Casual Articles - Business

Tune in to WIIFM
Many businesses bemoan the downturn in sales and ‘lack of customer loyalty’. (One of the terms for these types of consumers is: ‘brand tarts’). They try to pinpoint the source of the problem with expensive consultants or simply throw advertising dollars at the issue, only to end up bewildered (and jaded) when they don’t work. What’s the solution? Believe it or not, the first step may just be to switch radio stations.One of my first instructors in my marketing course mentioned that we should tune into the WIIFM radio station as our assignment for the week. With no small amount of confusion, we all looked at each other and wondered if our instructor badly needed a holiday.When our instructor wrote down this acronym, the lights began to go on:WIIFM = ‘What’s in it for me?’Every time you draft a direct sales letter, or write that award-winning copy for a glitzy brochure, you need to keep that little statement in mind.Sure, you want to sell 100,000 of your nice, shiny products, but what does your consumer want?Customers who buy boats don’t just want to get from point A to point B.Home builders don’t sell a hou

have you quotes separate from your bio, there is a possibility that I could misplace one or the other. With the advent of digital photography and high quality color printers, it is even possible to include a small picture on your one pager to make it even more complete.

Make sure the overall language and tone of the press kit is consistent with your image. If you have someone help you write your bio, make sure they have heard you music and know what you are all about before they hand you something that might sound great, but isn’t about the real you.

How the Use of Steel Containers is Impacting on the Freight Shipping Industry
The use of steel containers by the freight shipping industry is having a significant affect on transportation costs and practices.Steel containers are fast becoming the preferred option for shipments of cargo around the world. As they can be stacked easily they have helped to reduce freight shipping costs. Furthermore the products that they contain are more secure because they are sealed prior to being shipped and are only opened once they have arrived at their destination.These containers are being used to ship a variety of different goods across the globe. From food products to personal care items and machinery, the freight shipping industry is increasingly using steel containers to transport freight.The ability to move large volumes of freight easily and cheaply is vitally important for countries like South Africa that are experiencing huge growth in freight traffic. Indeed, in the case of South Africa, traffic has exceeded the 20 year growth forecasts 14 years early!The use of steel containers by freight shippers grew by a staggering 54% in South Africa between 1998 and 2005. It is estimated that the use of steel containe

As an owner of an independent record label, I often get asked how to put together a great press kit. I have found that young musicians understand their music, but are often intimidated by the marketing end of the business. In this article I will help you figure out how to position yourself, whether you are a Latin female vocalist building her base, or an upstart garage band just looking for a break.

What is a Press Kit:

First of all, there is nothing magical about the term “press kit”. All we are talking about is a little background on you/your band, some basic facts, good quotes about your music, a couple of good pictures, and a sample of your music. You will use this to send to newspapers, lawyers, radio stations, A&R reps, promoters, and anyone else who is willing to spend five minutes reviewing your material. Additionally, on the internet you will hear about an electronic press kit, or EPS. An EPS is the exact same thing as a conventional press kit, except it is downloadable as an electronic file instead of a hardcopy form which must be mailed.

The main purpose of the press kit is to generate interest in the artist and their music.

What to include:

Include a limited amount of background information on yourself. It is fine to say where you are from, but no one really wants to hear about every singing performance you did during elementary school. Sometimes less is more.

Talk about your music. Who do you sound like, and who does your music remind people of. The reader needs to be able to have a good idea of what your music sounds like just from your description. Be thoughtful and feel free to be a little funny here (but stay professional). Saying something like your band sounds like a cross between “Maroon 5 and Green Day after 20 cups of coffee” helps the reader understand. Remember, if you don’t generate enough interest in the first minute, they will never listen to your demo.

Talk about what you are good at. What makes your band special and different from others? What skills and experiences do you bring to the table? Remember if you are looking for a record deal, you need to prove to your reader that you have all the right ingredients for them to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars marketing you. Launching a new artist is risky, so you need to help the record exec understand why you are a solid investment.

Include quotes and/or press clippings as you generate them. A good quote from a reputable source (not your brother-in-law) can add a lot of credibility to your press kit. It lets the reader know that you have already been reviewed and your material is worth listening to. Ninety percent of press kits unfortunately end up in the trash, some good quotes and positive reviews can create the momentum necessary to get heard, and who knows – maybe even become famous.

You can go with one page dedicated to a bio (biography), and a separate page focused on quotes about your music, or you can combine the two into what some people call a “one pager”. My personal preference is to boil everything down to a tight one pager. My desk gets cluttered and papers get separated. If you have you quotes separate from your bio, there is a possibility that I could misplace one or the other. With the advent of digital photography and high quality color printers, it is even possible to include a small picture on your one pager to make it even more complete.

Job Resignation - Best Tips To Follow
In this article, we will look at some issues you may want to consider when you resign from a position, so that you do not burn any bridges, either inadvertently or in the heat of the moment. And we'll review some of the strategies to use in dealing with such issues relating to job resignation.Resigning a position is a sensitive activity, and can become complicated. Employers will often use emotional tactics to persuade you to stay, or make counteroffers, which are ultimately destructive to your career within the organization. In order to avoid complicated and emotionally charged departures, there are a few guidelines that you may follow.Before you actually resign your position, be sure another position is the right decision. If you are reacting to adverse conditions in your present employment environment, be certain that you have exhausted the possibilities of reversing those conditions before you abandon ship. It is within the realm of possibility that management may be unaware of your complaints, or at least of the severity of your discomfort. If you like your current position, and aside from some specific issues, it is a good place for

pend five minutes reviewing your material. Additionally, on the internet you will hear about an electronic press kit, or EPS. An EPS is the exact same thing as a conventional press kit, except it is downloadable as an electronic file instead of a hardcopy form which must be mailed.

The main purpose of the press kit is to generate interest in the artist and their music.

What to include:

Focus on Brand - Courtesy of EasyJet's Stelios
A few days ago, I mentioned that an easyJet flight to Venice had provided me with an insight to Stelios (Haji-Ioannou), the founder of the ground-breaking low-cost airline, which has revolutionised European air travel.He was listing his top five things he 'wished I had known when I started'.Previously I mentioned that he wished he'd been 'clear on his strengths and delegated the rest'. If you missed it you can find this on the 18th of November entry of my blog, through the link at the bottom of the article.Number two on his list states:-"Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Focus - on your job, on your brand."This seems a bit of a contradiction to me, but the essence of the best part of what he said, for me is the second bit:-"Focus on your Brand"As I see it, this can be construed two ways. It can be the brand of the business or organisation you work within, or it can be your personal brand - about who you are in the work you do.Working on any Brand means initially being really clear about what it is that you represent, where

usic sounds like just from your description. Be thoughtful and feel free to be a little funny here (but stay professional). Saying something like your band sounds like a cross between “Maroon 5 and Green Day after 20 cups of coffee” helps the reader understand. Remember, if you don’t generate enough interest in the first minute, they will never listen to your demo.

Giving Employee Performance A Boost
We have all experienced being singled out because of a mistake or a misdeed many times throughout lives. But rarely do we get noticed for doing something good. Even if we're all grown up and working, this trend is still widely experienced. In fact, this is a common resentment in the corporate world. Sure, every employee undergoes employee training, but it is inevitable that most still commit mistakes. Sadly, when evaluation time comes, all the good work done are almost always overshadowed by poor employee performance.Employee rights dictate that there should be provisions for coaching or training employees. However, this is an additional expense for the employer and another dent in the company's finances. This is not a problem for big multinationals, but for the average company, this is a big issue. The common stance on coaching is that it's only necessary for poor performing employees. However, Mary Massad, a human resources expert, begs to differ. According to Massad, coaching and training are essential for every member of the company or organization. It is observed that singling out an employee for mistakes leads to even poorer performance bec

id investment.

About Gradual And Radical Changes
We all have been involved in changes. A simple move from one house to a new one count as a real experience. What did you most (dis)like about the move; the radical change on the day that you delivered the key and entered the new place, or the long gradual adaptation period afterwards?Each change comprises a time frame, which depends on the scope of the change. The larger the scope of the change, the more difficult to manage the change in a gradual way.The first situation, that of a gradual change focuses on the process. You can manage this change as part of operational business. This is possible when there are central directives that apply for the whole organization and each department is free to manage these.The radical transformation on the other hand, depends on integrated expertise; for example a team of experts that is to blue-print a new ‘architecture.’Moving from one place (house, city or even country) to another (house, city or even country) serves as an example to describe the differences of both choices. There is no gradual change possible. You can plan the move, you can get acquainted in the new environment before

Include a couple of different 8x10 pictures that show off different features about you and your band. Include shots that would be appropriate in a news article, but also highlight your key assets from a visual perspective. Your press kit should look professional, but your pictures should reflect your style and music, so you pictures can be much more crazy and creative. Make sure you clearly label the picture with you name and contact information.

If you don’t have good pictures of your band, one of the best ways to get some is to go to a modeling agency and ask for a referral to a good local photographer. These photographers are often willing to do some great work for around $300 for the whole package. Make sure you get an agreement upfront that you own the copyrights after the shot and get the high resolution digital images on CD (with a copyright release you can print these photos at any major retailer). A photographer who does work with models is very different from a photographer who takes family pictures. They have a much better idea of what you want, they will encourage your creativity, and they are much more willing to give you the copyrights.

A current gig sheet can also be useful showing where you have recently played and where you are playing in the near future. This can demonstrate that the music is current and has a following in the community.

And of course, your music. Send a high quality CD demo, preferably mastered if you budget permits. Avoid burning your own CD on your home computer with a stick on label – it looks cheap. There are many new CD duplication services on the internet that will manufacture you CD with a printed color insert, and on disc printing even if you only want a few copies (CD replication is for batches over 1,000 but CD duplication is for batch sizes as small as 1). Expect to pay around $5 a retail ready disc for 1-5 CDs, with prices dropping off for larger batches. Make sure you clearly label the CD and the case with you name and contact information. The worst thing in the world that could happen is that they love your music, but they have already lost the rest of the press kit and don’t remember the name of the band.

What Not to Include:

Don’t oversell yourself. Saying that you are the greatest band that ever lived, might be true, but it probably isn’t. Be positive and promote yourself, but focus on statements that are credible. People in the music business hear hype all of the time, and for the most part are numb to it. Hype is good to use with the general public on things like posters (they often believe it), but your press kit reader is more sophisticated and will see it as cheap theatrics.

Including too much of your personal history can make you seem like an amateur with nothing meatier to talk about. Your reader wants to understand your music today, only your psychologist needs to know about every little detail of your childhood.

Don’t include anything that makes you look too desperate. You want to come across as a quality professional artist. Remember, you make great music. If your band is called the Chicken Heads, then it might be cute to include a rubber chicken in the box, but otherwise I would stick to the basics – bio, quotes, gig sheet, pictures, and music.

How to Package It:

Include a professional looking, personalized cover letter targeted at the person yo

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A well-written resume wins interviews. However, employers scan resumes into databases before reading them. Learn how to format your resume for a scanner before you hand it in to your prospective employer.

Are you one of those people that are running a charitable organization? If you are one of those people who are constantly fighting for a good a cause, you should make sure that you constantly update your knowledge when it comes to fundraising ideas for charities. The good thing about coming up with unique fundraising ideas for charities is that you will be able to attract more supports for your cause. As more people get attracted to your cause, support for your cause will increase and you will be nearer to your goal. Note that organizations that are too cash strapped will not really be able to deliver much services to its target beneficiaries.

Public relations for a winning sports team might sound easy but actually it is not that easy. The reason is because when you are winning everyone is trying to knock you down and as your players become more successful and popular, the media looks at them with more scrutiny and if something minor happens the media can blow it out of proportion.

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