SECRETS OF EFFECTIVE MARKETING

When you have a product or service that you are offering to people, it is important to have a plan of how you are going to market it if you you want to have success. You may have a great product to offer but if you don't market it properly, people will not notice it and if they don't notice it they will not buy. If you want to get your products and services noticed, you need to: Know your target audience. If you want to get customers, you need to know who the users of your products are. This will give you an idea of how you will deliver your message to your audience. Do market research. You need to gather as much information as possible about your target audience and you need to know who your competition is in the industry. This will also help you with your advertising campaigns. Offer unique products and services. You must make sure that your products and services are different from your competition. Consumers are influenced by product differentiation and cost. Choose an appropriate medium to deliver the message about your products and services. Online marketing, tele-marketing and now social networks are some of the fastest and most effective ways to get your business noticed. Another simple method to use for marketing your products is: Product- how unique is it from your competition? Price- is it affordable or is the cost lower than your competition but for the same quality? Promotion- how are you going to promote your product? What methods will you use for promotion? Place- where are you going to promote it? The 4 Ps of marketing are very useful tools especially if you are about to introduce a new product or service or if you are trying to rebrand your products.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF-ESTEEM

Self-esteem is a very important aspect of our lives. Without it or with very little of it, we make decisions based on the harsh judgment we give ourselves or on the opinions of the people around us. In order to get to the root of low self esteem, we need to look at what causes it. It could be your environment, your background or any major setbacks in life. The good news is that self-esteem can be improved with determination and persistence. Here are some ways to improve your self-esteem:

Look at your environment- Are you surrounded by people who are negative? People who look down on themselves are bound to treat you the same way they treat themselves. They are not positive people so they the would not recognize anything positive if it came their way. You need to set boundaries in your own environment. Take note of the things you are good at. When you start doing those things that you are good at, you will eventually get to a point where you have the courage to do new things. Along the way, you will learn a lot of things about yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, your high and low points. Focus on your strengths not your weaknesses. The weaknesses are part of being human. They are there to remind us to press forward. Without them, we cannot truly understand what triumph means. Don't accept less than the treatment you deserve. That is not to say don't be tolerant but have boundaries. The boundaries are there to shield you. They are there to protect you. Read self -help material. There are a lot of materials focusing on self- esteem. Get your self some materials and begin to learn from them. Your life will improve greatly. Lastly, think positively. Whenever you try to put yourself down, think about where you want to be in life. You want to be happy not miserable. Start doing things that will help you achieve that state. Continue to improve your life. May God help you on your journey. One book that continues to change lives that I would recommend is THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE by RICK WARREN.

8 WAYS TO MAKE EXTRA INCOME

Despite the harsh financial times, you can thrive if you are passionate about what you are doing and you are serious about making serious income. Write an e-book. Write an e-book about a topic that you are very knowledgeable about. You could sell it directly off your website or pay commission to other people who are willing to sell it for you. Sell something. It could be anything that you are not using at home then reinvest it in something else. For example, you could get something form an antique shop at a bargain and sell it for a substantial amount. Become a freelance writer. There are a lot of websites that offer to pay you for writing articles for them or you could write articles and offer them up for sale. Become a real estate agent and later move on to real estate broker or developer in future. Becoming a real estate agent requires minimal training in order to get your license. It takes about 2 months on average but it is worth the wait as the potential benefits are quite substantial. Do odd jobs like cleaning people's offices, homes or fixing something that you know how to fix. Start with in your own neighborhood. Word of mouth advertising spreads faster when it comes to small businesses and it greatly lowers you costs. Become a guide on any website of your choice. You will be paid a good amount doing so. Have a Saturday market at your house selling anything such as plants, flowers, veggies etc. Its very profitable as the start-up costs are low . Sell Avon. You get paid to sell Avon products. They have sales meetings, training sessions and personal support. You could start by selling within your own community then expand from there. You could become a virtual assistant by working from your home office. You can provide professional technical or social assistance within the confines of your home. Its a promising and growing profession.

TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE

If you are thinking of going on holiday this year, consider visting the Mighty Victoria falls in Zambia. The victoria falls is located between Zambia and Zimbabwe. On the Zambian side, it is at the edge of the city of Livingstone named after Dr. David Livingstone. Inside livingstone itself are national and privately owned parks. There are a lot of activities to keep you busy like helicopter rides, night cruise on the famous zambezi river, if you get a license from the government authorities, you can go hunting with guides of course. There is also bunjy jumping, white water rafting and boat rides. There are alot of hotels and lodges that offer 5 star and 3 star accommodation. There is the famous Zambezi Sun. This hotel is execellent. You should try it to see for yourself. The victoria falls is at its peak between March and June. If you are going to visit during this time of the year and you intend to see the victoria falls, be sure to carry a rain coat because 'the water that thunders' as it is called creates alot of vapour enough to look like showers. Also, be sure to carry good shoes which are not slippery if you intend to go as far as the Knife edge bridge and the island. Have a nice holiday. For more details see www.zambiatourism.com