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Strategies To Find Job Search Success in the New Economy

I read in the news that Apple announced it has sold over five million of its new iPhone 5, just three days after its launch and to sweeten Apple’s products demand, more than 100 million of Apple’s latest operating systems devices have been updated.

Apple’s success is an important indication that the Internet has taken over the new economy. The latest trend of using social media to find job has moved to a dynamic speed. Savvy job seekers knows that they cannot solely rely on traditional means in looking for jobs.

Traditional job search includes strategies such as looking in the newspaper classified advertisements, searching through ‘help wanted’ notices on bulletin boards, going to recruitment or job agencies, and write in for jobs opportunities directly to the companies. All these traditional ways of job search involve an individual reacting to a job that has already been publicly offered.

Although, traditional methods are still necessary, creative, well-informed and socially Internet savvy job seekers will take a step further to stay ahead of their competition by creating an online presence to reach out to more prospective employers. That is because they know that more and more recruiters use the web as a place to search for talent and conduct employment background searches. This trend will set to increase over the years.

Here are 3 ways you can use social media to enhance your job search success:

1) Build your online presence on social network sites.

Make employers find you easily online and thus open doors to more job opportunities. Without an online presence, you will not appear to be as relevant as those who has and you will be passed over for more savvy applicants that have online visibility. Creating online presence include

LinkedIn- A networking tool for professional connections. Also used to recommend job candidates, industry experts and business partners. Employers use LinkedIn as a search tool to find talent, and job seekers use it to leverage their network in support of their search.
Twitter – Social networking and instant messaging that allows users to post 140- character updates. Employer can use Twitter to post for job opportunities.
Facebook – A social network that connects people, to keep up with friends and share ideas. Depending on their privacy level, some job seekers have successfully secured a job through their Facebook network.

2) Create a blog to demonstrate your expertise

Another good way to further boost your image and demonstrate your experience, expertise and passion in a particular field is to create an updated blog. Keep it professional, creative and update it with value add contents for readers. The articles that you post may include tips and advice on issues in your area of expertise, also be mindful that everything you write and post online is up for judgement.

3) YouTube and Pinterest Marketing

Internet savvy job seekers are making use of video marketing to promote themselves. This is a creative approach to job hunting that has become increasingly common in the social media arena. You could create a video resume, such as a short and traditional video that include a general rundown of your work experience, educational background and skills.

While Pinterest is not a networking platform, as it does not allow direct communication, it is becoming increasingly popular with businesses. It is a powerful tool to demonstrate your knowledge, organisational skills, and creativity to prospective employers. You can create boards which relate to specific skills-sets you have and use it as a portal to link to work you want to showcase – like an online portfolio.

4) Online Resume

In the new economy, it has changed the way employers review resumes, the Internet has also made it possible for job seekers to post their resumes online, on their own hosted web sites. This change is particular helpful to those persons whose resume presentation will be greatly enhanced by being able to take advantage of the graphics and interactive capabilities that an online resume on a personal web site can provide.

In a nutshell, in these times, a paper resume is not enough. It is essential to be creative and a well-designed electronic, or online version of your resume combined and linked to a strong social media profile, is usually ideal for a successful job search.

Digital Marketing Skills Are Requisite for Marketing Jobs, Find Out Why!

So you are a fresher and looking for marketing jobs? Here is a good piece of news for you! As per the India Skills Report 2014, there would be an increase of 18-23 percent of fresher hiring in sectors across. Companies are readily seeking fresh graduates to bolster productivity and growth. Also, the India Skills report is the joint effort of teams from Wheebox, PeopleStrong, HR Services, LinkedIn and Confederation of Indian Industry.

Let us now take a closer look as why a marketing aspirant needs to be familiar with the world of digital marketing.

As per the survey of industry body, Associated Chambers of commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), only 10 percent MBA’s in India are employable in reality. The prime reasons behind such a situation are the gap between industry specific skills and education. These days, marketing employers are not interested in candidate’s internships or grades; all they want is industry specific skills.

Today, the marketing landscape has changed drastically. If we talk about the present scenario, digital marketing is the booming industry that is expected to create 1.5 lakh jobs in the next five years. There is a huge demand of digital marketers, but still there is paucity of talent and professionals. Below listed are the five compelling reasons as why a marketing aspirant needs to have skills in online advertising.

Digital marketing is the future of marketing

There have been ample surveys and reports which claim that online marketing would be the future of marketing. This is a digital age. The tech savvy present age generation and the ever-growing internet population has the paved the path of digital marketing.

The rising popularity of Smartphone’s, tablets, smart TVs and so on have compelled the businesses to target and engage their potential audience through these digital channels.

Digital marketing skills are high in demand

Online marketing has been recognized as the top five careers to look out for. The hiring managers are readily looking for marketing candidates with the knowledge and skills in digital marketing. Be it real estate, hospitality, B2B businesses, retail, consultancy, manufacturing, export-import and many other industries are keen on hiring professionals with relevant skills in this domain.

Better pay in digital marketing jobs

Online advertising is indeed a lucrative career domain. I will tell you how. In online advertising, you can directly connect with your prospective client/customer and generate leads and sales in real-time. Since, professionals in this industry are involved in revenue generation, they are paid handsome salaries.

Wide variety of jobs in digital marketing

The prominent areas of employment include search engine optimization, social media marketing search engine marketing, content writing and so on.

So if you wish to land in your dream marketing job, make sure that you’re armed with digital marketing skills as it will give you an edge over your competitors. On a conclusive note, it would be good to say that a job in booming online marketing field will help you to carve a niche career.

How to Find an Internet Marketing Company Offering the Best SEO Services

If you’re running a business in today’s competitive marketplace, it will be no secret to you that the internet plays a vital role in the success of your brand. But while most entrepreneurs and business managers know the theory behind online marketing, many of them don’t have the time or technical know-how to put it into action.

If you’re looking to build or improve your brand’s online reputation, the best place is to start is by outsourcing an internet marketing agency who can use their knowledge of SEO, internet branding and social media management to help drive more traffic to your website and encourage browsers to convert to customers.

If you’re not familiar with the terminology – don’t worry, an internet marketing specialist will be able to help recommend the best solution for your business. But, in layperson’s terms, SEO stands for search engine optimisation: a term that describes the process of getting your webpage to the top of unpaid search engine results.

There are a number of ways of achieving this, including keyword research and analysis, landing page optimisation, SEO content writing, link building and social networking, to name a few. A professional SEO service aims to improve the overall user experience of your website, as well as bringing targeted traffic to your website.

An internet marketing company can do all of this for you, helping to build your Google page ranks and create back links to your page from other relevant web pages or influential blogs. But in terms of hiring the right company for the job, how do you know what to look for?

The best place to find an SEO service is online, using your Google search engine. The results will present you with a list of companies in your area, and those that operate globally. Look for those with high rankings, but spend some time considering your options – you don’t have to hire the first agency you land on.

Thanks to the nature of the internet, you won’t need to find a company that is local to your area in order to get help with your online marketing, as most consultants work remotely. This means they have a global reach of customers, so will likely work with businesses both big and small from all over the world.

Some agencies will display a portfolio or list of their clients online, however it is quite unusual for them to divulge all of this information, so don’t be concerned if you can’t see a list of existing clients displayed on their website. It probably means that those companies wish to remain private.

One thing you can check out online, however, is their reviews and testimonials, as well as a list of any awards or accreditations they might have received. This will give you an idea of their reputation and what they have achieved for previous or existing clients before you hire them to help improve your business.

Look for a company offering a turnkey approach, as this means you will be able to pick and choose the services best suited to your business requirements and budget. This way, whether you’re looking for a whole new website design, or a simple social media strategy, you will get an entirely tailored approach that meets your unique business needs.

Lastly, make sure you find an agency that offers a free quote, as some will charge you for this. Some websites will have a simple form for you to fill out that will automatically generate a quote for you using just a few simple details. You will probably have to input your website details, as well as your monthly budget and which services you require.

How to Find the Most Profitable Online Home Business

The most profitable online businesses are the top tier programs that require some entrepreneurial courage and investment but allow you to earn a significant upfront income.

Most people have the idea that the economic crisis experienced these last couple of years was the worst time ever. But in actual fact, it has been the very best time to establish a home business.

There are so many home business opportunities and schemes to make money online. Yet, it is clear that many are just a scam. It is vital then that you know what constitutes a profitable business model for you.

with the ever-increasing number of both legitimate opportunities and rip-off scams, how do you know what is a honest AND profitable online business to start up and how do you know who to believe when you are researching what is out there?

I had exactly this dilemma. I tried all kinds of schemes and trainings and tools and systems before finally finding success. Now don’t get me wrong, I learned LOTS from my past attempts at a home based business, acquired many new skills. None of it was wasted. But I also wasted LOTS – lots of time and lots of money.

Sound familiar?

This is the reason I put this article together to try to explain some of the different home business models. There are so many variables both in the business you choose and in what YOU need to bring to it. I was doing all the right things but in the wrong way and with the WRONG business model.

The penny dropped when I was on the phone with a friend from that previous MLM. I saw him go from flat broke living in his mother’s basement to become a top producer earning over $50K every month. You see, he’d found a system that works. And after just a few months, I’m on track to follow exactly in his footsteps.

Once I discovered a highly profitable business model that suits what I want to achieve, I simply applied my knowledge and skills and could be successful. The ‘system’ is simply this: a highly profitable online business model. It offers top quality internet marketing education on the front end combined with a top tier product on the back end.

Let me explain some of the terms and the different kinds of home businesses you can start.

Brick and mortar businesses

This is where you buy or let premises for the purpose of selling products or services. This may be you use part of your home or outbuildings. Examples are a personal trainers, hairdressers, dog grooming, computer repairs. The capital you need to start up will be generally high and it may take several years before you are in profit.

Franchise business

Similar to traditional brick and mortar business, but with this model you are buying into a known-brand and premises. Examples are restaurants, cleaning companies. The business is already set up and you ‘manage’ the day to day running of the place. Again, the outlay is usually high, you have employees to hire and manage, and it may take several years before you start earning profits. An online alternative:

Internet based business

This is where your ‘shop’ is a website or a blog and you retail and sell products through online tools. There are various websites and templates you can buy outright or membership, such as lead capture pages, sales letters, as well as a whole host of tools that will help you manage customers and relationships with customers, such as shopping cart tools for product listing and credit card processing, email marketing for follow up.

For the newbie, it can be a massive learning curve to understand what is needed and to do it well. Once you have your online store set up, you must learn how to research your target audience (keyword research), how to advertise (without going bust), how to market to them (psychology of buying processes, writing effective sales copy, relationship building, etc) and how to convert them into buyers. It’s not an easy game.

There are some quick in-roads, such as eBay selling or affiliate marketing (selling other people’s products and using pre-made sales templates). The profit margins are pretty low so you will have to sell hundreds or thousands to make a decent income and there is very little residual income with this model.

Network marketing business

Also know as MLM (multi-level marketing) or home party business, this often suits people who are socially outgoing and want to earn a few hundred pounds extra having fun with friends, work colleagues and family. Again you buy a stock of products and learn how to market these usually locally, but potentially to anyone anywhere. For example, you can use traditional advertising like flyers and newspaper ads and set up personal visits, open days, home parties, exhibitions, ladies evenings etc. to sell your wares.

The more stock you buy, the more ‘discount’ you get and thus, when you sell the products, the more profit you make. The company you join is important in many ways, but obviously in the type of product and the price level. Some products may suit your personal interests and knowledge more than others, e.g. household products, utility products, nutritional vitamin supplements, weight loss products. For people new to sales, it is good to go with a product you would actually use yourself and because the price levels are small, it may be easier to find customers and makes sales.

This kind of home business allows you to make two streams of income, one on products you retail (active income) and another on your ‘team’ of distributors you bring into the business and earn a percentage of commission on products they sell (passive residual income or ‘royalties’). This is called ‘leveraging’ your time, since there is a limit to how many customers one person can manage.

How much income you make depends on how good you are at sales and how many people you bring in and keep as distributors in your ‘downline’. This is the rule, the more people you recruit the more money you will make. But the disturbing statistics show that almost 90% of people who join an MLM or network marketing business never make significant income.

Top tier product marketing

This works on the same basis as network marketing, some of which can earn on 2,3,4 even 10 levels of commissions. So everyone has their ‘cut’ as reward for bringing others into the business and helping them to become successful by making sales. These businesses usually require a substantial investment in the product line, but use the ‘Get Paid Today’ or GPT business model, so you can quickly recoup your initial outlay because you earn very high commissions even on the first sales you make. There is no need to wait to build up a ‘downline’ and earn ‘royalties’ because you start making big front end commissions and residual income stream grows very fast. Commission ranges from $ 1,000 to $ 10,000 (and you can get it immediately!)

So for my own experience, it seems fairly clear cut. If you learn to market online, you can sell any product to anyone, anywhere in the world. Why on earth then would you choose to market low cost products and not top tier products and get paid today? It would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it? But so many people start a home business or online business without knowing the key differences.

Just to clarify for you then:

For brick and mortar, franchise, network marketing or online businesses…

– Your costs will often be far more than your profits in the short term at least.

– You have to keep working day and night for many years to build things up and to keep the momentum going in your business.

– Your residual income is dependent on how many people you bring into the business who are actively retailing and recruiting.

– This can take many years to develop and you will have to work hard to keep people who do just average since their expectations are rarely met.

– You have to pay transportation and handling of products and certain other charges, which includes maintenance of any advertising websites and for tracking sales and customers and team activities.

– You can add up all the different monthly fees for your individual tools, which are much higher than expected.

– Couple with the low commissions earned, you will probably not break even – ever.

In the Top Tier GPT model…

You get paid today. Your direct sales commissions are immediately paid to you and your compensation does not depend on the number of people in your downline. Because you are retailing high-end products and services, the profit is considerably higher compared with other businesses. Many top tier opportunities also reward you for referrals and pay a commission several levels deep so you can build up a residual income over time. Because you earn a good ‘active’ income, you can quit your ‘day job’ in months not years.

How to Find an Online Opportunity

If you are looking for a promising business opportunity, the best thing to do is to explore the wide range of opportunities available online.

An online job allows you to work at home. It enables you to offer your marketable skills and put them to good use. All you have to do is to hook up with a reliable online employer.

The Internet provides a variety of jobs. Just sift through all the information to find one that matches your skills.

If you are looking for a good honest job – and you have the necessary skills for it, you can become a freelancer.

There are countless employers looking for good people to hire. There are many jobs available, especially if you are a writer, web designer, graphic designer, programmer, or an expert in SEO and online marketing. You can work from home and be productive in your own business home.

It is easy to put up a based business home. You don’t need any capital to work free lance and earn money. You simply have to have the skills that the job requires.

It is not surprising that more and more individuals are offering some sort of business service online.

There are many online jobs for people with various skills and lines of expertise. There are jobs available even for students who are still in business school or for professionals looking for part-time jobs to augment their income. If you hope to establish an IT company but think that starting your business small is the best way to go, you can find opportunities online.

How do you look for prospective employers?

You can offer your services on your own website. Considering the somewhat limited reach of personal websites, however, you may have to wait for quite some time for responses to your offer.

You can also join a site that is designed primarily to connect service buyers with freelancers.

How do these sites operate?

Service buyers post jobs or projects on the site. Freelancers who find a particular project interesting make their bids. They offer a price and mention how long it will take them to complete the project. The service buyer will then make an offer to the person whom he thinks offers the best bid.

If you are hired for a certain project, you are expected to complete it on time. Your service buyer will go over the assignment and give you feedback about your work.

You build your reputation as a freelancer on such feedback. As you work on more and more assignments, and receive good feedback on your work, you slowly build your reputation as a reliable and proficient worker.

Service buyers are always on the look-out for freelancers whom they can trust to do a first-rate job. If you are able to turn in projects that consistently receive good feedback, you increase your opportunities for being hired.

If you are a beginner at freelance work, the key is to offer your services at a low price for your first projects. Your low bid will help you get more projects. Work on these projects well so that you get good feedback about your work.

As you build on the number of projects completed, as well as on the positive feedback, you will soon acquire a reputation as a dependable, efficient, and professional freelancer. You will find it easier to get more projects.

You can even bid higher on some projects. There are many service providers who do not mind paying extra just as long as they are guaranteed first-class work.

You can always find gainful business to business employment online. You can earn a lot of money even if you just stay at home.

How to Find the Best Christian Home Based Business

So you’ve been searching for a Christian home based business opportunity… WHAT should you be looking for?

With the myriad of home business opportunities out there … each one claiming to be the answer you have been looking for …. how do you know which one is the best Christian based home business for you? And if you’ve ever wanted to work from home, you know how desperately you want to believe all those promises of untold wealth just flooding into your bank account without you having to do one single thing to make it happen!

Well …… nice though that would be – it certainly isn’t the reality of the situation!! However, there ARE Christian home based businesses out there that are excellent and as we are very clearly called to rise above and out of the world’s system, a work from home business opportunity is often an answer to prayer – I know it certainly was for me!

So, what do you look for in a good Christian Home Based Business opportunity?

A good place to start would be prayer. Ask God for guidance, wisdom and direction – make Him your Controlling Business Partner – He will not let you down! 🙂

Right – here are 10 top things you should check out when looking for the best Christian home based business:-

1. Is the business legitimate? It really doesn’t need to be a Christian home based business as such – but it must be grounded in loyalty and integrity ……. all the way from the inside – out. Therefore, make sure you check it out thoroughly.

2. Are there actual products involved? If it is just passing on the business opportunity / gifting, don’t go anywhere near it. These businesses are considered illegal in most states and countries and are popularly known as pyramid schemes. Look for a REAL business – one which you will be proud to tell your friends and family about.

3. Are the products or services offered in demand? Most business cater to a very specific target audience – and thus do not work very well.

4. Are there any hidden costs? Be prepared to pay to join a good Christian based home business – it’s unrealistic to expect something for nothing – but do check if there are any hidden costs. Be sure you can afford the ongoing costs. These are not necessarily a bad thing – it costs to set up and run a business – but you need to take a responsible, informed approach.

5. What is your ROI (Return on Investment)? With some companies, the commissions are so tiny that you need to sell truck loads of products to earn anything near a decent income. Pick one where you actually stand to make some money! 🙂

6. Try and talk to someone within the business. Most home based businesses are online business opportunities and talking to someone is like trying to talk to the man in the moon!! Is it easy to talk to a real person within the business? What is their attitude? Run like mad if they try and talk you into anything. The primary duty of a company representative or anyone else within the business is to provide you with all the information you need so that you can make an informed decision.

7. Check out the available training and support – there should be tons and tons of this. It really doesn’t matter how good the company is – or how good the business is – you will almost certainly fall flat on your face if you do not have excellent training and support – specially in the early stages of your online Christian home based business opportunity journey.

8. Talk to your prospective sponsor. Most online home business opportunities, including Christian based home business opportunities work through you being sponsored into the business. Is your sponsor Christian? What is their primary motivation? (Absolutely nothing wrong with wanting big houses and cars, etc., – but do remember what the Bible says about being un-equally yoked – so check out their motives and try and get a feel for where their heart lies). Is he or she readily available? Do they provide training and support? What safety net is in place should your sponsor be ill, go on holiday, etc?

9. Choose the best sponsor for YOU . What do I mean by that? Well some sponsors advertise huge earnings, which is great …. but how does that help you? Don’t always assume they will pass that knowledge on to you – even if they say they will! Do the math – if they are as successful as they say they are, they are attracting many people each week. Do they physically have the time to provide you with the training and support they say they will? Do they have regular training calls where you know you can reach them every day?

10. Choose the best team for you. I have found that sponsors and teams have their own unique personality – find one that suits YOU , has the same values and principles as you and can work at a pace to suit you. Will your sponsor stick with you if you are an internet newbie? Or is the team full of people UNLIKE yourself? The best scenario is when there are a bunch of people of mixed abilities – all happy to work together, helping each other along to a single goal ….. and having fun along the way!

This may sound like a daunting list of do’s and don’ts – but let me assure you – find the right Christian home based business and you will be rewarded beyond anything you ever thought possible. I went from working 12 hour days and just getting by, to working in the comfort of my own home and earning more money than I have ever done, simply by applying the above check list! To say that my life has been changed would be the understatement of the year! So do your homework now, ask God to guide you and be prepared to think outside the box. A Christian home based business could be just what you need to be able to join me in saying, “Recession? What recession?!”

How To Find Hot Online Business Ideas

Would you like to find the key that unlocks the

door to a gold-mine of online response, sales and

results for your business?

It seems obvious that you would be able to see what

the experts do differently when locating market

opportunities, finding out what people want and

quickly turning that into an online business generating

truckloads of cash.

The reality is YOU CAN’T!

While the secret is massive in it’s impact, it is so

subtle – so subtle that you are sure to miss it if you

don’t know what to look for.

Here’s the secret and a formula for using it right this

minute!

What is DESIRE?!

Now stay with me for just a minute.

Think about the last time you bought a magazine? Why

did you buy it? Was it to look better, fee better,

make money, save money, make your house look better,

take a step toward achieving a dream in your life?

How about the last time you purchased an ebook about

marketing? It wasn’t the desire to learn more about

marketing that led to open your wallet, it was the

DESIRE to discover something unique, something new that

would RESULT in more more money in your pocket resulting

in you being able to finally quit you job.

OK, that’s more like it. It’s all about the end result

you want to get – not about the steps, processes, formula

or information to get you there.

Information is a tool – a method of achieving an end.

It’s up to you to determine what that END result is and

continue to help your market achieve that end, without fail.

Now, let’s look at how this can help you achieve YOUR goals…

A NEW Way Of Researching Your Market!

You will hear from many online marketing experts that the

important part of researching your market is WHERE you look.

Nice try – but that’s NOT the whole story.

The real secret is How you research your market.

For instance, take a look at the headlines over at one of my

sites:

http://www.infoproductcreator.com

Now, I’ve tested over 20 headlines on this page before finding

this one that coverts at least 3X better than earlier versions.

The market for this product is aspiring online entrepreneurs,

writers, consultants and speakers who are already considering

writing infoproducts to achieve more freedom, control and

security in their lives.

So why does this page work?

First, this market is time constrained. They are struggling as

much with lack of time freedom as they are with lack of financial

freedom. Many of them have lost control in their lives, are too

dependent on one income stream and WANT to quickly solve this

problem.

Second, this market feels they have something to share and WANT

to know how to do that – they WANT the prestige and “fame” that

comes from releasing their own ebook or book.

Try reading the headline (both main heading and sub-heading).

Can you now see the main emotional “cues” that lead to the market

triggers I outline above.

Another Example!

Let’s try another market entirely!

Head over to:

Sit, Stay, Fetch right here:

http://www.sitstayfetch.net

What do you think is the biggest reason dog owners end up

paying for obedience training?

The answer is in the headline. What dog owners WANT is a way to

stop behaviour problems in their dogs. Why? Embarassment,

fear of someone getting hurt, pain of having to consider giving

up their beloved pet – all lead to a RABID desire for dog

training.

Bottom Line – Think DESIRE!

Will you do this for me?

Spend the next week looking at everything in terms of underlying

desire.

When you read the newspaper, speak with a colleague, watch TV, go

to a movie, speak with your spouse or your kids, read websites,

review ads, etc… think about the underlying desire. Why does

that communication exist as it does.

Carry a journal and quickly write down each event with it’s

corresponding, underlying desire.

IF you follow this exercise, you’ll not only be amazed at what you

come up with for “normal” daily communication, you will have

started down the path of thinking like the highest achieving

business people of all time. Not bad for a week’s effort?

Gift Ideas – Find Great Gift Ideas For Your Loved Ones

One of the greatest ways to celebrate a moment, an occasion or express love is by presenting nice gifts. A gift can express the emotions that even words may not be able to portray. However, often there is a lack of original gift ideas and it can become difficult to choose a special gift item for a special person or a special occasion.

Unique Gift Ideas

There are a range of gift ideas depending upon the recipient (man, woman, child, babies, pets), relationship (father, mother, brother, sister, husband, wife, friends, girlfriend, boyfriend) and occasion. Some of the unique gift ideas are as follows:

Gift Ideas for Men: Gifting a man can be a little difficult as they tend to have very specific tastes and preferences. However, a bit of research can throw up some really nice ideas.

Almost all men are gadget freaks and any of the latest electronic items can completely floor them. An advanced cell phone, iPhone, iPhone accessories, multiple gadget charging stations and wireless headphones can be excellent gifts.

Apart from gadgets, another very good idea is to treat their taste buds by present food or drink packages. From fine wine to beer baskets and from assorted cheese packets to an expensive dinner at an exotic restaurant, these options would definitely be adored by them.

Some other unique ideas include golf club drink dispensers, personalized portraits, coasters with light, convertible luggage bags etc.

Gift Ideas for Women: A lot of people think that gifting a woman is the toughest. This is a myth and there are innumerable unique gift idea for women that can impress them a great deal.

Gorgeous apparel, jewelry, accessories and make-up items are some of the standard but effective gifts for women. To try something different, gifts like modern kitchen gadgets including meat thermometers, electric carving knives and cookie cutters can be very helpful.

Most women these days are fitness conscious and gifting them some fitness gifts can be quite unconventional. These can include health food baskets, herbal teas, calorie burning sandals, massaging mats, stress relievers, foot spas and yoga gift sets.

More extravagant gifts can include dream car tours, a vacation to an oriental or an exotic land, gourmet dinner cruise or even a precious gem stone.

Birthday Gift Ideas: Birthdays are the most frequent occasions to gift someone. There are some excellent offbeat birthday gift ideas for everyone. These include engraving the name in custom art, crazy cake pans, life size wall murals, personalized birthday chronicles, personalized birthday magazine cover, hot air balloon trip or even a poem.

Anniversary Gift Ideas: An anniversary is a celebration of the union of two people and there are many exclusive anniversary gifts available. These include romantic art decor, rose bouquet with custom messages on every rose, home spa gift sets, bottles with romantic messages, personalized photo lamps, personalized marble plaques, a trip to some of the best vineyard or even pencil sketches.

Presenting an offbeat gift item can surprise the recipients but they would make the occasion and the presenter extremely memorable for them.

How to Find Success in Business, No Matter What Business You Are In

After thirty-five years of running my company, Mid-Hudson Marketing, I’ve come to realize a few truths about what brings success in business. Regardless of what business you are in, if you give the clients what they want, the clients will be happy. And happy clients come back. They also refer other clients to you.

Now, you would think that in a marketing business, a client would come to me in order to bring him business. But, ironically, when a client comes to me for marketing services, there is a lot more to what the client wants than is obvious on the surface. Clients need confidantes. Clients need friends. Clients need reliable helpers to do the things they themselves cannot do, and to do them well. Clients need dependable business partners they can lean on in times of need to provide them with guidance and advice. Clients need all of this but do not want to be overcharged for it. And clients need these things exactly when they need them, at the precise moment they ask for them, without having to wait their turn. After all, clients are busy people with many important tasks at hand including making a success of their own businesses. It is a rare client that recognizes that you and he or she have that in common.

No, clients by definition are usually quite selfish with only their own concerns in mind. When they call you, they need you. Otherwise, they don’t call. Of course, in the present state of the economy, getting a call from a client in need should be regarded as a blessing if you are running a business. This is your bread and butter. And furthermore, the reason they can be excused from their myopic vision is that they are paying you to help them. Not the other way around.

Never mind that they may be interrupting you from serving the needs of other important clients whose calls may have come in first. It is an exercise in tact and diplomacy that provides you with the right things to say to satisfy the demands of all clients within the time constraints given. No single client wants to be told that he must wait, and all deserve your very best efforts to perform whatever it is they expect of you.

Luckily, the laws of probability usually dole out these calls in a rather random fashion so you are not overwhelmed with immediate urgency that is impossible to deliver on. And in a business like marketing, there are a multitude of different tasks clients may need, all requiring different skills, allotments of time, and expectations for completion.

And of course, not all projects come in as phone calls. Many come in as emails in today’s world. But in either case, an immediate reply is the most important course of action for you as business owner, to provide the solution each is looking for. I find that most clients just want to know that they are important to you and that you are grateful for their call, and that you intend to address their requests right away. This is usually accomplished by a prompt call back or email reply confirming receipt of their message and how you intend to fulfill what they need. I also always promise to confirm when the job is completed. Having done this, my stress level for the moment is reduced because the immediacy of the demand has been taken care of. However, as anyone running a business knows, chronic stress is part of being successful, since it drives us to do the work the clients ask for, as quickly and expertly as possible!

Next step for the business owner is the prioritization of tasks at hand. I approach this by figuring out how many steps there are in the process, how long each will take and how soon I can get them done while working on a multitude of jobs simultaneously. For the small business owner, or people who run their businesses single-handedly (like me), this usually means being a workaholic and working morning, noon and night, 24/7. That is not an exaggeration. I work every moment I can, subtracting out time for personal hygiene, eating, sleeping, and an hour of daily exercise every day, without fail! Of course, I admit I am very robotic about everything in my life which serves me well in business. The reason is that I can multi-task easily without breaking my concentration from the most important application of my attention.

An example would be answering the phone with my standard greeting without missing a beat, while using any one of my many software programs to design, write, produce, enhance or convert any number of the many jobs I juggle on a daily basis. People often comment that I sound like a recording. We laugh about that and move on. Not only is my predictability beneficial for my business, it is appreciated by my clients who are able to reach me on one or two rings without having to wade through the muck and mire of phone prompts or receptionists to try to speak to me directly. Sure, they sometimes get my voice mail but I always call right back and never keep them waiting.

I must reveal, though, that prior to a couple of years ago, when I maintained a formal business suite of offices in the largest city nearby, my working hours were quite different. Time to commute even on the worst days in winter ate up a good chunk of my availability to keep plowing through my workload. I used to believe that such time was well spent… as a “creative pause,” as one German professor of music I had at Bard College used to say. Time to reflect, plan strategy, get an overview of business as a whole. Now, however, since I was prescient enough to realize that closing that overhead-heavy office I had taken pride in for a 35-year career was an unaffordable luxury in today’s economy and moving home was the best alternative for many reasons, my time is much better appropriated.

First of all, I now have a life! How, you may ask, can I possibly have a life if I work 24/7?!! Well, since I love what I do for a living, I definitely enjoy working from home. Here are the major differences:

Instead of getting up at 4 a.m. to get dressed to the business hilt, reading several newspapers while eating breakfast and driving an hour to work, I now get up at 8:15 a.m. and run up and down my staircase for exercise for 20 minutes (2500 steps in all!) and make a small breakfast I eat as I check my email in my comfy office off my dining room wearing my shorts, a t-shirt and socks. My work day usually begins about 9 a.m. which is the norm for the majority of office workers.
Instead of having to wear high heels while driving to and from occasional client meetings which also killed a good portion of the day (not to mention my feet!), I now stay at home and avoid meeting anyone altogether. I am totally accessible by email and phone and seeing me in person is unnecessary in this day and age of Internet access and video-conferencing.
Instead of leaving the office late in a rat-race-paced drive home to cook supper after having stopped at the grocery store, a gas station and navigated through the occasional traffic jam and subsequent longer-than-usual detour, I now take a twenty-minute walk with my husband around 4:30 every day and after continuing to work until 6:30, begin making supper after a productive 9-hour day. I am lucky to have a retired husband/life partner who now does all the shopping.
Instead of ending my day at 9:30 p.m. so I can try to get enough sleep to wake up at 4 and start all over again, I now get to watch the end of the Yankee game most nights if they’re still playing around 10 p.m. which is when I stop working after dinner to enjoy a little TV exposure and eat an apple. Bedtime for the robot is now about midnight, giving me about 8 hours of sleep each night vs. my previous 5.5 hour average. That in itself has given me back my life!

But lots of things have changed in business since the economic downturn. It is not a surprise to hear of people working from home. Having an office was wonderful for many years when people would come in for frequent conferences or to check proofs. There was a time when I spent entire days doing high quality on-site photography, sometimes from helicopters, using gyroscopes and expensive rented long lenses while flying through now forbidden air space over Manhattan! Times have changed and my industry with it. We’ve become an online culture with everything accessible through affordable high quality digital photography and emailed PDF proofs. People are more conservative about business expenses than they ever were and the cost of gasoline and of everything has curtailed how we all do business. And, as a result, how much we charge has become an issue of sensitivity as well.

Having arrived at a place in my life where money is no longer a matter of life or death, sink or swim, I am fortunate to have the freedom to negotiate agreeable rates with long-term clients I respect who have expressed anxiety over loss of revenue due to the business reduction everyone has felt. Once you hit a certain age, you realize that life does not go on forever and it is more important to live life for the pleasure it can bring than for some arbitrary dollar figure to which you once may have aspired. Since my house and cars are all paid for and I have the security of some relatively satisfactory investments, it is more important to me to have clients who seek my intelligence and skills, and keep me busy with interesting work, than to try to amass a fortune doing it. I am also lucky (and have been for the bulk of my career) that I don’t ever have to look for work. It just comes in as it always has from clients with whom I’ve been working for most of my life. Those clients refer others. And, there are always new clients who find me through my website. Yes, my office was a beautiful representation of my polished business image, my brand…but I have achieved the same thing through my website, at a greatly reduced cost!

I have written this article, which is really more of a glimpse into my life, for the purpose of sharing the kinds of things that bring success. Not so much for the specific information, but for the attitudinal and philosophical truths that shape a person’s life. Always putting the client first; doing the best work you possibly can; respect for the client’s needs and timeframe; being frugal with spending; and above all, being fair in every way; these are the ways I’ve found success in my life. It doesn’t take a lot to make me happy, thank goodness. Not being destitute, having a perfectly ripe avocado available, a good apple, my favorite balsamic vinegar, skim milk, oats, walnuts, my Taster’s Choice decaf. These are things that make me happy. And, a kind word from a happy client now and then! Do I mind working entire holiday weekends keeping up with client deadlines and work goals? Not at all. I thrive on it. And this I would define as success in business.

How to Find Your Unique Selling Proposition

A ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ (USP) is something that many businesses have but it would be true to say that most don’t know they have one. When you follow the simple steps in this article, you’ll be able to identify your USP and will probably find that you have more than one. Without a clear USP then your ability to focus on your market, conserve advertising and promotion dollars and, most importantly, write your Business Plan, is almost non-existent.

You may have heard about a thing called your ‘Differential’, as well as other things, your USP describes the difference between your business and your competition.

A Business Plan without a USP is like a ship without a rudder

It is extremely important that you should include your USP in your Business or Marketing Plan, you can be sure that if you are looking for funding or a bank loan, the providers of the cash are going to want to know what sets you apart from your competition and it had better be good.

Example: Bakery & Coffee Bar

Let’s say you decide to open a Bakery and Coffee Bar. There is some close existing competition and so you do some research and find out the following:

What the competition does

They open at 7 a.m. and close around 4.30 p.m
They offer a range of coffees and tea
They offer freshly prepared sandwiches and rolls
They offer a special order facility for birthday cakes

What they don’t do

They don’t offer today’s newspapers
They don’t offer an email your order service
They don’t offer office catering for special presentations etc.
They don’t donate left over stock to a food bank or similar

Your opportunity is to do what they don’t do and in the process establish your ‘Unique Selling Propositions’

Here’s what you do (You can still do the things your competition does as well if you choose to…

Open at 6 a.m. for early morning passing traffic and close at 6 p.m. to service customers on their way home from work
Offer 3 copies of each of today’s newspapers
Offer an email your order service
Offer office catering
Donate left over stock to local charities/food banks

The list can go on from here but the advice would be, don’t do it all at once. You’ll find a competitor matrix very useful in this process.

Once you have defined what your USP is, you need to set about creating some words and maybe images around each USP that you define.

Basic rules for a USP:

It must be something that you know is true and you believe in it
It should create some form of emotion in the reader
It must communicate instantly just what the USP is about
It should be specific
It should be concise
It should have real meaning
An important note A Unique Selling Proposition’ does not mean a ‘Permanent Unique Selling Proposition!’ Always have something up your sleeve to offer your customers and that way you will have the leaders advantage and have something to release in response to a competitors latest move.