How to Ace Your Content Marketing Contribution

By Michael Cohn  |   Submitted On June 02, 2016

  

By now, you probably realize how important content marketing is for your business. However, it is not enough to merely write content marketing materials. You need to do a really good job with them and truly touch your target audience.

You need to stand out from other competing content marketers

In a world where there is so much content online and so many business people who are trying to make their mark and to be the chosen ones, you need to do a really good job at being the outstanding one, the one who is able to solve the reader's problem.

• Establish and position yourself as the subject matter expert (SME): In order to be regarded as the SME, you need to establish a relationship with the other person. Once you have done that, you will need to build that relationship and nurture it until it becomes strong and enduring. At that point, you will be on your way to being regarded as a SME. That means that the other person will come to you first when they need what you are offering. That is absolutely the position that you want to be in. However, it is important to understand that it won't happen instantly. It takes time to solidify your position as SME.


• Everything in its time: The most important thing that you need to remember when it comes to your marketing content is that you must build the relationship before you can hope to sell anything. The reason for that is that you must build trust and credibility before anything else can or will happen. Without the relationship, nothing else well happen. That doesn't mean that you will never sell your products and/or services. It just means that you need to follow the steps in the right order. You can't skip any steps. Build the relationship and, at the appropriate time in the future, you will get everything that you want and all of your efforts will pay off.


• Figure out what your target audience wants and needs: Before you start writing any content, you must build your content marketing strategy. That strategy should be well-planned and properly executed. Once you have done that, you will be able to customize your writing to suit the needs of your target audience members. Remember always to follow the concept of WIIFM (What's In It For Me?). In other words, you must always put the needs of your target audience member above your own needs (and that of your business) and remember to leave your ego at the door. There is absolutely no room for ego in this situation, at least not if you want to get anywhere with your brand and your business.


• Knowing exactly how to customize your content: Once you have determined what your target audience wants and needs, it is time to customize your content so that it is the best that it can be for them. It actually should not be that difficult to accomplish. Once you have been able to wrap your mind around what your target audience needs and wants, it won't require so much effort on your part to make that happen. Of course, it is important to remember to include your story in that content because your goal is to touch the other person on an emotional/human level.


• Build a solid foundation for your content marketing: Once you have all of the pieces of knowledge in place, the next thing that you will need to do is to build a solid foundation for your content marketing. Before you do anything else, you need to build a foundation that is strong and that will stand the test of time. Your foundation should contain a specific type (or types) of content, it should be built on a specific content platform (blog, video), you will need to share your content in a consistent manner, and you should have the realistic expectation that your content will yield the results that you are seeking eventually (revenue, interactions, solid relationships, etc).


• Leveraging the audience: At that point, you will want to build up your target audience(s). What you will want to do is to increase your target audience and broaden who they are and what they want. You want loyal clients (eventually), not one-night stands. It is important for you to keep in mind that without your audience, you won't have a business. It is really that simple.

Conclusion

If you work long and hard at perfecting your content marketing materials, you will undoubtedly achieve what you set out to accomplish. They will eventually yield amazing results. Always keep in mind that you have more to learn and you will continue to perfect what you have. Your first goal is to get it on paper. After that, you can work on perfecting it until it hits the mark with your target audience.

Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has over 25 years of experience in IT and web technologies. Mr. Cohn spent a significant amount of time at a major telecommunications company, where his main focus was on initiating and leading synergy efforts across all business units by dramatically improving efficiency, online collaboration, and the company's Intranet capabilities, which accelerated gains in business productivity. He also reduced company travel and travel costs by introducing and implementing various collaboration technologies.

His expertise includes business analysis; project management; management of global cross-matrix teams; systems engineering and analysis, architecture, prototyping and integration; technology evaluation and assessment; systems development; performance evaluation; and management of off-shore development.

Mr. Cohn earned a Master's degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master's degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

Mr. Cohn is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Michael_Cohn/404898

Ways to Protect Your Data Center Against Disasters

By Taiba Fatima  |   Submitted On March 23, 2016

  

1

In today's Internet-driven world, the role of data centers, in giving oxygen to different business verticals so that they can efficiently meet their targets, can't be overlooked. Ever since the dawn of the Internet, these specialized facilities have marked a significant shift in the way services are offered to the clients. These specialized facilities are equipped to house and manage critical business assets. In addition to this, they provide access to the suite of IT capabilities that include bandwidth access, network/firewall/asset security, application management, and other computing resources required to run a business process smoothly. The facility that supports different industry domains also needs to be managed well, so that its core functionality remains unaffected from both internal and external factors.

Do you remember the Hurricane Sandy that reportedly caused $400 million damage? This hurricane spoiled the functionality of many leading businesses across New York and New Jersey. Just for your information, this disastrous event is labeled as the most expensive hurricane of the nation. Apparently, the downtime caused owing to this catastrophic event has sparked customers' anger and dissatisfaction. It goes without saying that natural calamities are a prevalent contributor to data center failure. Well, we all know that no one is perfect - the scope for improvement remains available everywhere, and this statement deems fit in data center scenarios as well.

If reports are to be believed, human made errors are the most prevalent and leading threat to the existence of business. No matter if it has occurred due to abrupt disconnection of IT equipment or unintentional deletion of a business-critical file from the systems, issues caused by internal management team are quite significant. Another report in this regard suggests that approximately 70% of all downtime issues are instigated by individuals. This is actually a very disturbing figure, as the average costs of downtime is about $700,000, or above.

In this article, you will get to know about the ways opted by various companies to mitigate these hazardous events:

Today, most of the businesses are investing in training programs to prevent downtime issues that occur due to incompetent IT equipment set-up, crippled configurations, or poor maintenance practice Moreover, the inadequate training on internal IT functionalities and improper use of IT shortcuts that result in partial or complete infrastructure failure. Other downtime issues originate from improper equipment labeling or due to overloaded power supplies.

Well, the real time communication solution is the best way out to address all the aforementioned challenges. Companies should lay a concrete foundation for holistic disaster recovery planning. Today, there is a number of data center hosting service providers present in the market who offers super-charged disaster recovery plans to their customers. It is also observed that most of the organizations turn up to the professional vendors, as they lack internal resources and pieces of equipment, and prowess to match with the required disaster recovery procedures.

How Disaster Recovery Proves a Beneficial Alternative

According to experts, those, who leverage an array of business continuity and recovery services, cloud hosting solutions, testing services, including Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS), can efficiently combat unwarranted issues.

Typically, these solutions are hosted in a dedicated environment or on the cloud, which in turn ensures maximum protection for business-critical assets. It majorly involves assessment, designing, provisioning and endorsement of the facility with the help of failover testing. The best thing is such, cloud-enabled BC/DR solutions are powered by global data centers, which enable service providers to deliver solutions through Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) technology. The failover technology allows business owners to maintain high availability in today's competitive world.

However, it is recommended to partner with a vendor that delivers an array of computing and storage capabilities for deploying fault-bearing disaster recovery enabled infrastructures. Also, it is important to note that these solutions (offered by these vendors) are supported by stringent security and full compliance at each level.

Cloud-based DRaaS: An Effective Alternative

Cloud-based DRaaS has the power to recover data within a jiffy, which is undeniably impossible with when using conventional recovery solutions. Minimum investment on hardware and software applications leads to significant cost reductions. As cloud computing model works on a pay-per-use basis, it gives organizations enough flexibility and scalability to manage their applications without facing any downtime issues. The best thing is, it removes the compulsion of deploying physical run books, which ultimately boost automation and accuracy in business operations.

Do not get overconfident that mistakes can't be at your end. Remember, even a small IT error can annihilate your overall business processing.

By partnering with a professional for reliable service benefactor, disasters can be mitigated. Cloud-enabled solutions are highly automated, which reduces the threat of IT failure that generally occurs due to human interruption. It again goes without saying that every organization must now look for such shielding solutions that protect their mission critical systems - powered by such DRaaS.

To conclude extra attention and advance care solutions backed by disaster recovery including continuity plans can help organizations to capitalize on various market opportunities without fearing for catastrophic circumstances.

Go4Hosting is one of the known providers of data center and VPS hosting services, offering purpose-built solutions to businesses of all domains. Supported by industry-leading IT components, the data center facility is managed by experts so that business stays available all the time even if the disaster hits the facility. If you are looking out for a provider that has right disaster recovery and business continuity plans in place, you can either visit the location to take a tour of the data center, or connect with the experts for adequate assistance.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Taiba_Fatima/1507404

Understand Product Creation and Planning

By Raul Molina  |   Submitted On May 08, 2016

  

The creation, development and ultimate launch of a product is essential for the sustainable growth and evolution of any business's product portfolio. Successful or unsuccessful product creation can be the difference between the success and failure of a business. For start-up businesses in particular, successful product development is crucial for survival.

In the modern-day age of internet marketing, product design is not always an easy thing to do. The creation of a unique and notable product is difficult, because the internet market is already flooded with numerous products that are designed to fit every imaginable niche. In order for businesses to carry out proper and successful product formation, the idea of product creation itself needs to be fully understood.

What is a product?

A product is generally defined as any marketable good or service, which is produced by labor or effort. It is in essence, an article or a particular substance which is designed and then refined for manufacture and sale.

What is product creation?

Product development is generally defined as the process through which a business or an organization develops an initial idea or plan, into a testable prototype of a product which can be later manufactured and sold commercially.

Project creation can be divided into various different process and departments, each of which carries out different process and step that contribute to the final product.

1. Policy and Planning: related to the initial idea, its screening and the charter for the product formation process.
2. The Technology and people management: is centered on the use of technology, engineers, and supplies etc that enable the product making.
3. Customer oriented process: Is in relation to a products performance in the market, customer reviews etc.

Though, the process of the product conception may vary from business to business (depending largely upon management style and the nature of the business itself), most organizations tend to divide this creation process and its subsequent steps, in the manner highlighted within this report.

Policy and Planning

The first step, within this product creation segment, is to do idea generation and screening.

• Idea generation and screening: Ideas that have been brainstormed need to be gathered for further evaluation in order to gauge whether these initial ideas, have the potential to be converted into products. These ideas need to be generated and used, in accordance with the nature and the goals of a business organization or its general policy as a business.

For some organizations, idea generation is a continuous and ongoing process which takes contributions from internal and external sources related to the organization. This is more often true for large companies. For example, Aaron Danker the creator of supermachine.com uses ideas for product creation that are provided by feedback and suggestions of his large list of subscribers and team, their marketing department creates innovative products.

After idea generation, the next logical step is to carry out the screening of the product ideas. In this particular step, the ideas generated are critically evaluated so as to, isolate the most viable and promising ideas from the less promising ones. Most organizations use high-ranking company personnel or create a 'ideas committee' for the screening process implementation. The screening process, separates the good from the excellent, and is essential to avoid product failure.

One profitable way of succeeding is to create your own basic information products. Deeper details on how to create your own product visithttp://eznow4u.info/how-to-develop-your-hot-selling-product

The Art of Using Auto-Responders in Your Online Business

By Dan Grijzenhout  |   Submitted On April 16, 2016

  

Auto-responders are a tool built into most message management systems. Whether you are using Mail Chimp, AWeber, Constant Contact, IContact or almost any other quality messaging service, an auto-responder will be built into the product suite.

What they allow you to do is send out a series of messages to your e-mail subscriber customer at intervals without manually having to do any work beyond the original setup of your e-mail campaign series.

For example, when they first subscribe to you, it is customary to send them a welcome message that tells them a little more about you or your organization and possibly provides them with a gift they hopefully will value. Gifts can be created in many forms and it is entirely up to you as to what you decide to give them and by the way, it often transpires that the person is willing to sign up to you because you have advertised the gift beforehand, they have seen it and they want it - so give good thought to what you give out as it may be what gets them to sign up in the first place. A few guiding principles for your gift:

• To keep your costs down or at nil, make it something that can be electronically transferable to the person signing up.


• The gift most often should be educational or inspirational to them in some way - so they do remember it over time and treasure that you were willing to part with it


• It should be perceived as being a gift of high value to them - they will treasure it more and you don't want them to feel insulted by it - I recommend you think hard and give them something you would value if you were in their shoes.


• It should be something that stands out - is unique - you don't want to give them something that they can get anywhere on the Internet. Make them feel special.


• The gift should have relevance to your business. After all, it is your type of business they have expressed an interest in when they signed up in the first place.

So here are some gift ideas that I think may be useful to someone just signing up to your business.

• A checklist of good ideas that they can use to make money in some fashion if they apply themselves.


• A checklist of something relevant to your business. Are you in Travel? How about a checklist of things to pack when you go on a trip - etc.


• Are you an online trainer? Give them a coupon for a free course.


• Have you written and published anything? Give them a copy of it or let them download a free copy of it electronically.


• Give them an application or some software that could be useful to them.


• Give them a template or templates of something (Could be done in Excel, or PowerPoint, etc.)


• A free sample of something


• A plugin of some sort, custom ringtones, screensaver, free music access, etc. - you get my drift.

So this gets us past the first thing you do with your auto-responder. You can automate all of this so they can signup, get their gift and you don't need to manually do any additional work at all except for maybe view your signup statistics periodically.

Once they have signed up, start sending them periodical useful information such as a newsletter. Most marketers will get something out to their subscriber base about once a week or so. The newsletter really shouldn't be trying to sell them anything, just convey some more knowledge or insights to them to help them during their day. You want to send them content that they will want to see and that they will be looking forward to your next installment with a desire to open the next message from you when it arrives.

Pat Flynn, a well respected and successful online marketer says he only sends them a promotional message about every one in seven messages. A strategy like this is a good thing to keep in mind. As you set up your auto-responder campaign, it's a good idea to be thinking of setting up a series of 30 or more messages in a periodic sequence, carefully interspersing your promotional messages so that they don't feel inundated with pressures to purchase anything. You want them believing you are in a relationship with them - that you are not just a salesman.

And when they get to the end of your auto-responder series, hopefully they have purchased something by then. But in any case, keep the relationship going - you can have multiple campaigns built into your messaging platforms over time. A second series of e-mails can start after the first one concludes. These cost you nothing but a bit of time to setup - and they are well worth it as you never know when your prospect will choose to buy or who he or she will tell about you if they like you - which helps you grow.

So use auto-responders in your business and give them careful thought when setting up. You may find that over time, they become the heart and soul of the marketing side of your business venture. Good luck in your marketing activities.

About Dan Grijzenhout: Dan has lived a successful entrepreneurial career for over 30 years. He has been a consultant, entrepreneur, systems architect and developer, investor, business owner and is now an author, online course creator and teacher, sharing his years of experience and knowledge with others. Search for the name - Dan Grijzenhout - on Amazon to see his available books and e-books.

You can find Dan's available online courses at https://www.udemy.com/user/dan-grijzenhout/
And Dan's articles and blog posts at http://howto-guru.com/Home.php/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dan_Grijzenhout/2147833