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Are Canadians Shunning Digital World?

bikram — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:09:00 +0000

If a recent research report released by comScore is to be believed, this appears to be the case. Or does it indicate something else? A mere shift in the preference, not a complete change of plan?

The research found that, the year on year (YoY) growth of e-mail consumption(unique visitors) in Canada is negative between December 2009 and December 2010. In December 2009, 12 million Canadians used one or another form of e-mail sites, whereas, only 10 million did so in the same month in 2010, which is a 28% decline (see image below to see the e-mail site usage trajectory).

The research has suggested that not only unique e-mail viewership has gone down, but the e-mail engagement has significantly fallen down. The total visits to email websites from Canada has fallen in the fourth quarter of 2010(500 million) from its position in the same quarter in 2009 (650 million). The total visit fell by 18%

The time spent on e-mail sites has also seen a decline. From 5.9 million in the studied period in 2009, it has fallen to 5.2 million in the same period in 2010, which is 11% decline in e-mail minutes. (See the image below for details).

It is hard to draw any conclusion from the above data, unless overall activity of Canadian net users is studied. It might be possible that people have reduced the use of e-mail sites and substituted it with social sites (read Facebook). I must add here that Facebook has also unveiled its own email program ([email protected]). Could it be responsible for the shift?

Not very unlikely! What is your view on this?

3 Job Interview Tips for Busy Professionals

bikram — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 18:16:00 +0000

Most of the articles I read on the topic of job interviews are targeted towards either an absolute fresher, or to someone who is going through a career crisis. And every time I see any such article, I found myself asking what about the regular folks who want to switch job for better salary and better opportunity? And in one of those moments, I decided to write this article that will help regular employed people to effectively search for a decent job that pays more salary than what they are drawing now.

Do not schedule any important meeting on the interview day

This is to be done to stop you from messing up either of the two, and to keep your mind uncluttered on the very day. An important meeting scheduled on the day of interview will engross a significant part of your thinking brain, which will distract you during the interview as well. You should, therefore, avoid scheduling anything important on the interview day.

Do not use office mail for communication

I know you follow this, but still I felt like telling you that never ever use the e-mail ID given by your company to schedule or fix a meeting. This could spell bad luck for your existing job, which I presume you do not want to lose, unless you get something solid on hand.

Negotiate as much as you can

The best part of searching for a new job when you already have one is the fact that you can bargain with the prospective employer from a position of strength. Unlike a fresher who needs a job then and there, you do not have that urgency as you already have a job. You should, therefore, try to get the job on your terms. This is very much possible.

Being already employed, you already know the tricks of an interview meeting, so I left them out of this article, and instead mentioned those that are relevant for you alone, and not for a fresher. You must put these tips in use.

Why Should You Write One Article in One Sitting

bikram — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:52:00 +0000

As we discussed in an earlier post, organizing or sponsoring a contest is a very effective way to pull visitors to your blog. We also discussed that contests could be divided into two broad categories — based on the nature of human involvement — Content-based contest and click-based contest.

We will take that discussion forward in this article, and we will talk here about 3 content-based contests that could help you skyrocket your blog’s readership.

2 content-heavy contests

Comment here contest

This is one of the best contests to host. The idea is quite simple. Ask your visitors to post a comment in the comment box to get a chance to win the prize. Also remind them that each comment will get one entry into a lucky draw, so they can enter more than one comment to get more than one entry. At this point, do not forget to tell them just one-line generic comments will either get filtered out by your spam filter, or will be weeded out by your staff. Remind them that the comment that will add to the discussion will only get accepted. Comment done just to get multiple entry and which does not take the discussion forward, even a bit, will automatically get disqualified.

Review me contest

This is another form of contest that you can run. Ask your readers to write a review for your website on their domain, in Facebook, or wherever they want, as long as it is written on the websites talking about topics like pornographic, abusive, racism, etc. make an e-mail ID, and ask them to send the URL to that mail ID. Promise the announcement of the result on your blog, and tell them that 3 best reviews will get the prize. To win the prize, it is important for them to include two links to your website in the review — one to the home page, and another to any other page. For deep lining, you can provide some options from your blog posts.

Guest post writing contest

The third form of content-heavy contest is guess post writing contest. Ask you readers to write guest posts for you. Announce that the best written guest post will get the prize, and the second and the third ranked guest post will also get prize. To motivate them to write a guest post, tell your visitors that each guest post will be published, and writer will get the byline for the guest post along with 2 links back to their website, Facebook page, twitter, etc.

Content-based contests are time consuming, so the prize should be good, otherwise people will not get motivated to spend time on your blog.

3 Unexpected Place to Source Your Writing Ideas From

bikram — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 18:08:00 +0000

This is great. This is huge. This is stupendous. This is amazing. This is gigantic. This is megalithic. This is enormous.

What I am going to teach you here is not going to even be described by these phrases. This is so exciting. I am going to tell you about three unconventional places to look for writing ideas. You will not find many people talking about these places. These are hidden idea sources.

Letters to the editor column

This is unexpected, isn’t it? You do not happen to read “letter to the editor” column in a magazine or the newspaper; at least, not with a purpose to find topics to write about. Despite the fact that each single word in this column is written by real people who actively seek answer to their questions.

Of how many people do you know, who reads an article in newspaper or magazine, and then pick up pen and paper, or go to their e-mail accounts to write a letter to the magazine, just to voice their opinion of the article?

There are not many people who do so, and those who do may very well go online to find the answer. From the letters, see which problem you can address, and right an informative article on that.

Eavesdropping in public

I know overhearing anyone’s personal conversation is not right, but what about those that people conduct in subways, metros, buses, parks, and restaurants, and that not to in low voice? That is not crime, as they already want people to take notice of what they are talking about.

Cash in on this opportunity. Pay close attention to what people are talking in a public place. You will get an idea about the problems people faces in their lives, and you will also get some ideas to develop in an article that will address real problem of real people.

Old magazine

Refurbishing old articles to meet the need of today’s generation is an awesome way to get more readers. Go through the pile of 10 or 20 years old magazine and see if you can find something that is still relevant today. Take that topic, do the research, and let your creative self flow. You will get a good article at the end of the process.

Be honest. Have you read about any of these sources anywhere else? Seriously, I want to know that because I happen to believe that it is only me who takes notice of these sources for article ideas. Please do me a favor, lift your finger from mouse, and hit keys on the keyword and post a comment below.

3 Cs of Online Marketing

bikram — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 17:14:00 +0000

The core of marketing is same, regardless of the medium it usage, but the principle and tools changes with the medium. And with every new medium, rules and face of marketing also change, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. This happened when newspaper came into being, it happened when the Radio was invented, same phenomenon repeated when television came along, and so did when the Internet hit the scene.

The rules and tools of Internet Marketing have not been same even on the Internet. It has changed a lot over the year. But three things remained at the core of it, and will always remain so. These are the things we will discuss in the following paragraphs.

Content

Content is the driving force behind media. Media is nothing if not content serving engine — I know it is marketing vehicle as well, but that is the hidden part of it, which we all feel convenient in ignoring. So to make our media vehicle (read websites, blogs, or forums, etc.) successful, we need to have high-quality content that keeps the visitors reading and asking for more. This eventually will make them join our mailing list.

And do I need to tell you what a stupendously big e-mail list can do to your online business!

Conversion

What is the goal of website content? What is the reason behind its being? Have you asked these questions? If not then now is the time to ask so because I am going to tell you the answer to this question.

The ultimate, mega, final goal of content is to persuade, nudge, or coax our customers to buy from us, or to subscribe to our mailing list. In other words, the ultimate goal of content is to push people to take desirable action. So again, it went out to content.

Who said content is not important…huh!

Community

This is the final C. This is what we want to build around our product. This is what Harley Davidson got, and other bike brands do not.

A community is so powerful that it can save a company from inevitable bankruptcy. It saved Harley Davidson in early part of 20th century, and it even forced Coca Cola from changing its formula in 1980’s.

Building such a loyal fan base is not going to happen in a day, and for more than 99% of businesses it never happens. But this should be the ultimate goal of a business, for this is very rewarding. You should build, foster, and nurture a community around your product.

Is there anything that can pull all your customers together? Find out what it is and start working upward, until you have a community that grows itself.

Who said organic community…?

The 3Cs we discussed above can easily make or break your business. You should, therefore, take measured steps and not let any of the three go out of control.

Do They Even Care About Your Email Newsletter?

bikram — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 03:17:00 +0000

There has been a big debate around the topic related to email newsletter response rate. The proponent of email newsletter claims that they are opened, read, and acted upon. Whereas, the other side says no one opens, read, or act upon after reading an email newsletter.

Thankfully MarketingSherpa, a leading online marketing agency has come up with a survey report that more or less provides an authoritative answer to this question, both for B2C (business to consumer) and B2B (business to business) environment.

The survey titled MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Benchmark Survey revealed that 25% recipients in B2C segment open e-mail newsletter, 14% of the total recipients click on the link given inside it, and 4% of them act upon them.

The scene does not look much different in B2B setting as well. Newsletter open-rate in B2B setting is 23%, which is mere 2% less than that of B2C segment; newsletter clickthrough –rate is 11%, which is 3% less than that of B2C segment; and 3% of the total recipients in B2b market works upon it, which is mere 1% less than B2C segment. (See image).

If we compare the conversion rate of email newsletter with that of direct mailers, which is at best 1-2%, then we will see how effective the medium is.

How Calling a Client is Important for Your Freelance Writing Success

bikram — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:58:00 +0000

Even I do not like talking on phone with my clients. But that does not mean I do not call my clients. I do, and I do it with a purpose. I call my clients to know about him and his business. This helps me a great deal in working with him.

I will not tell you that you will get gazillions of benefits should you occasionally talk to your clients, but I can surely tell you about some benefits — that you will care about — of talking to a client on phone.

Benefits of doing business on phone

The fastest mode of communication: You may think chatting, texting, and e-mailing are the fastest modes of communication, but they are not. They are not real-time, in a sense that telephonic conversation is. You can ask questions and seek answers to them in real time. The movement of communication thread in telephonic conversation is very swift.
No ambiguity: It also reduces ambiguity. Unlike text, which could be interpreted in many ways depending upon the reader, spoken words tend to be clearer, as it gives away the intention of the speaker.
Get response without delay: In a typical e-mail or chat communication, you send a message, your client reads it, he takes his time, type a response, and send it, and then you get to read it. And if you need further clarification, you start the process all over again. This is time consuming. Contrastingly, question and answer is live on the phone. There is no time-lag between question asked and answer given.
You get to know your client: Knowing the nature of your client is very, very important. On e-mail, you get limited knowledge of your client. Of what kind of person he is, what he likes, what he hates, what he is fanatic about, and what he expects of you. This knowledge is a gold-mine. It will help you customize your offering.

There are many more benefits, but these are the ones that will help you increase your business. Do you still think you should not call your client?

Best-Kept Secret Twitter Tips for Job Search (Part 1)

bikram — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 02:54:27 +0000

The best kept secrets are not those which are hidden behind 1000 locks. The best kept secrets are those that are always in front on us — too obvious to be noticed.

If you have not believed this so far then start believing in it, as nothing is truer then the above statement is. And it will become more evident when you will read the best-kept secret twitter tips for job search in this series.

Twitter, as we all know by now, is a 140-word marketing nuclear bomb. It is also referred as virtual water cooler where people talk about things that matters to them. Twitter is not just a micro-blogging tool, but it is a search engine in its own right that has the strength to overpower Google. Twitter can be used in many ways, but we will focus on using it as a job search tool. All the tips in this and subsequent posts are geared towards that only.

For a novice, twitter may look useless, but so did search engines in their initial days.

Easy-to-remember username

Username is your twitter name, and this is the first thing that a person finds about anyone on twitter. This is akin to the first part of your e-mail ID — everything before @, and you will not want your username to spoil the party. Hence, do not use your nickname or any other silly things in there. While saying that I did not mean to say that your nickname is silly, all I meant was that your username should look classy. Cheesy stuffs do not cut it. Your twitter name should also be easy to remember.

Real name for real people

Use your real first and last names in the designated space. Do not use any cool-but-idiotic-sounding words in place of the first and the last name. It will hurt your image, and create hindrance in getting a job. A person without real name does not sound like a person, at least not on the Internet.

Real picture

I know how badly you wanted to look like Brad Pitt, but the fact is you are not him then why to use his picture as your profile picture? Believe me it will not impress your employer, and most of all they will come to know it is not Brad Pitt who is applying for the job. Take my suggestion and pull that picture down, and instead use your own picture, preferably in business attire.

In the twitter profile, nothing but close-up of your own picture should be there.

Start fixing your profile now and when you are done send me your twitter URL. That’s all for today, will meet tomorrow with some more tips.

3 Steps Sales Process

bikram — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:03:58 +0000

The sale does not begin when a salesman goes out to the market and talks to the prospect, nor do they end when the deal is signed and money is taken from the prospect. This is just one part of the sales process, and a successful salesperson knows that. In this blog post, I am going to tell you about all 3 phases though which a salesperson has to pass in order to become successful in his chosen career.

Pre-sales

Pre-sales is the phase in which a salesperson make a list of the probable buyers, qualify them, fix a meeting, and study about the prospects. This phase is important as it gives the salesperson idea about who client is, what he does, and what approach to take during the meeting.

Sales

This is the second phase where actual sales happen. A salesman meets the client, know client’s problem deliver the sales pitch presentation, tell the client about his company, offer the solution to client’s problem, ask questions, and handle objection. This phase is very important as this is the phase in which you meet the client and talk to him in person about his problems, and tell the client how the product you are offering is going to solve his problem. Do not over promise. Over delivery (delivering the solution that exceeds expectation) is great, but over promise is bad. This phase culminates with asking for order and making a sale.

Post-sales

This is the third and final phase of a sales process. This is a “follow-up and thank you” phase in which you, the salesperson, need to call up or write an e-mail saying thank you for his time, and if you have not yet got the order than mention that you are looking forward to serve him. And if the product was sold then you should ask the client if he or she is facing any problem with the product you sold. This is very important step and it helps you build rapport with your client.

Each step in the sales process has a role to play. Missing any of the steps is risking business.

Rules of Press Release Writing

bikram — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:16:19 +0000

Writing a press release is as much a science as it is an art. You cannot afford to go wrong on the science part of the press release writing, if you want to strike chord with the journalists. Your press release will not get picked, if you have not adhered to the set standard for writing press releases, no matter how eloquent your language skills are. Follow the rules written below, and you will see a significant improvement in your press release writing skills. Before you go further, you can click on the following link, if you want to know about structure of a press release.

Rule 1: Length of a press release

A press release should not be longer than one A4 (8.5”X11”) size paper. Divide your press release into 4 to 5 small paragraphs.

Rule 2: Rules related to Quotations

Do not use more than two quotations in the press release. And do not start a press release with a quotation. Quotations should come not earlier than the third paragraph. Only use quotations that come from the person behind the news or from CEO of the company.

Rule 3: Company information

You must include “About the company” at the bottom of the press release.

Rule 4: Contact person

The contact details written at the bottom of the press release should be working. Do not put any phone number of e-mail id for the heck of it. Provide contact details of a person who is in charge of the media releases. This is important because you never know which journalist needs more info and hence end up contacting.

Rule 5: Proper place and date

Start a press release with giving a proper place and complete date.

Rule 6: Include ### sign

### marks the end of the press release, so you should not forget to add this.

I have provided a proper format of a press release in the previous article titled, structure of a press release. Do read it.

Secure Your Yahoo Mail

bikram — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:49:16 +0000

In the last blog post, we talked about how you can secure your Gmail, and in this article, I will show you the way to secure your Yahoo mail. Before we can begin, let me tell you that Yahoo mail cannot be as secure as Gmail because it does not use Https for the entire e-mail. The login process in Yahoo! Accounts (like Mail, Calendar, Flickr, and other Yahoo sites) is secure, as login to any Yahoo services happen on a secure domain (Https), but the rest of the mail feature is not so secure.

Securing Yahoo mail is somewhat manual process. You need to look for Https prefix before you feed your e-mail ID and password in the Yahoo form. If the page doesn’t have Http then you have opened a phishing site (or have been redirected to one). It means, someone out there is trying to trick you.

Along with this, you can also take the following steps to keep your Yahoo mail secure:

Create your personalized Yahoo Sign in Seal. This let you create a custom login page using either text or image of your choice. But there is a limitation to this. The custom login page that you will create will be visible on only the system on which you will create it.
If you use a browser that supports Greasemonkey scripts then install the HTTP-to-HTTPS redirector. Firefox, Opera, Chrome (recent build), and Flock supports Greasemonkey scripts.

This way you will make sure that you are always on the Https page of Yahoo. There is one more way to secure your Yahoo mail, and that is password time out feature of Yahoo. This will protect all your Yahoo accounts. Follow the steps given below to set your password timeout.

Step 1: Login to your Yahoo

Step 2: Go to My Account. You can find a link to my account at the top of the screen.

Step 3: You will be asked to enter the password again, after which you will be taken to account information page.

Step 4: Go to “Member Information” and click “Edit”.

Step 5: Click the drop-down with a label “Prompt for Password” and change the setting. 15 minutes is the shortest duration after which you will be prompted to enter the password again. Set the duration for 1 hour. This will ask for password after a set duration.

10 Everyday Tips to Increase your freelance Earnings

bikram — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:35:29 +0000

Do not get mislead by the title, I am not going to share any magic tips or rather there is no magic tips, tricks or shortcuts. Nothing can substitute hard work, but if the work is done in a proper way, and in the right direction then the magnitude of the return will make the effort look less strenuous.

In this article, I will share some tips that will help freelance writer in increasing his or her earning potential.

Tip 1

Introduce yourself: No one will know who you are until you will tell them who you are, and the best way to do that for a freelance writer is to write a compelling introductory paragraph that can be sent to prospects.

Tip 2

Article marketing: If you are a freelance writer, chances are you must have written many articles for your clients, which you or the client posted on various article directories to promote his business. Why can’t you do it, and why don’t you do it to market your writing services?

Tips 3

Burbling: Do not get confused. I want you to write powerful blurbs for every service that you offer.

Tips 4

Contact your past clients: Prepare a list of clients with whom you have worked in the past, but haven’t contacted for last six months or since the work got over, and send them a personal e-mail. This will remind them of you and your services, and they may get back to you with some work. Always remember, out of sight is out of mind.

Tips 5

A client a day contact program: Contact one existing, past or prospective client every day.

Tips 6

Hire a guru (mentor): Freelance writing is one profession in which to succeed you need a continuous flow of new and exciting ideas. Befriend with a person who keeps himself up-to-date with the latest happening. Leverage his expertise to build your writing career.

Tips 7

Start multiple Blogs: Categorize your writing services, and start one blog each for each category of services. For example, you can put blogging and article writing into one category, and article marketing and social media submission in another. Make a list of writing services you provide and categorize them.

Tips 8

Chart the uncharted water: Read the magazines, books and periodical that you have never read before. This will infuse new ideas and bring variety to your writing.

Tips 9

Write an e-book: Prepare your own information product. Start today and prepare an outline of two e-books that you should write.

Tips 10

Stay Positive: I know, you are thinking whatever, but this is as important as any other tips written above.

Freelance Writing: Write Your Way to the Bank

bikram — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:32:56 +0000

Freelancing is not an easy job, not because you cannot write, but because there are too many writers vying for too few openings. This is a classical case of buyer’s market; hence, as the textbook says buyers will set the rule and will expect you to follow them. Everything said and done, you still have the power to decide and influence the buyers’ decisions provided you can highlight your talent, and tell your prospective employers how you can help them. Seeing the nature of this market, it is easier said than done.

In the real world, you will find it extremely difficult to make your voice heard midst all the chaos, but the good news is you can do it, and do it by doing what you know best. I mean, by writing.

Freelance writers have one big benefit over freelancers of other fields, and the benefit is his or her ability to write. Unlike other freelance professionals, who struggle to write promotional materials for themselves, freelance writers are cut out to do exactly that. If you are a freelancer, I feel it is needless to say that your ability to write is the sole reason for your existence then why not use this ability to seize clients’ attention?

The matter written in the body of your e-mail is the first point of contact between you and your prospective client, so make it as better as you can. The quality of this initial contact will increase the possibility of your getting hired, yet most of the freelance writers never take this seriously.

As a freelance writer, you need to understand that every word that you write is in itself an advertisement for you. Hence, choose your words with much caution when you are writing mails to your existing client or prospects. Before going through your samples that you have attached with your application, your prospective clients will read the cover letter or the mail that you have written, and the prospect will only decide to click the attachment link, if he or she is impressed with what and how you have written your e-mail.

If you are a freelance writer or aspire to be one, always remember to take every communication with your client seriously, and use every opportunity you get and show how well you can write. Unlike other freelance professionals, for you, promoting yourself is easy. You are cut out to do that!

How to make People read Your E-mails

bikram — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 03:08:16 +0000

How often has it happen to you that you sent an important mail to someone, and the person did not reply? When you called up to enquire, the person confessed that he or she has not read the e-mail sent by you. If this rarely happens to you then it is the reader who is to blame for his or her laxity, but if this happens sporadically then maybe it’s the e-mail writing behavior of yours that is to blame. Whatever might be the case, the fact is your message went unread. In this post I am suggesting your some ways to fine-tune your e-mails to improve its readability.

Subject Line: This is the most important part of an e-mail. This is the window that gives your reader a glimpse into your mail. Make the view worth exploring.

Call to action: Most of the time the users need guidance. They need to know what response is expected of him.

Inverted pyramid structure: Write the most important thing at the top of the mail and then write the second most important thing followed by the third one.

KISS it: Keep it Short and Simple (KISS). The mail should be short, and simple. No one wish to read an epic in the mail.

Run a spell check: Typos not only put people off, but it also makes the message lose its meaning midst all the errors. Check the spelling before sending an e-mail across.

Check the recipient: People often commit this error and do it quite often. Check if the recipient’s address is written correctly.

Cold Calling: Is It Worth the Effort?

bikram — Sun, 17 May 2009 04:02:45 +0000

Yes, if it’s done right then it is worth the effort. Cold calling is one of the most cost effective and widely used lead generation techniques. Indeed, there are many much more effective ways of lead generation, but the utility of cold calling cannot be ignored. If you are running tight on budget, cold calling can help you getting your foot in the door, and from there you can begin your elevator pitch. Cold calling can be more effective than any other means of communication in the following three situations:

Introduction: There are situations in which cold calling is more effective than any other technique. If you are new in the market, and you want the clientele to take notice of you then you can consider using the cold calling techniques. Unlike introductory e-mails, a call to one of your prospective clients will buy you at least 10-15 seconds before they hang up. Use these 10-15 seconds to introduce your business, and if the call continues ask for 45-50 more seconds to discuss the things in detail. Use the time allotted to you very wisely. You do not need to supply all the essential detail in this 45-50-second time, just power pack the allotted time with an objective to fix a meeting by building interest in the services or products you are offering.

Database Tuning: A reply is not guaranteed when you send an e-mail to a random person from your database. The chances of your e-mail landing directly into trash bin are quite high, but when you make a call the person on the other end has to reply with either a yes or no; at time, people may be rude and just hung up the phone, nonetheless, you got the answer you were seeking. Use it to clean up the garbage from your database.

Sales Qualification: Use cold calling to see if your prospect is in the frame of mind to receive your salesperson or not. Given the complexity of sales life and the demand put on the organization’s resources (time, money and effort) cold calling can save hundreds to hundred thousands of dollars. This of course depends upon the size of your organization and resources you allot to prospecting and lead generation.

Be pushy and you lose the customer. This is guaranteed. No one likes pushy salesperson. Can you think of any more way in which we can use cold calling effectively? Write into the comment box below your inputs and suggestions. In the next article on cold calling, I will be giving a framework for a typical cold call.