credit: mr_t_77

Being a cheerleader for someone is a big stretch. It takes a lot more than words and listening. Being a cheerleader takes energy and diligence. It takes commitment. But the reward gained is more long-term than short term.

Speaking from experience, when being the person’s cheerleader, you will gain someone’s lifelong respect. I was lucky to have some cheerleaders in recent times.

When they “cheer” for me, I began to understand they were trying to drive me towards a goal, it meant sometimes they have to pick me up again and again. They had to dust me off and put me back on track.

…read more about Becoming The Support Anchor and Cheerleader

credit: miss_rogue

The goal of marketing is to focus advertising at the active target audience to reach them at the moment they decide to buy. This reduces the cost of advertising and increases the likelihood of success.

Digital marketing allows the advertiser to reach the consumer at the moment the consumer decides to buy.

Let’s look at the steps involved in buying. When someone buys a product, they go through a process known as the buying cycle, which has 4 phases:

- awareness
- research
- comparison
- purchase

…read more about The Sales Cycle and Moment of Purchase

credit: Andy on Flickr

When working with people, one of the important things to do is to build emotional equity. You have to keep in mind that with every interaction is an apoortunity to put money in the other person’s emotional bank account.

You have to make regular continuous deposits, and withdrawals very rarely. In fact, one withdrawal especially with someone you have yet to build rapport with can put you at a deficit with that person very deeply. It could even result in taking years and multiple interactions to replenish it.

I have to admit: It took me some time to understand that people are emotional creatures. It’s a conscious effort to work and take their emotions and feelings into account first - but it gives me the best chance to ensure I was making deposits - and avoiding withdrawals.

There are some ways and techniques for making deposits into people’s emotional  bank accounts - and how to replenish them when you run into disagreements, conflict and flat-out confrontation.

…read more about Filling The Emotional Bank Account

credit: pheaber

I won’t take credit for the headline - it came from a BusinessWeek article. Basically it is time to innovate your marketing strategy. With big companies slashing marketing budgets, you need to adopt new strategies that can bring marketers equal effective results but less costly.

With everyone else now starting to stand down and large companies preferring to hoard cash rather than spend it - this is the best time to stand out from the rest of your competitors because the odds are in your favor.

Consider these 10 things you can do today to build up your online business:

1. Watch your competitors and pace-setting online retailers closely. When you think they are doing something right, do it better.
2. Strive for excellence, just as Amazon does. Have a fast-loading site with easy-to-read navigation. Offer great promotions that keep people coming back for more, as well as a personalized user experience.  Have a great customer-follow up system for example.
3. Offer lots of information on your web pages without making them seem cluttered or overwhelming.

…read more about Don’t Let A Crisis Go To Waste

       

Working with SEO and looking at analytics data - I’m one of those guilty ones who forget that the real world interaction beats online chats anytime. I really love this marketing campaign by Dentyne which urges people to switch off their computers and go out to interact with real people.

The “Friend Request” is Facebook lingo to add new friends to your network. But nothing beats “Friend Request” than an original warm, arms wide open hug. There are a few other examples available on the website that shows what the “Original Instant Message” is like and what happens when “Friend Request Accepted”.

True to its message, the website will close itself on your browser after 3 minutes - and reminds you to go outside and make face time. I laugh a bit - when planning websites the aim is always to get them to stay as long as possible on your website to increase the chances of making a sale or make a deep impression on visitors. The irony is not lost on me.

The website is filled with very pretty print ads and wallpapers (like the “Friend Request” above) and tv ads. Make a visit there and download the wallpapers before the 3 minutes are up.

Cute and timely reminders that relationships are not built  on Facebook - but on Face Time.