retain and allure customers. Attend special fairs and / or trade shows to meet the manufactures and avail the best deals.
• Good Warehousing: Like all other businesses here too you would be required to maintain more than one good warehouses based on your sphere of activity which should be well equipped with the gifts relevant to occasions such as during father’s day you must maintain good stocks of mugs, aftershaves etc.
• Online Listing & Update: Once you have procured gift items your job would be to ensure listing of these items online on high traffic sites like eBay and keep a constant vigil on status update of the product/s. In short, continuous online feed would be required.
• Fast Shipping: Given in an age we live in speed is the way of life. So, to become a successful entrepreneur in online gift store you really need to work hard on fast shipping failing which your customers will gradually lose interest and confidence in you. The very theme of e-commerce however revolves around time saving.
• SEO (search engine optimization): Listing of your items must be done in accordance SEO guidelines.  This of late has become indispensible as there are many such e-commerce vendors selling gifts online. Seek expert help or Google+ support on this.

They say nothing succeeds like success. Better be prepared to taste the success and remember success is a journey not a destination.

Can you sell ice to an Eskimo?

Selling ice to an Eskimo? Mad or what? It may be your immediate reaction to this proposition. But, have you wondered Eskimos too might need your assistance in choosing the right ice while ice is all around? Couldn’t get yet?

I think I have made too many questions already. Your head by now might start spinning unless you have been comfortable enough to pay attention to the underlying myth of all those statements / questions. Let me take that onus for you – my beloved readers and friends.

Assisting an Eskimo in choosing the right ice: 

When a customer pays visit to your gift store in many a case he / she had done his / her home work for the right purchase. Again a few would always be there who would come to your shop first and then decide what to purchase. The customer in reference in the second category; i.e., choosing the gift post arrival at your shop is a separate class altogether who can comparatively be moulded with ease to confine his/her purchase within the options / products available in your store. But, the first set of customers who already have to your gift store with a pre-mindset will be stubborn to a great extent on their choices. Hence, convincing and selling them the items available in your store would more or less amount to selling ice to an Eskimo.

How to sell ice to an Eskimo?

The first and foremost tip in this case would never such customers to be on top your head while fiddling with their egos; but keep recommending products in a persuasive manner and take them along to a wide range of products with distinctive features and prices (obviously to the extent your store will support). Hammering with the recommendations, suggestions and perhaps a bit of imagination on your part by reading the customers’ mood you can make a big difference.

At the end of the day we are all human. Despite of our so called professional attire and cover on the face at heart we all love a little bit of appreciation, a personalized care while shopping. These things don’t cost you; but demand your business acumen for closing a sale. More importantly, it helps in winning a customer for life.

 

Walking an extra mile for your customer:

Here I wish to highlight value added services that you can add as an extension of your gift store business. This is simply intended for creating a niche for yourself as there may be a hundred gift stores on the same street where you are. Besides, it creates a sense of relief on the part of the customers too. How? Just consider a case where your customer wants to send a gift, say a bouquet, to Hyde Park right at 6 o’clock in the morning on next day. She (your customer) stays on Oxford Street, not very far off but unsure of making it by 6 on her own and don’t want miss the opportunity to be the first person to wish her best friend for the marriage anniversary. She’s in a fix – just take that burden off her and do it. Be sure that you have won a customer for life.

As I said, we all are human. A little personalized touch makes a huge difference in life.     

Gifting Is an art or science?

My friend Samuel, a native of London, was telling me yesterday that he’s not worried about the fact whether gifting was an art or science. What mattered most to him was that of satisfying his desire and vanity that intrinsically comes along. I preferred not to argue as Samuel at times behaved like a locked horns. Let’s discuss the topic to understand a seller’s view point in it.

Why a gift seller should know whether gifting is an Art or Science? 

Some opine that gifting is an art and some say it’s a science. To me, it’s a combination of both; precisely it’s an art with a pinch of science. How? Gifting is about satisfying one’s desire, wishes in terms of something’s aesthetic or material values that generally come in a package of vanity and sentiments. Gifting therefore at best can be an art; but at times you would be required to know what works fine which particular combination.

Let’s take an example of making bouquet of flowers. You, Mr. Florist, have collected a variety of bright colored flowers alongside some ornamental leaves etc. But, use of only bright colored flowers in a bouquet/s will certainly spoil its aesthetics and fragrance that your customer had originally wished for. You need to know that bright color vividly comes up if used adjacent to light color and light colored flowers such as jasmine are generally scented flowers.

Wrapping a gift is not everyone’s cup of tea:

Wrapping up a gift successfully would require an adept hand – it’s certainly not every one’s cup of tea. Because, while running a gift store you would be required to wrap up a lot many items during any given day – some of which would invariably be fragile and some touchy too. To warp such items you need to know how to fold the item/s, if at all there’s any inbuilt provision for it and then straighten up the wrapper, fold the wrapper all around in an artistic manner so much so that the wrapped thing appears aesthetically good and then use ribbon for tying the knots to prevent both wrapper and the item unfold again before untying ribbon at the receiver’s end. Besides, you as a seller should also be an accomplished person in terms of providing a carry bag for the gifts to be carried along by the purchaser.

Be adept in beating your own drum:

We have just finished wrapping up the gift and finally handing it over to the customer in a carry bag. Now, you must know how to beat your own drum so that the next time the customer is in need of you he / she should call you up directly without taking pains to search around, perhaps over the net, for the gift shops in their neighborhood. How? Know the art of cackling. It means talk about yourself wherever you get the opportunity – be it your product or the service or both. The ideal opportunity in this case would be putting your communication right on the carry bag in an artistic manner – no jumble of words please……… along with your contact details. Try and include your cell number. A lot of people have the tendency to avoid sharing cell number without knowing the fact that they are doing so at the cost of their businesses.

Strive for running the gift store successfully as they say, success breeds success only.    

Wanna be a gift seller? Read on….

Hey Mr. Grumpy – yes, I mean you sitting at the other end of the counter of the gift store. Are you listening? A guy yelled at Mr. Wilson - an octogenarian who has a gift card store at the Broad Street. Now, let me ask you did you get any message here? No? Then, sit back and take long breath and perhaps a glass of cold water and make you comfortable enough to read the aforesaid lines once more. I‘m sure this time you have cracked the underlying myth of the lines that I insisted for visiting once more.

What is a gift store?

A gift means a lot; but the meaning which is more appropriate and productive in our case is something acquired without paying compensation in money or monetary terms as a receiver of it. A gift store however stands for a shop where gifts are kept in a tastefully decorated manner vying for your attention.

Who can have a gift store?   

To put things in right perspective the ideal question should have been who you think should run a gift store.

They say, winners don’t do different things – they do things differently. Likewise to run a gift store successfully you need to have to be a genius like Einstein or Newton – all that you need is attitude; attitude in dealing with people, attitude in handling your customers and attitude in making them precious for you, a seller.

What a gift seller should know beforehand?

From a marketer’s perspective a seller, wanting to own a gift store, should address the following questing before taking a plunge into it.

ü  What makes the gift store rocking?
ü  Why do you think people should come to you?
ü  Where should you open the store?
ü  What would you do to make sure that the first timers’ come back to your store?

Let’s discuss it one by one.

• Making the Gift Store rocking: A combination of factors contributes in making a gift store rocking; but the first and foremost objective must be always to collect the best items in the product line for your store which will automatically create a brand pool for your store.
• Making sure of footfall at the store: You have already done the homework through the selection of right product mix. Now, the next move should be to study prevailing prices the gift items vis-à-vis your products. You need not have to be competitive always provided you have better product line on offer at reasonable prices.
• Place of Store opening: Try and open your store in a convenient location where commuting becomes easy. This ensures regular footfall at your store, thereby higher propensity to sale.
• Ensuring repeat sales: It reminds me of a story where two honey sellers were in the same neighborhood and just side by side. One stocked the best quality honey while the other not so good. But, after sometime people began avoiding the first shop that kept the best honey because of rude behavior of that seller. Do I need to say anything more?

A piece of advice – never take your customers for granted. You have to be competitive and innovative enough to retain them for sure. 

Flexing With DoctorFlix???

We all are aware of doctors who in essence are licensed medical practitioners; but do you know there’s a doctor on Indian cinema too? Even if you are a hardcore movie buff there are fair amount of chances that you didn’t know it correctly. Let’s try and explore what it is and what it stands for.

What is DoctorFlix.com?

DoctorFlix as the name suggests stands for a website that essentially does rating of Indian cinemas alongside writing reviews and sharing informations such as the movie releases etc. on them.

What’s the KRA (key responsibility area) of DoctorFlix?

Indian cinema has crossed more than 100 years so has been the increase in production and releases of Indian movies year on year basis. DoctorFlix comes into play there by suggesting more reliable and true evaluation cum informations on the movies as close as possible so much so that you can visualize about the quality of the movie on roll before actually spending money and time on it. It’s a kind of expert advice with a view to safeguard you against the possible losses of your hard earned money and valuable time.

Additionally DoctorFlix comes back to you on best movies in browsing alongside opportunities for you to rate, comment or review the movies, play movie related games etc. In short opportunities in abundance are there to spoil yourself in the hustling of movies alone. Truly amazing!!!

Who can have this advice from DoctorFlix?

Everyone like you and me can benefit from the services of DoctorFlix provided we get ourselves registered with them.

Seeing is believing. Get registered at www.dictorflix.com and know it all yourself.

Why you need a digital agency?

Post the internet revolution digitization of everything has caught up. People are spending more and more time on the virtual world - some for the fun and others for money. Internet has virtually thrown open the wonderland of Alice in terms of e-commerce activities and social networking sites therefore have become the order of the day.  

From a marketer’s point of view 4 Ps of marketing; namely product, price, place and promotion are no longer confined to the geographies and the traditional media such as newspaper, TV, cinema or billboards for campaign. It’s the virtual world which has gained substantial importance by virtue of its ever increasing traffic and easy connect 24x7 and 365 days a year. There comes the role of a digital agency. Because, as a marketer your focus area is to increase brand presence thereby remain in the top of mind awareness of the consumers and prospects in general so much so that you land up in closing more revenues for your company.  

Why do you need a digital agency?

This can be your first reaction while willing to hire one such agency. The answer to your question is plain and simple. Jack of all is master of none which essentially talks about the core competence for doing things. None can deny the fact here. You may be excellent as a sales person who loves meeting people and getting things done. But, can you be at the helm of everything that you do or your organization needs to do? Certainly NOT; it’s better to assign the job to the one who does it well.

With the internet revolution geographies no longer pose constraints and business worth millions of dollars is taking place every day online around the world. If you aren’t there in the virtual world a company sitting in the remotest corner of Africa for instance will take away your business in central Australia. The role of a digital agency therefore can’t be undermined.

Getting along the lead generation for auto dealers

Getting along the lead generation for auto dealers essentially talks about the ways and means for generating links of potential customers and prospects who can be targeted for auto sales. This is a typical procedure that would surely call for your guts out; nonetheless while there is a will there is a way for sure.

The incident reminds me of the story narrated by Dr. Philip Kotler wherein to sell shoes in an African country the company that wanted to sell shoes had to accept pineapples as a medium of exchange and selling pineapples in other neighboring countries the company earned revenues that it never thought of in its life time.

Time and tide wait for none. Hence with the passage of time business practices and procedures have undergone sea changes that now revolve around creating buzz in the market with a view to remain top of mind of the customers and prospects in general. It is no longer the seller’s market and customer is the king.

The simplest way to woo customers could essentially be lying with you alone by way of putting yourself in the shoes of the customers. This will certainly help you overcome the bottlenecks in augmenting leads. You may not always be perfect, at times can be influenced by your own concocted notions with regard to the customers’ perception. At this point take help from your peers and colleagues with regard to the mindset of the customers while they visit an auto dealer or two and then analyze. You will surely get to know what would work best for you in generating leads for your dealership.  

Arm yourself with Nokia Lumia 1520

Like all other industries mobile handset industry too goes through rumbles every now and then which is basically decided by the market forces such as change in style, preferences and comfort quotients. Einstein puts it in the right perspective nothing is fixed on earth other than death and taxes.

There’s no denying the fact that mobile handset has now become a part of your style statement apart from indicating your comfort quotients in managing office works, affluence and attitude. How? Take a look back the way you used to have a mobile some ten years back as an individual – may be as a college goer followed by the first mobile you bought yourself post joining your first office etc. At every step you have chosen some features over the others and to precise have longed for more and more into the aesthetics part followed by operational convenience alongside added features such sleek, trendy and costs.

Why? Because, a mobile handset has now become more of a style statement than that of the necessities that goes in sync with your comfort quotients and managing your mobile office. It is this endeavor that’s doing the round in the markets and leading many an innovation in this field since fashion alias style changes fast. A mobile is no longer treated as just an instrument or commodity – it’s much more than that and continues to be positioned in that way only.

What Is Nokia Lumia 1520?   

The prefix before Lumia 1520 assures that it’s a product from the table of Nokia; but how it differs from the rest as we all know that being different pays alone in the fashion industry. In a layman’s language Nokia Lumia 1520 is a 20-megapixel camera phone that’s equipped with 6 inches full HD (high definition) display screen. But, it’s too trivial to take you through its unmatched features and uniqueness in the product itself.

  

USP (Unique Selling Proposition) Of Nokia Lumia 1520:

It is the biggest Nokia handset or call it phablet (bigger than a tablet) in terms of the full HD LCD screen (1080 x 1920 pixels) that admeasures 6 inches and equipped with 20-megapixel PureView back facing camera which in essence sets you free in clicking photographs as you wish. Don’t worry about the storage capacity of this phone as you have been accorded with 2GB of RAM with another add-on of 7GB Skydrive cloud storage space. That’s simply amazing storage space to long for.

2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor coupled with 3400mAh battery backup and inbuilt wireless charging facility are all that meant for rekindling your youth and imagination for sharing anything and everything with your friends and peers without any hassle.

The saga doesn’t end here; rather goes on and on with this Windows phone that has a 2-megapixle front facing camera, Windows 8 operating system with Lumia Black and third Live Tile column for you right in the start menu. It is preloaded with Nokia Storyteller and Pro Camera UI apps. You must be wondering how they all benefit you as a user. Right? Let’s explore a bit further.

Nokia Storyteller app synchronizes your images and videos with HERE maps and thereby sets you free in recollecting where you actually had clicked them and enhances the sharing experiences like never before with unmatched picture quality instantly. You can say, it proposes to be the one stop solution to your digital needs while staying connected with the near and dear ones. Your satisfaction by all means is guaranteed here with this gadget from the table of Nokia.

Nokia Lumia 1520 price is affordable given its unique offerings that pegs at INR 46,300 or $749 internationally. The vibrant four colors of this phone such as black, red, white and yellow help you choose from the one that appeals you the most. In short it’s being positioned by Nokia as one of your prized possessions for sure.

Nokia Priority Markets For The launch Of Its Much Hyped Nokia Lumia 1520:

Given the Nokia Lumia 1520 price range and the product as a whole Nokia earmarked the markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, European markets and US for the launch of this phone in Q4 that began with the month of October and in consequence October 2013 was quite an eventful month for Nokia worldwide.

Rule the rolling game of the world through technology – it’s FOOTBALL!!!

All works and no play make Jack a dull boy – so runs a proverb that explicitly tells us about the importance of having a regular dose of games and sports in our everyday life. Football perhaps is one of the oldest games that has evolved over the years and decades. Initially it used to be the game of people with very good physique, eventually shifted its focus to technology with the passage of time and the demand of the game itself. Today every sport including football has been synonymous with technology.

Ambit of Technology in Football:

The ambit of technology in this form of the game is as enormous as the game right from the training of the players to the goal line; to precise from the beginning till the end.    

·         Players’ Training:  The instruments or technologies used are varied such as GPS (Global Positioning System), pulse monitors to name a few. GPS is used to analyze the movements in a game or games for understanding of the mistakes and / or improve performances of the players through technical soundness and pulse monitor helps check the physical endurance of players. Besides, players undergo physical exercises on suitable machines and platforms for body building that enhances performance.

·         Goal Line Technology: This is a unique technology that aims at eradicating mistakes in decision making on goals. To illustrate it further, it’s been found on many an occasion that the ball actually crossed the goal line when the goal keeper got a grip on it, but the referee standing at a distance nullified the claim robbing the opponent of a genuine goal and this was proving fatal for the game.  

Options on Goal Line Technology: The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has laid out guidelines for the use such a mechanism.

1.      The periphery of this technology must be confined to the decisions related to goal lines only.

2.      The system must function with 100% accuracy.

3.      The system must send signals to the match referee instantaneously.

4.      Signal/s sent by the system must conform to the restricted few; i.e., match officials.

There are only 03 systems that are approved by FIFA; namely Hawkeye System, Goal Ref System and Smart Ball System.

·         Hawkeye System: It is believed to be the front runner out of the systems under developments post its successive and successful trials. The system uses three cameras that keep a hawk’s eye on each goal line and each camera takes footage at 600 frames per second. The system therefore relays information with precision about the position of the ball through an audible beep to the central referee within half of a second.

·         Goal Ref System: This system works on radio frequency. It uses low frequency magnetic fields in the vicinity of the goal line and in the ball itself to detect whether the ball actually crossed the goal line. One magnetic field is induced through coils attached to the goal and the other is induced in and around the ball by a passive electronic circuit embedded in the ball itself. Then data are processed and relayed in real time to the wristwatch of the referee through display and a vibration.

·         Smart Ball System: It is a relatively new and promising system in its field and has been granted rights by FIFA for use in 2013 Confederations Cup and 2014 World Cup. It’s a smart ball equipped with suspended sensors inside. A network of receivers is deployed around the field that accurately relays the informations on the ball’s position on the field including the goal line.

The use of technology in games and sports has been rapidly on rise. How can the football be left behind?