With the Internet and all the online marketing talk going around, it seems that the fun has been taken out of writing short, punchy headlines. There was a time, once, when writing silly headlines was the “in” thing. Then there were those surreal headlines that left everyone scratching their heads and consulting their oracles. Then along came the Internet with its “This is not a headline that works unless it occupies a significant amount of white space and tells you the whole story” type of headlines.

Actually, long headlines do work, online. But I saw a long headline on a TV commercial recently. Very interesting. The ad was running on television, so it was a short, 30 sec commercial. Half of that was a headline, in text that asked: “Would you like to Quit Your Job and still live comfortably for one year?” I cannot remember the full thing, but that was the gist of it. I was caught by “Would you like to quit your job…” But I thought nothing of it till it flashed a second time: “Would you like to Quit Your Job and live comfortably for one year, and enjoy caviar everyday?”

I, of course answered, “Hell, yes!”

Reality’s a bitch. I don’t like caviar. But then, I realised that for the first time in quite a while, I actually noticed a TV commercial that was neither funny, fun, quirky, high octane or contained any of those fancy stuff.

So, as I thought about the significance of this insignificant moment in my life, I realised one thing - long headlines DO work.

This is really interesting. Just a few months ago, I was speaking with a friend about how lucrative it was selling phone cards. Then, here is this site offering a phone card business all ready to go! Believe it or not, this is surely the coincidence of a lifetime. Or maybe, it’s a message for me.

In the online world, I have seen such turnkey solutions for dating sites, gambling sites, shopping sites even. But this is the first that I have seen for phone cards. Going through their website, it seems like this is really a full-fledged online sales system that allows you to actually create a phone card business. One of the biggest challenges when setting up a phone card sales business is the inventory of phone cards. All the other stuff like the shopping cart system, payment and security are chicken feed compared to the hassle of getting a decent inventory of phone cards to start the business. That problem is solved with this turn-key solution.

Checking out the Frequently Asked Questions, the commissions range from 16 - 41% with the majority falling in the 20% range. Considering my own market research when me and my friend were considering starting this business on our own, those are decent margins. For those who are not aware, phone cards are one of the most popular means of calling overseas. If you think about the highly cosmopolitan US population and the fact that everyone loves to call home; you will realize just how lucrative this market really is.

Technorati Tags: phone cards, calling cards, online store

I heard something interesting today, and would like to “muse” about the modern leader.

It seems that current corporate leadership thinking is moving right along with the concept of heroes in terms of its treatment of leaders. Remember the definition of a “hero”? The strong, silent type; riding into town, killing the bad guys and riding off into the sunset?

Well, the new hero would ride in, network with the people, and empower them to take positive action to eliminate or maybe mitigate the threat (not bad guys, threat) and then ride off into the sunset with a forwarding address in case they wanted to communicate.

It seems that the modern leader is no longer the commanding presence, but a collaborative one. Traits like

Collaboration
Influence
Flexibility
Inspiration

Now take precedence as opposed to the older, more hierarchical leadership roles. In my child’s mind, the leader shouts “Follow me!” and they follow. How does the modern leader to it?

Will the modern leader shout? “Follow me!” seems like its all about you. Shame on you. So, the modern leader, in a collaborative, flexible, inspirational kind of way, tells everyone to get in line, hold hands and “… let’s move forward together.”

Yeah, right.

Some time ago, I reviewed a shopping cart solution that was pretty comprehensive and professional. I liked the fact that it had a free trial where you could actually use the shopping cart for 10 days, which should be enough time for you to figure out if this is a solution for you.

But more importantly, when I re-visited the site, I noticed that they have revamped the look and feel of the site. But the one thing that made me smile was the addition of a Live Sales & Support button! This is fantastic! I do not know if you have ever experienced buying stuff or services online, but one of the biggest headache is always access to support.

In the “real world” that we live in, support is a phone call away; or we take the train and bang on some tables. But online, it is sometimes tough to get a hold of anyone when you need help. Features aside, this one single button says to me that this is a really serious company that is committed to helping its customers.

That, is good enough for me.

Technorati Tags: shopping cart, ecommerce software, shopping cart software, online store

This is way off topic for me. But I just had to point everyone to read Angela’s post on “Offering Birth Control Pills to our CHILDREN?“.

This is really too much. Have our education system become so ineffective that we have to throw in the towel and admit that we don’t know how to teach good morals anymore? Or, since when has good morals become inconsequential? Teachers have better things to do now than to teach our children to be good?

On the other hand, parents cannot, SIMPLY CANNOT, abscond their duties to teach and raise their children properly to the school. School is where you get learnings. Home is where you learn to live. Teachers have enough challenges trying to cover the academic syllabus, where comes the time to cover the other parts of nurture which were originally done by parents?

If you consider yourself an intelligent, logical human being; then you should also realise that your children are also intelligent, logical human beings. If taught the correct values, given the opportunity to learn and grow in a healthy, positive environment; there is no reason for them not to learn the right things.

Think on this, please.

Technorati Tags: birth control, children, teachers, school

Here is a really simple, yet often overlooked tip for business owners - collect as many business cards as you can!

OK, for those who are asking “why?” I would then say, because…

- you need to know more people who might become your potential customers
- you need to know more people who might know your potential customers
- you need to know more people who might be able to help you in your business
- you need to know more people who might be able to invite you to more parties

But as any avid business card collector will tell you, the challenge is not in collecting cards. People are more than happy to pass you their cards. It has become an auto-reflex. The real problem is, what do you DO with all those cards? It is going to be hell trying to type in all the contacts.

To the rescue, comes the business card reader. As an employee, you might wave it off as a frivolous toy, but as an entrepreneur, this is your lean, mean, lead-generating machine!

Of course, this is not the only model available out there. But this model, Scan2Contacts from ScanShell integrates with your Microsoft Outlook and scans those addresses and other information directly into your Outlook. Talk about saving time!

If you speak with any internet marketing professional, you will always hear “… the money is in the list” kind of talk. Well, in this case, it is easy to create that list. Just feed those cards into the reader. If that is too technical for you, then you must be that 5-year old lemonade king that everyone is talking about down the block!

Technorati Tags: business card scanner, entrepreneur, small business, start up

Actually, if you pare it right down, what is marketing other than building trust?

In the end, what we are trying to do is to make people believe what we say about our products, its capabilities and that it is the best possible price. So people buy. Yvonne wrote a nice little piece on Building Brand Trust, which I think really hits it on the head. Marketing is not just about the folks in the marketing department. Or the sales people going out to visit customers. It is about everyone providing the best possible customer experience. So customers will keep coming back.

Technorati Tags: marketing, customer service, sales, brand, branding, brand trust

Besides parking your car, what else do you put in your garage? What is it good for? For some, its just another space to clean. For others, it was the start of a multi-million dollar corporation!

This could be you! If you can just upgrade your garage into an office and have a proper garage storage system in place, that little space could be transformed into the first step towards your success.

Many entrepreneurs who just start out spend way too much trying to get a spanky new office. That can come later. While you are starting, the garage could be your ideal choice. It sits outside of your regular living space, thus giving you the feeling of “going to work” and it is near enough not to require excessive time wasted in office commute.

See you at the top Steve!

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Technorati Tags: garage storage, entrepreneur, small business, start up

Here is an interesting one. I picked this up over at Char’s blog where she was asking Fun Friday Quiz - What Kind of Blogger Are You?.

So, being the naturally born curious person, and of course, in the interest of research, I took the Quiz.

So, I have no idea what it means to be a Purist, Expert, Socilite. But I am guessing that it is telling me that I sure know how to blog well and I get along with other bloggers, but I think it is hinting that I have no clue how to make my blog cough up cash! That’s the “purist” part, I believe.

So what? Give it some thought. If you are going online, why? What is your purpose online and what exactly was it that you wanted to achieve?

When you open your doors for business, it is inconceivable that you have no idea what you are selling, why you are selling it and who will be buying, right? So, don’t do the same for your online presence. It has an impact on your business. If you have no idea why you are blogging, but you love it anyway, that is fine. That is your purpose - to blog. But if you had a business objective or have been driven online by commercial considerations, then it behooves you to be clear. What kind of blogger are you?

Technorati Tags: blogs, blogging, writing, online business, marketing

Sometimes, as an entrepreneur, we fight bravely against all odds. From chasing clients who prefer to work with “bigger” companies to keeping our operations running smoothly. With such a heavy load, sometimes, we get overwhelmed by one of the most basic of needs - cash.

That is where the Internet comes in. It is rather easier to get a cash advance on the Internet than through any other means. Also, as a small business owner, there are times where we might not want the whole world to know that we are taking small loans. We are already struggling with the whole image thing, and such short term, almost anonymous loans can be a great help. This company specializes in payday loans, but the small businesses can certainly make use of any resource that can help.

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Technorati Tags: quick cash, loans, internet loans, cash advance, payday loans

I tell you, when I read these words “…found the service pack to be faster overall…” I could hardly believe it. But then, I realised the sad truth in this assessment. You see, I have so far had the good fortune, or misfortune, of encountering TWO computers with Windows Vista. Now, if anyone told me Windows was slow or that XP was bad, all I really have to do was give them my PC running Windows Vista. Suddenly, that old Windows will appear as spritely as those Symbian-based devices!

So, Windows Vista SP! is gonna be faster than the shipping Windows Vista eh? Well, what wouldn’t?

read more | digg story

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Windows XP

One of the biggest advantage that large companies have over smaller companies, is the fact that they have better staff. While it is true that top graduates naturally gravitate towards the Fortune 500 companies, the reality is that these companies invest in training their staff.

For smaller businesses, computer based training could be the ideal answer. Web based training mean that employees can take the training any time that they are free to do so, even at home. In this way, the staff gets to learn more and expand their skills and knowledge, and the employer gets better skilled staff. Now, if anyone says “… home is MY time!” then the only thing I have to say is that training, your knowledge, your skills are yours. The company can take away your paycheck, but never your skills and knowledge. And if a company cares enough about you to provide you with training facilities, be grateful. You are correct. It is your time. But then, it is your future too.

Companies who invest in the training and upgrading of their staff will invariably fare better in the long run. There is no fluke. It is a commitment and an understanding that building up the individuals will build up the company. If you are running a company and wished you had better staff, well, build them up.

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Technorati Tags: training, small business, skills training, computer based training