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Ever thought what it would be like to be Steve Jobs? Forget the accumulated wealth he has. Creator of Apple, one of the biggest, brightest and the most successful brands ever. This is no small deal. But if you have your own brand, you might just feel equally happy as well. It’s just that he has succeeded in reaching out to the people through various means. So how do you create something with so much personality and grip that it works wonders for you.

Marketing has evolved from being just selling techniques and plans into becoming promotion and branding. There are dozens of companies offering just the same kind of products and services, but they still hold their respective shares in the market. This is all branding. Being a successful brand means a successful you, since it stays as a part of your identity. So ask yourself a single question: Who am I? Branding is just not meant only for products and companies. In this era, everything is a brand. It is quite important for professional success today. So here’s how YOU can create your own personal brand:

1. Vision; First step to discovering your brand: Every step in management involves some kind of a set goal or a vision. This means declaring the context of your brand. You must have a clear vision of what you think and what you want, your goal or vision. Your brand will be also responsible for representing you to the public; hence, it becomes vital that your goal stays connected to your brand.
2. Knowing who are is the first and foremost step to becoming a successful brand. This brings about communication among the people involved, eliminates competition, and gives a better product defense. All of this proves the authenticity of the brand.
3. Knowing your competitors follows next. Just having confidence of having a good product does not solve the problems. It is extremely important to know your close competitors. Understand them, know your own position in the market and of course, how you can stand out of the crowd.
4. Last but not the least, knowing your target. The target audience that you are to support should be communicated the right message in the language they best understand. Focus your brand on the right people.
5. Expression; the essence of your brand: This includes description of the essence of your product. Many products fail repetitively primarily because of the fact that they fail to communicate the essence of the brand. Have the right tagline, the right brand profile and list the attributes that fit the statement. Now that there is a clear picture of who your competitors and your audience are, you just need the right mix to communicate to who you really want to address
6. How you present it is crucial. Make sure you leave a mark with the brand everywhere you go. Meetings, presentations, conferences, airports are just some of the examples of where you can leave an impression of your name behind. Making it visible to the right people is also very important. Even during a business meal with your client. Adopt it as a part of your lifestyle. Eat, sleep and breathe it. Make sure every action performed is in consistency with your brand..
7. “Just Do It”- Evaluate your actions: The last thing to do is to evaluate your brand. As an employee, take feedback from everybody in the company. Managers, staff, employees etc. can give out essential details which you might just have missed out. On the client’s side, have a feedback form attached or try for a formal verbal or written way of feedback. The idea is to make sure that you are taking as much input as possible. Better results are only possible if the input is taken and acted upon.
8. The process unfortunately is a little painful since requires commitment and time. To stay relevant to the audience, it must evolve with the times. This could mean product or line modification or new and improved methods of communicating with the audience. This ensures that your brand stays in the sight of the audience and does not lose the authenticity.

One thing that goes without saying is “Give respect for respect.” Your name is a brand and the more respect you give will alone make a huge difference in the sales or profits. It’s a technique which comes handy often more than once. Name is a treasured item, so handle carefully. So put forth your brand with confidence.

Unique design, user friendly navigation links and usability are some of the ingredients which help you in making a successful website. There are different schools of thoughts regarding the philosophies which should be applied while coming up with a beautiful and profit making website but personally I recommend building a website which user may want to KISS ( Keep It Simple Stupid) as it is extremely SMART(Specific , Measurable , Attainable , Realistic , Timely).

World Wide Web has today become the hottest spot to promote your products and services and what better way to start your advertising then coming up with that perfect website. So let us uncover some hidden truths about web design that will help us in finding the perfect recipe for a high traffic pulling website:

Leave Guess Work for Solving Puzzles

You should congratulate yourself for the increased number of visitors getting attracted towards your website but what is the amount of time they spent browsing through your content? Do they revisit your website? Do fill up the referrals and invite their friends, families and business associates to visit your website? All these are the key indicators pointing towards the success of your website. A visitor is usually on your webpage to get some useful information and if his appetite for knowledge is not sated he is unlikely to revisit your webpage. If you want to redirect a person, all the links should work properly. There should be a site map to help a person in case he in unable to locate the information he is searching for, if you leave the person in maze you are likely to use a potential customer. So rule number one, take your visitors directly to the information they are looking for with right links, self explanatory informative content leaving no scope for ambiguities.

Get , Set & You Are Ready to Go

So you want a user to use your software or download your e-book the trick to keep your customer happy is not making him go through a lengthy registration process which is enough to test his patience. Your web design should not include some lengthy login forms which even a first time visitor has to fill just for browsing through your services and to understand what’s up for offer. Let the visitor get his share of information without the unnecessary hassle of divulging their personal information. Ease of browsing the content without sharing their personal data and absence of those tens of annoying pop ups are the second important rule to be followed in web design.

Gain Users’ Attention

A picture speaks a thousand words and should be included along with your content to gain users focus towards what you are trying to sell. But again a word of caution avoid using unnecessary images and heavy flash work which though attractive takes a lot of bandwidth and long time to load. Use eye catching graphics, patterns and images which are appealing and also help in generating curiosity in the mind of the users about how to get more information. Also maintain a proper flow so that user is redirected to the next page without applying much thought. Therefore in a nut shell the third rule for web design is to have a proper site orientation, capturing users’ focus and attention which leads to total customer satisfaction.

Clear Vision Easy Decision

Well would you like to use an easy step wise guide that will help you solve your problem? Well the fourth important rule of web design is the clear listing of all the features before the users that will help them in making a quick decision. Guiding your visitors through your website in a simple and friendly manner while exposing them to the treasures you have in store for you will help you in scoring those important brownie points. Use a clear cut layout in appealing colors with a systematic listing of all your features helps the user gain a better understanding of what benefits they can get from your business. So use a web design that presents content in a manner that is well understood by your site visitors.

Pen is Mightier Than a Sword

Well yes marketing is nothing but the war of words and to win this war it is essential to come up with effective content. Remember you have precisely say about 30 seconds to catch the attention of the user. Generally a visitor scans and not reads through the blocks of content written in a flowery language. So rule number five is coming up with excellent web content. Simple, short and sweet sentences effectively communicate what you want to say. Try using bullets and numbers with bold headings which a user can read easily and get a gist of what you are trying to say and if it matches with what they are looking you are a winner.

KISS web design

A clean page listing down what you had been looking for with out the unnecessary clutter of useless text and the noticeable absence of any annoying advertisements on the webpage is one of the best design practices. A simple layout with clear areas for navigation, header, footer and the content body will make the user appreciate your site more even if it is in another international language as french. Complex layout will make the content less digestible to the user as complex structures are difficult to scan, understand and to even work with. You can make your web design simpler by following Simon’s law of using hierarchical structure while presenting data which helps in reducing complexity making content easy to perceive.

Credibility is Reassuring

Would you like to visit the restaurant which has received rave reviews? Same is the case with the web site. An excellent web design technique would be to promote your credentials to the potential customers in form of amazing testimonials which you had received from your previous customers or by offering money back guarantee or warranty on the product that you are selling. Also if you want to create an e-commerce website ensure that you use a secure payment gateway that will safeguard the credit card information of your clients. Provide your contact information, email address and phone numbers on your web page that will make it easier for your potential clients to contact you.

Reach Out & Connect

Using proper keywords so that your website is search engine optimized and gets a higher ranking during search results is another web design technique which is helpful in popularizing your business by generating more traffic. But there are several other ways that can be used for promoting products like providing reciprocal links, coming out with your company’s newsletter and yes last but not the least online directories. Besides these networking is a great way to promote yourself, so start discussion boards, offer advices and yes ask customers to write back to you with their expectations which will help you in coming with solutions that are an exact match to customers’ expectations.

Nothing is Permanent But the Change

Continuous improvement is the key to success. Remember a good web site is never complete. To keep the visitors attracted towards your website keep on updating the content of your website if not daily then at least twice a week. Try adding new features, new pages and some special feeds which will tempt the users in revisiting your site. So rule number nine of web design is change, change layout, change content, add new features to keep users’ interest intact.

Test Away Bugs

Taking help of the above design principles you have built a great site but keep the tenth most important commandment in mind before launching your website- thoroughly test your website. Keep performing unit testing of your website whenever you complete one feature. Errors that are detected at the earlier cycle of web designing and development are often easier and cheaper to correct. Repeated testing will help you detecting and solving bugs that had remained undetected during previous rounds. A web develop should never test his own code and he will be unable to detect the flaws in his own web design. Ask your colleague or a member of the testing team to perform usability testing which will help in presenting your users with a problem free website.

Power packed with these rules of web design go ahead and design a unique and user friendly website which will soon be ranked high by all the search engines.

Marketing isn’t about pushing your message into people’s face. Its about grabbing people’s attention with creative advertisements. Marketing is about being creative and thinking outside the box. The more creative you can be the more you will stand out from the crowd. Here are 10 advertisements to inspire the marketer within you.

1. World No Tobacco Day: A lush green field called life can turn into death by smoking. The great ad was an initiative taken to promote the “World No Tobacco Day”. The crosses indicate the deaths that take place everyday due to smoking.
   
2. Orion Telescopes: This is a wonderful piece of advertising. Orion Telescopes have shown what they make and the power of it. The ad shows the USA flag on the moon was made in China and tries to imply that the power of their telescopes can look into the details of things that just might be impossible to see.
3. Pepsi Twist: Pepsi is one company which has always made great and successful ads. This time to promote their new lemon flavor, they made the ad that can be seen above. The lemon on the top of the bottle taking a leak in the Pepsi gives it a comic appeal, making it a successful and creative ad.
4. Porsche: Who wouldn’t like to step on the pedal when you get a car like Porsche on a road like that. The implication of it is that speeds that the car can touch can turn something impenetrable into a lethal weapon. The half smoked cigarette gutted into the sign board is just one of the many ads that the car company released.
5. Playstation PSP: A wonderful concept and an amazing piece of advertisement shows how addictive this gadget can be. PSP claims that it can get you hooked on to it so much you wont be able to keep your hands off it. The cops interrogate while the criminal is given a PSP to play instead of wearing handcuffs.
6. Rubiks: The Rubiks cube has been there for 25 years now and they are BLOODY proud of it. In the digital age that we live where we are constantly surrounded by flashy games and gadgets, Rubiks cube still holds the top spot. The ad shows a small girl grown old trying to get the colors aligned as they should be.
7. Sprite Ice Blue: Sprite tries to show how dedicated it is to its flavors by creating this ad. It is icy blue and its quite visible. There is no zing factor to it and that’s why maybe its simplicity makes it a clear winner. The model undoubtedly has done a superb job.
8. UNICEF: The tagline goes “Don’t ignore me”. This is unfortunately the reality because this is how the children are being ignored. They are not ghosts, they are human beings and need to be given a better life. The message comes clear in simple and hard hitting manner. This is one of the best ads that the world famous NGO has come up with in recent times.
9. WMF Knives: You better be careful when you use this knife. The famous knives manufacturer has shown what its products are capable of. Carrots or wood, they will cut through almost anything.
10. Land Rover UK: Land rover is tough and they portray it well with this ad. This is one of a kind ad and portrays well the solid look of the car. Go beyond !
11. Heineken Jammin’ Festival: How could we not have an alcohol based beverage ad? Let’s face it, these guys have the toughest time in making such ads because of the competition. See it from a distance and it looks like a glass of beer- look closely and you know its locust of people cheering on in a concert. Very well thought and intriguing!

Thats it for the day guys. Hope you guys enjoyed these ads. Sometimes its nice to look at ads that are creative and does not just add to the already cluttered advertising world.

Email marketing is the cheapest and the easiest way to connect with your customers. The current statistics reveal that more then 1 billion people use internet across the world and almost 92% of them use emails. Nielsen reports further suggest that more then 70% users receive marketing emails and around 82% of the users who receives marketing emails at least make one online purchase. More striking is the fact that almost 33% of the users make the purchase as soon as they receive a promotional email. So to cash upon this figure and making your revenue grow you need to send compelling emails which should be informative, eye catching and doesn’t get deleted as junk or spam!

So here are few tips which can be used to come up with professional marketing emails with a personal touch:-

Maintain Mailing List

The first important step which is needed is to create and maintain a mailing list of all the potential customers. With the increase in spamming and virus threats more and more people block the marketing emails and send them directly to trash or junk. Therefore it is always advisable to have an authentic mailing list containing details of the potential buyers. This can be done by finding “sneezers” or potential customers who are most likely to buy your product and services in addition to your regular customer and clients and add them in your address book.

Gather Useful Data

An important fact to be considered while sending emails is the in depth understanding of the customers’ requirement. This can be collected through polls and surveys posted on your webpage or sending a questionnaire to the clients through the emails. The key is to connect with your audiences. Ask people questions, requirements and understand their needs while visiting chat rooms and once you have sufficient data use them for your advantage while drafting the marketing emails.

Decide the Email Heading & Content

Creating an attractive heading with words like “great offers”, “free” may capture the attention of the user but because of ever increasing spam most of the readers may be tempted to simply delete the email. Therefore you need to come up with a catchy title which should hold users attention and compel them to read through your email. After crossing the first barrier of opening the emails you now have to decide on the emails content. Short , simple and sweet is the sure shot way to sell your product.

Your content should be drafted in a manner that gives clear indication of what action you want the user to perform: whether he should visit your site , sign up for the newsletter or call you should all be clearly communicated in your mail. Try forming the content of the email based on the survey response of information which has been collected from the customer

Win Customers Trust By Providing Free Information

To win a client it is most important to gain his trust and what better way then proving to be his well wisher by providing them with useful free details. For example if you want a client to sign up for a weight loss program try to win their confidence by sharing your experience something which they can relate to, offer them a free e-book regarding do’s and don’t to be followed while on a weight loss program and then communicate how you can help in coming up with a personalized diet chart and exercise program based on their life style. You can also offer them 25% discount coupon if they are planning to join your program. Be available to answer their questions if any and ask the customers for their contacts and provide them with your number so that they can speak with you directly.

You can enter into a fruitful relationship with a customer once you prove your credibility and show that you will be there to help.

Regular Updates and Customer Only events

Another important step towards personalizing your professional emails would be sending the customer regular updates about any specials which has come to your store or by creating a customer only section in your websites with number of promotional offers and fun stuffs to be won only by your regular customers. The key to good business is to make the customer feel like a king and this is easily achievable by offering them special discounts, providing them hot leads and by offering them reward points or loyalty coupons which can be redeemed in your store tempting the customer in making a purchase.

Deliver a Product Electronically

So you have just come out with a bestseller, you can offer the customers an e-book at a cheaper rate to be purchase from your website and prompt them in taking a quick action by adding that the offer is for first two hundred customers or is only available for a week. Also offer them a referral bonus if they are able to convert their family or friends into your clients. Your main focus should be to attract the customers by informing them about the benefits they can enjoy when they connect with you and this can only be achieved when a personal touch like addressing the customer by name is being added to the email message that is being delivered to them.

The technological advancements has surely made this world a smaller place to live in. Just by connecting to the internet you can get connected to the entire world and with more then 90% of the Americans now hooked to this wonderful web world, this has become the hottest place to market your products. By personalizing your email campaigns you can double your business by enjoying the goodwill of your customers!

In this era of economic slow down, effective marketing technique determines the success of your business. With the recent internet boom there is a constant doubt about how useful would it be to promote your business using traditional methods of advertising using print media like newspapers , flyers , brochures , direct mails and other promotions. The recent survey from Okidata reveals that 91% of the small businesses still depend on the print media for all their promotional and marketing needs.

In this world of cut throat competition you have to make your mark by grabbing the attention of the public by making them aware of what sets you apart from the crowd. To make audiences aware of your unique selling proposition, you need to market aggressively using low cost printed material. About 72% of small business owners make use of their own computers and printers for creating printed material for advertising which include sending business proposals & promotional letters, flyers, brochures, marketing booklet, direct mails, advertisements in news papers and also presentations. Another important printed media used for business networking is exchanging of business cards. So let’s see how we can effectively use printed materials for promoting our products and services even during bear market:-

1. Get a Custom Logo & Business Cards : The first step to promote your business is coming up with a logo that instantly catches person’s eye and becomes synonym with your business. Be it Ronnie of McDonalds or “just do it!” The tag line of Nike has helped them in promoting their business. Search for a local artist or a design firm online; explain them about your business and what you had been looking for. To get a better deal you can ask the same graphic firm to come up with the design for your letter heads and business cards which will help you in getting a great discount along with the relevant stationary to promote your business.

   Business Card are a reflection of who you are, what you sell and when and where you can be contacted. Research reveals that more then 33% of the business alliances are established by the exchange of business cards. All the more reasons for getting your business cards printed quickly!

 

2. Direct Mails : Ever thought how useful a cheap expensive postcard can be in marketing your business? A witty saying, colorful graphics and an overview of your business with your phone number and business address should form the basic content of your postcard marketing strategy. Everyone loves receiving mails and the mail becomes more special if it has something great to offer. To promote business you can even provide small gifts to all those customers who visit your store with your promotional postcards which will surely make the customers look around and purchase other merchandise. Use bright colors and avoid using very small fonts to create good marketing postcards which will surely help in moving up your sales.

 

3. Get Published in Trade Journals & Organize Road Shows : So you want your company’s name to be in limelight and in people’s mind, contribute white papers and successful case studies to the leading trade journals subscribed by customers and other organizations. This is the best way to send the signal of your success across the masses.

   Also come out with your newsletters and send them to your potential clients informing them about the new updates and new events that had been organized by your firm.You can further promote your business by sending your top officials as key speakers to some of the top conferences and trade fairs. Therefore by using some simple technique you can still end up increasing your revenue by using some efficient yet inexpensive promotional methods. You can even organize road shows and design attractive presentations to inform the clients about your business and success stories. Also try to rope in few of their past satisfied clients which will assist you further in getting more clients.

 

4. Brochures & Flyers : An excellent way to promote your business to the largest target audience, who are not even computer savvy, is by making use of flyers and brochures. Apply “Keep It Simple” rule while designing your brochures. A clean layout with product listing including some images and key features of each product and service which you have to offer should be placed in your brochure.Understand who would be your target audience and come up with the brochures material keeping customer in mind.

   You have a very short time span from about 30 seconds to a maximum of three minutes to capture customer]s attention, so power pack your brochure with only relevant information. With the onset of digital printing it is all the more reason to get your flyers and brochures printed at a lesser cost per unit even if you want to get only a small quantity of brochures to be printed at first. So try marketing your services using inexpensive brochures in this time of economic slow down.

 

5. Marketing Booklet : So you had sent letters, followed up with brochures and attracted a customer finally to your store, the next marketing strategy would be to prepare a 6-8 page marketing booklet for increasing business to business and also business to consumer marketing. This booklet should include details of your product along with the relevant images and graphics, FAQ’s, case study and yes the last page of the booklet should contain testimonials from the successful customers which help in establishing your credibility. Vibrant, colorful and with useful information a marketing booklet helps in reaching out and winning more customers.

Print media is an effective way to promote your business when the world is experiencing the down swing in economy. Keep the AIDCA (Attract, Interest, Desire, Conviction & Action) philosophy in mind while designing your brochures, marketing booklets, newsletters and advertisements which will help you in generating sales even when the going gets tough.

Successful marketing consultant and founder of Bonita Springs Newt Barrett is right in his observations when he stated that “Compelling content generates highly qualified leads”. A likeable content, generating response from the customer marks the beginning of success for your business. The challenge in front of us today is how to create an effective content that is successfully able to attract the attention of the reader. In this era of economic slow down you can sharpen your marketing strategy and downplay recession by promoting business by developing and hoisting likeable contents.

Following critical commandments can help you in coming up with a winning plan:-

Commandment #1 : Catchy Title Followed By a Great Story

Remember old days when we used to be enthralled by the fairytales and other stories told to us by our parents and doting grandparents? Also weren’t the stories with amazing titles selected first like Sinbad the Sailor, Goldie Locks and Three Bears? Well apply the same theory while creating content. Create an effective heading which conveys what content is about to follow without being too verbose. Creating a catchy title with appropriate keywords will also increase the search engine listing of your web page drawing more visitors. Studies have revealed that a catchy phrase used as a headline is bound to attract readers in reading the entire write up.

Following the title gives the viewer a brief glimpse about yourself and your company. Tell them about your success stories and excellent testimonials received from the satisfied clients. Your content should also convey what products and services you have them to offer and what is your unique selling proposition which makes you stand apart from the crowd. Remember it is essential to convey the benefits which your product and service can offer to a client. And yes, do allow the visitors to share their story with you for an effective two way communication which will also help in enhancing your own content.

Commandment #2 : Good Looks More Hooked

A well presented dish always tempts you in trying it so is the case with the content. Presenting your data in a clear format which is easily readable makes it attractive to the reader. Short, simple and crisp sentences are successful in holding the attention of the user. Also aren’t you attracted trying a fitness product marketed by Cindy Crawford looking svelte in a sexy swimsuit? Or you always want to pick up the protein shake which is being sold with the snap of Mr. America displaying his 6 packs? Well in a nutshell, always compliment your content with appropriate images as a “picture speaks a thousand words”. So be it while writing a travelogue to visit places in Spain, attach the photographs of the various attractions which will attract the visitor to read about them and find out the timings to visit those attractive destinations.

Also while promoting a product you can even emphasize on the products benefits by including the growing demand bar graph of the product inside your content which will compel buyers in at least starting with the dialogue.

Commandment #3 : Be Passionate & Produce Relevant Content

John Rohn the famous motivational speaker once said “Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.” Your passion is reflected in your content. A critical element needed for creating likeable content is to have a thorough understanding about the subject and also the product that you are trying to endorse. Always conduct a thorough research and understand customers expectation which will help you in coming up with the relevant content. Readers have a short attention span and if you are not offering them relevant data they will move on. To hold on to your visitors you can even provide the readers with the relevant links which that supports your facts and figures. W

While writing your content make it as useful as possible for the user, include practical tips , provide useful details and introduce relevant terms and links. Relevant data and likeable data are bum chum buddies and go hand in hand.

Commandment #4 : Consistency in Creativity & Fabulously Fresh

Consistent writing style and layout will help in forming a better association with your readers. While promoting your data online ensures that the same layout is being used in all the site pages which will prevent the user from being confused. Using a clear, concise writing style will leave no scope for ambiguities. Be adventurous while creating content, use fresh ideas; keep updating the data so that you are able to maintain users interest in your content. Sites like Ikea have come up with the concept of visual characters which guide the customers towards the relevant product by providing all the useful information. It will be the freshness of your content and unique ideas which will generate interest in the readers making your content extremely likable.

Commandment #5 : Readable, Easy to Scan & Personalized

What will be your reaction if during the course of reading you stumble upon a big paragraph with no sections or sub headings? Well the answer is simple: skip it! Same holds true for your readers. Therefore create your content in a format which is easy to read and scan as readers usually won’t have much time to scan your post. Create content using heading and sub headings, while creating a data on “How to create effective content?” give information point wise or step wise which will be easier for the user to follow. Try using italics, graphics or images to increase the readability of your content. Also try to personalize the contents, taking the example of Amazon when a user reads a particular content it also highlights the related content which might be useful for the reader. Providing a client with customized content will surely make him feel like a king!

Remember success means doing ordinary things extraordinarily well!

The latest report by web guru Jacob Neilson reveals that people have become more impatient and need quicker results while searching for a keyword on web. Another interesting fact is that now 75% people prefer to directly reach the page of their interest rather then navigating through the links from the home page. So if you feel attracted toward the websites of the entertainment firms with flashy designs and want to create a promotional website using same design, think again as the main traffic pullers are simple websites which are easier to load and navigate. To understand why Keep It Simple Stupid philosophy should be applied while creating a website.

1. Faster Loading of Web Pages

   Imagine a user having 56k or a modem which is still slower trying to access your page which is of 12kb size. As compared to a high speed broadband connection which may take only a fraction of second to load your page , user with a slower modem will require at least 4-5 second to view your first page. The loading time will increase with the addition of flash images and other graphics. You may make your site attractive by heavy use of flash but will it be user friendly is the question you need to ask. Therefore applying the principal of KISS design a simple website with a lighter load it will greatly reduce the transmission time which in turn will favorably affect the transmission speed making your site attractive to the users.

2. Simple Attractive Content = More Buyers

   The main reason which attracts a visitor to your website is the search for information. The website content should be simple and easy to understand. Another important factor which can add to your websites success would be the way the data is presented: Are there too many tables, is the font size too big or too small, what is the color of the background and your font color, all these factors makes the text easy or difficult to read. What is needed to make a website success is not the clutter of unnecessary graphics and animations but the right content that can promote effective communication. Word of advice: create a simple website with clear layout, right font and simple sentences and you have a winner.

3. Reduces Number of Clicks

   Keeping the website simple also results in ease of navigation which is one of the important factors a user looks for while browsing the content. What can be more frustrating then searching the webpage for the correct link? Therefore it is always advisable to place the links at the top or on the left hand frame of the webpage for easy visibility. Also the success of the website is also defined by the fact if the user is able to find its content within three clicks or three drill downs. It becomes all the more crucial for you to have a simple website if you are selling a product online. Nothing pleases customer more then finding the information they are searching for effortlessly. So have a clean simple layout with links placed at the same location on the home as well as inner pages to make your site user friendly and easy to navigate.

4. Ease of Use & Creation

   One of the most important rules of marketing is “Grandma’s” Rule. If an elderly person with not much acquaintance of the latest technology is able to make a successful purchase through your website then your efforts are entirely successful. Therefore see that your website is not crowded with useless data and filled with ads which will confuse the visitor with the promotional offers and distract him from making the actual purchase. A website should be easy to access, easy to register with and should support all the major credit cards for making payments. Simplifying the look of your website will not make it more appealing but the enjoyable shopping experience will make you earn a regular customer. Also you can take advantage of one of the many simple website software available in the market to create your own simple HTML website thus saving on both the cost and the time in launching your website.

5. Search Engine Optimization Management

   Do you know that search engines are able to process simple HTML sites and their contents faster then the contents of the complex sites? It will also be interesting to learn that the sites containing a large amount of graphics and frames gets eliminated while search is being performed using keywords in search engines like Google. This will result in lower ranking of your web page as compared to simple HTML websites, in turn resulting in decrease in number of visitors. Therefore for proper SEO your best bet will be creation of a simple HTML website with proper keywords inserted in meta-tags at appropriate places which will increase in higher ranking of your website when a search is performed using a particular keyword.

6. Lesser Options More Visitors

   What makes Apple’s website one of the most popular online marketing destination in the world? Well the answer is minimalist design of the apple’s home page and inner pages. The inner pages of the Apple’s website only list one product per page with a simple header and informational links providing information about the same product. No unrelated products on side bars, no unnecessary clutter to confuse the buyer just plain description about the product helps in making user a faster choice. Hence always go for a simple design with only relevant information which will help in eliminating distraction thus helping to streamline the buyers’ thoughts towards making a purchase.

7. Browser compatible and Bandwidth efficient

   Another advantage of having a simple design is that a simple HTML website is usually browser compatible. Different browsers like IE , firefox , opera or safari distorts and displays the columns , tables , formatting tags and embedded images differently. Therefore while designing a complex website lot of emphasis has to be laid to make the web page browser compatible. Also lots of formatting and images on the web page requires a lot of bandwidth proving to be very costly. Keep the website simple not only proves to be bandwidth efficient but can let multiple users enjoy your site simultaneously.

For some KISS may mean “Keep it Simple Stupid, for others it may mean “Keep it short & simple” but for us KISS refers to “Keep It Simple (for) Success. So apply KISS to website design and get a user friendly, bandwidth efficient, search engine optimized websites attracting more number of visitors resulting in more business.

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Looking for an efficient yet inexpensive marketing strategy to promote your new store? Or are you thinking of an effective way of reaching your neighboring households to promote yourself as a babysitter? Or do you want to inform your customers about the latest updates in the last release of your product? Look no further and get your flyers and catalogs printed. An effective way of both online and offline advertising there are numerous reasons which make flyers and catalogs one of the most popular advertising media. Some reasons which can help you in making a decision to use flyers and catalogs for promoting your product and services can be summarized as :-

• Easy to Create: – Bring out your creative juices and design your own flyers as no one can understand your business needs better then you. Alternatively contact one of the advertising firms which can help you in designing your flyers and catalog which can instantly grab customers’ attention. With the introduction of digital printing and advancement in web technology now it is possible to come up with delightful colorful catalogs with minimum efforts.

• Cost Effective:-If you are an owner of a start up and you are having limited budget , then an effective marketing strategy can be planned by spending some time doing effective research and coming up with flyers and catalog of the products and services being offered by you. The flyers and catalogs will help you in reaching the target audiences with much expenditure on marketing efforts. Printing and distributing flyers and catalogs turn out to be cheaper then placing ads in local newspapers.

• Generate Useful Leads: – Most of the printing agencies and marketing firms have a huge collection of flyers templates. Select a template and content which grabs instant attention of the customer and urges them to visit your business. Flyers and catalogs should lay emphasis on your strengths and list down the benefits which will help customer in making a choice. Also be sure to print your contact numbers and business address on these flyers and catalogs for the customers to contact.

• Easy to distribute: – Flyers and catalogs can be distributed in numerous ways. You can circulate flyers along with newspapers or leave them in a public place or place them on the windscreens of the vehicles in the parking lots. This ease of distribution helps in reaching more target audience.

• Comfort in carrying and sharing information :- Marking your loot on the flyers and catalogs before entering the shopping mall helps in not only reducing your shopping time but also proves to be pocket friendly as it saves you from making unnecessary purchases. If you want to inform your friend about the latest laptop which you have noticed in the electronic shop mailer, simply forward the online catalog to your friends inbox. You can also share printed flyer with your neighbors and friends.

• Share Product Updates: – Flyers and catalogs are also a great way to promote the latest offerings of your store. So if you are introducing the new Britney Spears fragrance in your store or you are the first to introduce the new Sony video game inform the customers by sending them flyers and updated catalogs which are bound to spur your sales.

• Have a Larger Reach:- Catalogs and flyers helps in advertising your products and services to people who have no access or no interest in computers or any other modern way of communication. Also flyers can be circulated in malls, in residential localities, parking lots and various other places thereby publicizing the project in larger audiences.

• Effecting Listing of Product Details: - Catalogs and flyers list down all the product details and specification along with the photographs which makes it easier for the customer in reaching a decision. Catalogs list down all the technical specifications of a product which helps you in making comparison with the similar products currently available in market and you can strike a good deal.

• Promote Business: - Neilson survey revealed that customers receiving online catalogs and flyers are 15% more likely to make a purchase. With more then 92% American households now having access to internet online catalog has become a great way to advertise your services.

• Easy to reproduce: – Last but not the least creating a template of flyers and catalogs can be later used for printing more copies. Also the template can be used to make modification in case of any updates and changes. As you don’t have to start the flyer design process from the scratch use of flyers and catalogs actually help in saving cost, time and efforts.

So enjoy the benefits of this effective media of advertising to promote all your business needs.