We have much creativity in many kinds of thing. Moreover, the creativity can be delivered through many things. For you who like to show your creativity in photograph, you can get the media for you to create your creativity at En.picjoke.com. From the site, there will be many options for you to have many photo effects that you can use to edit your photo.
It’s not a matter of if, but when. You might think that as a small business owner, your company is not a target for malicious hackers or attacks, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Size doesn’t matter when it comes to maintaining business continuity in light of security threats – both natural and manmade – anyone and everyone is susceptible. Think about what kind of information you could lose from various business security threats – years worth of tax records, confidential employee information including Social Security numbers, signed customer contracts and customer contact records, just to start.
When an eight person law firm in Miami was hit by Hurricane Ike in 2008, it was forced to close its doors after a decade of being in business. Everything they had was destroyed and irretrievable. Although this was a natural disaster, the business owner could have taken some relatively easy and cost effective precautions to ensure his business was safe from common small business security threats. Fortunately, for today’s small business owners, there are many software applications available that are adept at maintaining business continuity. These applications are easily accessible and simple to implement, making your business safer in case the unthinkable should occur.
The Keys to Maintaining Business Continuity
I see many small businesses make the same common mistakes when it comes to securing their data and maintaining business continuity; I’ve listed them (below) in an effort to help companies protect themselves from business security threats. Most companies I talk to believe they are secure, when in fact, they are unmistakably vulnerable.
Mistake #1: “My data is secure; I’ve got it backed up on-premise.”
Let’s say you are fortunate enough to have a security system, a fire detection system and are part of a secured office park with security personnel roaming the grounds 24/7. Just because your premises are secured doesn’t mean your records are safe from business security threats. In fact, it’s the opposite. Many businesses commonly make the mistake of backing up files only on-premise or back-up on premise and remove discs or tapes manually on a regularly scheduled interval (ex. once per month). The smartest solution to combating business security threats is to have all your data saved and stored in an off-premise data center. By having your data backed up off-site, you ensure the safety of all your important files and you get the added benefit of being able to access important files from any Internet connected computer (with the right security authentication of course!)
Like in the earlier example of the law firm affected by Hurricane Ike, if it had stored all of its files off-premise in a hosted data center, the employees would have been able to save all of the files, retrieve and reinstate them and gotten the business back up with minimal interruption. Backing up to an external hard drive or NAS (Network Attached Storage) device is critical to maintaining business continuity and preventing data loss due to hardware failures. However, small businesses commonly face fires, floods, thefts, and other business security threats that require backups to be offsite. Make sure your business has a secure backup solution in place to allow data to be stored offsite. These solutions are relatively inexpensive in terms of maintaining business continuity, especially considering the alternative.
Mistake #2:”I just bought a new PC, so I’ve already got the latest and greatest security software loaded.”
You may be thinking to yourself “I already have all the security I need.” Yes, Microsoft Windows does have a firewall feature guarding against common business security threats, but these off-the-shelf components aren’t nearly enough to support the needs of a company. Ideally, small businesses should employ the same “defense in depth” strategy large enterprises use to secure their internal networks. PCs should have their software firewalls enabled and properly configured, and have a firewall router on the network’s edge to provide a second layer of defense against business security threats. This way, if a PC’s firewall is not configured properly, there is still a layer of protection between the computer and Internet threats. By selecting a managed firewall application, small businesses will shield themselves from critical network threats, block unnecessary Internet traffic, and restrict applications used on your network. This type of security product is a necessity for protecting small business networks from malicious Internet threats and maintaining business continuity.
Mistake #3:”I installed new security protection software in the past couple years or so.”
As you may know, many laptops and desktops come with pre-installed free trials of a brand name security offering, although this will keep your desktop secure for a brief time, many small businesses commonly make the mistake of letting this software expire and forgetting to update it. In order to protect your desktops and laptops from online business security threats, you must install a secure desktop solution to protect PCs from viruses, spyware, and other Internet-borne attacks. Sold as a bundle as part of many communications and IT services, secure desktop applications have no expiration dates to keep track of. The best part of this software application is that updates are automatic, which means there are no more software upgrades to install–reducing the cost of IT management. Maintaining business continuity is easy–just secure your desktop as soon as you can!
Mistake #4: “I have to update my browser and operating system (OS) security patches myself, and I just don’t have the time.”
Small businesses can easily be taken advantage of due to low security on their browsers and operating systems, but these types of business security threats can be easily avoided with automatic security patch updates. Many small businesses take the burden of updating their PCs with the latest software versions on themselves, but OS security can be easily automated, which makes maintaining business continuity a breeze. Yes, small businesses should ensure the updates take place and check in on them regularly, but today’s technology helps alleviate some of the time it takes to manage the situation.
By avoiding these common culprits of business security threats, companies can protect one of their most precious assets – data and files. Most businesses will face many threats in their lifecycle. Learn from the mistakes others have made and take these steps towards maintaining your business continuity.
What do you think whenever you hear the marketing phrase, referral letter marketing? I’ll bet you $100 you’re guessing that I’m talking about testimonials and recommendations from past clients.
That’s a fantastic plan for marketing as well. But, I’m talking about receiving a never-ending stream of client referrals from professionals like CPA’s, mortgage brokers, financial planners, attorneys and contractors. And the only thing you’ll need to do is write a nice little letter, written by the greatest real estate agent (you!).
This is how I’d sum up referral letter marketing for real estate agents: Grab a list of respected professionals in your neighbourhood that may have the same type of clients you do. Then you just write a personal letter that thoroughly shows off who you are and mail it to this list in the regular mail (no email).
Make an effort to be creative in terms of the mailing package or envelope you utilize as well as including a unique marketing piece with your letter. Follow up with each professional by telephone, if doable, and go on to mail/contact them once per month.
A lot of Sharp Realtors and agents borrow this single marketing approach to fuel their real estate businesses for their entire careers! Don’t worry, there’s nothing illegal with copying what the “big boys” practice.
The initial step in this process is making a list of these respected professionals that you wish to build relationships with…
- Certified Public Accountants
- Lenders (obvious, right?)
- Certified Financial Planners
- Real Estate Lawyers/Attorneys
- Remodeling Contractors/Handymen
- Home Stagers
- Certified Appraisers
- Residential Electricians
- Plumbers
- Residential Landscapers
- Roofing Contractors
- Tree Trimming Professionals
- Handymen
- Makes sense?
Many other professionals can be added but that will get you off and running.
Are you questioning how to get the information for these professionals so you can mail them your letter? Terrific question, glad you asked. You’ve got a pair of options but they depend on your marketing budget.
The on-line yellow pages is definitely an option for you. You should already have a geographic area you stick to so you’ll want to remain within that region, for the most part. With the yellow pages alternative, the downside is that it can be time consuming.
You need to compile each professional’s phone number, name and mailing address. Like I said, this could demand a bit of time but it’s free of charge.
Another alternative for building this marketing list of professionals is to merely purchase a list. In the indentical way you’re probably on one or more Realtor or agent lists being sold out there, just about every profession has their own list for sale also.
Relax, these types of lists aren’t dishonest or unethical. These types of professional lists are out there since professionals (like us Realtors or agents) deliberately sign up for countless publications, organizations, events, etc.
A bit surprising, huh? See why all that Realtor junk mail and email somehow gets sent to you?
There are quite a few list companies out there to pick from. Whichever list company you choose, ideally, they should provide you with each profession you’ll need for your list, rather than going to a different company for each profession. I tell you, it’ll cost you a few dollars for this list but it’s going to save you hours of valued time!
Once you’ve obtained your marketing list (whichever way you decide to acquire it), it’s time to start penning this personal letter to send to your list. Sorry to say, copywriting is a topic of its own and we just can’t get into it right now, or else you’ll be reading a novel today. That’s surely a topic all on it’s own.
All you need to be aware of right now is that this letter can’t be “salesy” like a letter you’d mail to your farm list of homeowners.
Even though you might replicate some or most of your referral marketing letter and mail it to other professionals on your list, when these professionals get your letter, they ought to feel like they’re the only one who received it.
Ponder about how you’d talk to these professionals face-to-face and jot down your letter in that way, that’s the big idea here. Don’t use a bunch of “salsey” cliches’ and standard “professional lingo” that you read in the letters you receive from your bank. Seize their interest and write to them as you’d write to a personal acquaintance.
As a side note, personalizing your marketing goes for all your Realtor marketing material, like postcards, emails, articles, ads, etc.
The “jist” of this referral marketing letter needs to express that you’re interested in building a “mutually advantageous” relationship where you can both refer business to each another. Your intention is to be their “pocket Realtor” who gets all their referrals, for free! Stress how they’ll profit without trying to “sell” them on it, you know?
One approach to personalize your letter is to drop in something you know about their company, if you happen to know an interesting tid bit. If you know of a client who’s worked with them, drop that in there too. Unless you gossip about their mom, for some reason, it’s almost inconceivable for you to get excessively personal in your letter.
I’d strongly recommend that you create your referral letter yourself, rather than hire someone else to do it. But, if you’re the type who can’t stand writing any sort of letter to anyone, you can simply look for a solid free-lance writer who can pen it for you.
Merely type in “free-lance writers” on Google and you’ll see a lot of folks to pick from. With several companies, they even permit you to screen through their writers from across the globe. You can see reviews on most of the writers, determine their hourly rates, send them “interview” questions, etc. You might go as far as posting the project you want completed and waiting for writers to apply. really slick.
Alright, so far you have your marketing list of professionals and your marketing letter completed, now it’s time to send it and get some business. Only whatever you do, please do not send your letter in a simple white envelope like we see everyday of our lives… please, please, please!
Get another unique mailing package or envelope with a little color or size to it. Your aim is to stick out similar to a sore thumb, in a great way, from all the mail your list will be receiving. I’d also urge you to pen the mailing and return addresses by hand so that you increase the “personal” look of your letter.
Stop and think about which pieces of mail you open 1st. Exactly, letters that have hand-written addresses constantly get priority!
The next thing you want to do is enclose a special marketing piece, apart from your referral letter. A fun marketing piece to enclose possibly could be a video you create with Animoto and copy onto a DVD (easier than it sounds).
One of my friends, a life insurance salesman, sent out a similar mailing and included poker chips with his contact info on them. His slogan on the poker chips was “Don’t Gamble on Your Life”.
Brilliance! If you want to be a top producing Realtor like the “big boys”, that’s the sort of thought you need to come up with, or at least know where to get them!
Getting back to this referral letter, I’d advise that you aim them not only to your telephone number but also your site or blog. Make sure you offer them both options. You can never tell who hates talking on the phone and who hates looking at websites.
Your last step is unquestionably the most essential of them all. The number one rule in marketing is “repetition”. If you look at marketing statistics in general, it’s been shown that consumers and prospects need to hear or view the same marketing message more than 6-7 times before they feel comfortable enough to reply.
So the clear “take-away” is that you have to continue to market to these professionals on your list, more than once. After your first mailing, I’d tell you to follow up with them by telephone or another letter about 1 time a month. If you have it, using a professional’s e-mail address would be a good follow up too.
As it is with dating, you want to be careful to not smother and irritate them or else you can count on never receiving referrals from them, ever. Without being the irritating girlfriend or boyfriend, you have to give them space and time but yet let them know you need to be the Realtor they should send clients to.
A little time saving tip: if there’s money in your marketing budget, try hiring a college student or high school teenager to stuff your mailers for you. Your college kid or teen can stuff all the envelopes and address them but I’d still suggest for you to compose the referral letter yourself.
It’s inexpensive labor, just like US companies do when they hire overseas workers for their customer service call centers (did I just drop in a cheap shot?).
Bottom line, I just think this is one of the better marketing ideas for Realtors or agents out there. In the long-run, you can see yourself with a lasting flood of customer referrals from these professionals, as long as you devote yourself to forming these relationships.
Focus on helping them as much as you want them to help you and the funds will flow in!
Any communication which main purpose is to inform prospective customers about products and services is termed as advertising. is paid and identifiable in nature. An advertising agency or ad agency is the party involved in deploying out the ad campaign. Any ad agency involves creating, planning and handling ad campaign for its clients.
What is the role of advertising?
It is already mentioned above that the role of advertising is to notify, instruct, and persuade a particular target group about a product, service or idea. Advertisers use multiples means of advertising televison advertising, radio advertising, print advertising, ooh advertising, Mobile and internet advertising etc to convey their brand message. A particular advertising campaign varies from another campaign in terms of theme and objective.
What makes a particular ad campaign different and unique?
There are various factors which are required to specialise your campaign such as the right media vehicle (to transmit the message), right means of (whether outdoor, print or broadcast), innovation (which requires a dedicated team to work out) etc. These factors when knitted together result to provide a different and unique ad campaign.
Which are the most popular means of advertising at present and why?
Of all the means of advertising, Outdoor advertising or OOH Advertising is the most popular. Airport advertising, metro advertising, mall advertising etc come under outdoor advertising. Outdoor ads target people who are out of home or on the go. OOH advertising because of its colourful looks, attractive visual displays and larger than life attribute stays back upon audience’s mind for a longer period of time. Besides, outdoor ads are available for its target group almost round the year.
Why people advertise at airports?
Airport Advertising is talk of the advertising town at present. Airport Advertising because of its larger than life impact create a unique impression upon audiences. Airport ads are premium, colourful, spacious, interactive and entertaining in nature.
An airport is the right place to provide a great impact upon the target group as it provides time and place for advertising. Millions of travellers at the airports have spending power and also hold decision making positions. Thus, this group of people can be targeted.
Airport ads offer more effectiveness as compared to other outdoor ads. People tend to spend a great deal of time at the airports while waiting for their flights. During this time airport ads provide a good source to occupy themselves with something. If the ads are striking enough, they remain back in audience’s mind even during their flight. Also because of its premium look, airport ads create pleasant vibes for its target group and provide a good impression about the particular product or service which is advertised.
To sum up, airport advertising is engaging and entertaining for its target group. It not only provides its target customers knowledge about the product or service but also provides them a good source of entertainment to indulge themselves until they board their flight.