Author Archives: schatzi

Aug
03
2022

Viral Marketing Success Formula – 9 Winner Tactics For Free Viral Advertising

When used properly, viral marketing or viral advertising is by far the best way to promote your website, products and services on the Internet.

Viral advertising implies a virus-like fast transfer of a marketing message on the web, as a consequence of using free viral marketing tools such as YouTube, Flickr or Facebook, built to be viral. Successful viral marketing results in this snowballfactor:

  • An exponential increase in users of the free viral marketing product
  • free exponential increase in website traffic which in turn helps to
  • improve the search engine rankings which in turn leads to
  • more free web traffic and so on…

The degree of success, depends on the extent to which the 9 success criteria are followed.

9 Viral Marketing Success Criterias
As many and ideally all of the following tactics should be used:

1. Make an irresistible free offer
You need to provide a free viral marketing product or service since “free” is the biggest customer magnet. “Free” even attracts people who otherwise wouldn’t be interested.

2. Build a viral marketing product – don’t just try to market a product virally
A product is not necessarily viral if it contains a few features that lend viral characteristics to it. Just having a “Recommend to a friend” option on one of your web pages doesn’t make your website viral. For the free viral product to be considered truly viral, more than 1 new user must result from each user recommending it.

3. Target alpha users
The viral advertising message ought to target individuals with a high social networking potential, the so called influencers, ideal for spreading it. With regards to the consumer market, influencers are well connected, have impact, have active minds and are trendsetters.

So what causes an influencer to desire passing on a viral message? Answers include the need to be loved (or fear of rejection) and the need to be successful (fear of failure). For example consider which messages and free products would result in respect and appreciation of the sender when received.

Important and effective online influentials take a serious approach and want to pass on only useful viral marketing messages, not silly videos, jokes or commercials without purpose nor marketing results. They want to be perceived responsible by the recipients; their network. The product they recommend ought to suit the needs of the users optimally. Hard sales talk is not the way.

4. Be creative and ahead of market trends
Study your market and its trends and learn to think ahead in order to provide what turns people on, in exactly the right moment and right way. Do you have…

  • the capacity and know-how to come up with an innovative product?
  • expert knowledge to share?
  • ideas and a network of associates to inspire and motivate you?
  • the right web business tools and resources?

5. Easy transfer is prerequisite
The viral marketing message should be short and easily transferred via one or several of the following digital medias:

  • email
  • website
  • instant messaging
  • graphics
  • software download
  • social medias meaning social media websites, under here social network sites, online communities, blogs, wikis etc. Examples include Facebook, twitter and youtube, that facilitate the exchange of viral messages by automating the distribution process.

The interaction between internet users is highly facilitated by using Web 2.0, a design standard, making viral marketing possible. Examples of inherently viral Web 2.0 sites are MySpace, Facebook, and Flickr. These sites are as well free viral marketing products to the user as they are viral advertising tools to both the companies and the users.

6. Use Existing Social Networks
The distribution of the viral message takes place within established social networks of the individuals who receive it: Around 10 persons within their closest circle and as many as thousands within their broader network, depending on the person’s status and job. Affiliate programs often inspire the affiliates to target their network. Once an online influential with an extensive network is reached, a snowball effect initiates, provided that the viral product is useful and of high quality and the marketing message catchy. Social network websites are important viral marketing tools.

7. Use other’s resources
Spread your viral marketing message by placing articles on other websites (the media) thereby reaching a much larger group of people than had you relied solely on your own web site. By getting your message spread as news, you target many subscribers that might decide to visit your home page or even place your article on their website. An example of effective viral marketing is the placement of YouTube videos on different websites from where interested visitors can copy the video to their own site.

8. Allow for Big Scale Traffic
It is imperative that the resources for handling all the traffic need to be quickly upscalable to avoid overload and break down of the replication cycle of the viral marketing campaign. In order to handle the expected high volume of users, the process needs to be completely automated. For example customers are emailed using sequential autoresponders.

9. Measure and optimise parameters of Viral Marketing Success
To achieve true viral successful marketing, monitor the results expressed by certain parametres then test and optimise them. Examples of parameters include

  • sources of traffic
  • % registered users
  • % users who send out invites
  • number of invites sent out per user
  • % of invites received

Jul
04
2022

An Introduction To Student Loan Forgiveness Public Services

Those who have large student debts may be interested in the student loan forgiveness public service program. Congress passed an act in 2007 that makes it possible for those who work in the public service sector to be forgiven a large portion of their student loans. While there are a number of stipulations and conditions, this act makes it easy for those who hold a low-income public service job to repay their student loans in full.

What type of loan one has taken out has a bearing on whether or not the individual may qualify. Federal loans such as Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans and Federal Direct Consolidation Loans can all be forgiven under this program. Those with FFEL loans can qualify for student loan forgiveness if the loan is consolidated into a Federal direct loan.

Once a person who holds a public service job has made 120 payments on one of the loans mentioned above, he or she would then be forgiven the remainder of the loan. Public service jobs that qualify one to partake of this loan forgiveness program include serving in the army or the police force, working at a government job (besides serving in Congress or in the Senate), working in a public health or public education job, and working for social services or public interest legal services. Working as a librarian for a public school or library, being employed full-time at a nonprofit foundation or organization and working for a tribal college would also qualify an individual to obtain student loan forgiveness once the necessary payments have been made.

Payments would only be counted if they have been made after October 1st, 2007. One would not be able to use either an extended repayment plan or a graduated repayment plan in order to qualify for student loan forgiveness, although income based repayment, income contingent repayment and standard repayment can all be used. It is also very important to realize that all 120 payments must be made while the person is still in public service; if a person does not continue on in public service while making the above mentioned payments, he or she would not qualify for student loan forgiveness.

Loan forgiveness for those employed in the public service sector can be a great boon to those who do not receive a large salary. While the above mentioned rules and stipulations do apply, it is not overly hard to qualify for this program, as long as one continues to work in the public sector for an extended period of time. Obtaining student loan forgiveness under the Student Loan Forgiveness Public Service Program can help one to be freed from a difficult financial obligation that could otherwise cause financial difficulties.

Jun
02
2022

5 Things You Should Know About Owning Real Estate Within an IRA

Owning real estate in an IRA is often classified into its own category when it is actually a type of investment that you can make with a self directed 401(k) or IRA. Recently, many people started to inquire about making these investments due to the inordinate amount of foreclosures and home short sales available on the market.

The truth of the matter is that a real estate IRA has been around just as long as a traditional IRA or a self directed IRA. In 1974, the Social Security Administration passed ERISA in order to help supplement social security retirement funds. Ironically, self directed IRAs have been around for over 30 years, but many people still treat them like it’s a new trend.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to do a lot of research before you choose your custodian or trustee. Many self directed IRAs are not truly self directed. The options may be limited, and you will have to make sure that you aren’t restricted from real estate in an IRA. If they have been performing these sorts of transactions for decades, they should help ensure that the paperwork is filed according to IRS rules and regulations.

When investors are first considering real estate for retirement funds, they usually have a lot of questions. The first thing to remember is that many of the rules that apply to an IRA will also apply here.

There are a few additional things to keep in mind with real estate in an IRA.

1. You may not purchase real estate for your IRA that you or any disqualified person owns. Disqualified persons include anyone in your lineal descent including children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. If you previously owned it, you may not purchase it. This is what the IRS refers to as self-dealing and will penalize anyone that does it.
2. You may not participate in “indirect benefits” of your real estate IRA. That means no using a vacation home by you or any disqualified member. Also, no renting office space in a commercial investment property. Your real estate is intended for retirement for your benefit in the future, not now.
3. All real estate must be titled as a separate entity from your self. You must title your IRA account and have all documents reflect the retirement plan’s name rather than your personal name. You could expect delays if anything is not titled as such.
4. All expenses and income must be made through the IRA. You aren’t allowed to have any funds in your hands personally. Likewise, all expenses including property taxes, homeowner association fees, bills, and maintenance or improvements must be deducted directly from your account.
5. Your real estate purchase can be made in a variety of ways. Your options don’t stop with an outright purchase from funds in your self directed retirement plan. You may also partake in partnerships (with the exception of S corps) or a loan that doesn’t use the SDIRA as collateral.

What we have covered in this article is just a few quick pointers to be aware of. Before you make any investment, and especially a self directed one, you should always research and ask questions. Your passive custodian is there to help ensure that you know the answers to rules and regulations, but you still need to educate yourself concerning owning real estate within an IRA. Ultimately, you are in charge of creating lasting wealth for you and your family.

May
01
2022

Colorado Homeowners and Auto Insurance Discounts

Finding affordable policies for Colorado homeowners and auto insurance can be tricky, especially if you’re not sure what to do in order to lower your premium. Discounts are available for those who know what they are and are prepared to use them. Don’t rely on your insurance provider to tell you about what kind of discounts are available. Actively seeking discounts is the best way to get them applied to your Colorado homeowners and auto insurance policies.

Raising your deductible isn’t really a discount, but it’s a trade secret that can automatically make your homeowners insurance and auto insurance premiums go down, even if only by a small amount. Many people make the mistake of raising their deductibles so high that they cannot pay the out of pocket expenses in the event of an emergency. Only raise your deductible as high as you can afford.

Combining your policies isn’t a discount either, but it should be! Many insurance providers offer more than just one kind of insurance. Many also offer discounts for those customers who choose to purchase both their homeowners and auto insurance policies from the same company.

Of course, standard discounts are available for both homeowners and auto insurance policies.

Security Measures: Fire sprinklers, storm shutters and security alarms are all things you can add to your home to increase its security and also reduce your homeowner’s insurance. If you have a car, install LoJack or another security device and get a discount!

Loyal Customers: The longer you’re with a particular insurance company, the more likely you are to receive the unwritten “loyal customer” discount available to those few who stay with a company for a long time.

Student Discounts: Students need love, too! Especially those that get good grades. B average or better? You’re eligible for a discount!

If you’re ready to start finding Colorado homeowners and auto insurance discounts on great policies, you can get the ball rolling immediately. Just plug in your Colorado zip code and select the “Auto and Home” option at http://www.ColoradoAutoInsurance360.com and start finding homeowners and auto insurance quotes from competing companies today!