Information Screens Uses

This article discusses the growing use of modern flat TV screens such as LCD and plasmas and how they are used as information screens for messaging and providing customer information in places like transport hubs and outside the front of buildings and institutions. The article explains some cost effective methods of protection including the LCD enclosure:
Providing customers with information and keeping them informed is essential for many businesses. The transport industry have long adopted video displays even before the rise of flat screen TVs like LCD or plasma, when CRT monitors displayed timetabling information in train stations and bus depots.
Of course, now TVs have got thinner and cheaper, these information screens have been replaced by more modern TVs and it is not just the transport industry that are using them, either.
The great advantage of using a TV to display information is the speed at which messages can be relayed. For the transportation industry this has always been a boon as they can let customers know about delays and cancellations when and if they happen, but this type of immediacy is also useful for other institutions and businesses.
Many schools, colleges and universities are installing information screens in an effort to provide an efficient method to communicate with students. The difficulty in the modern college is that people can arrive throughout the day and while other communication systems are common, such as email, they are only effective when students check their email.
With information screens, important messages, including emergency information can be relayed as and when the news comes in, it also means the educational establishment can communicate successfully with all those people on campus, even if they are on different sites or at opposite needs of the building.
Information screens can be fitted both indoors and outdoors, but outdoor information screens are going to need protecting before they are installed.
A common method of using outdoor information screens is to source the make and size of LCD display you wish to use, from normal indoor screens, and then install them in an outdoor LCD enclosure.
Manufactured to accommodate any standard type of LCD TV device, LCD enclosures come in a variety of sizes-fitting the most common sized LCDs.
Once installed in the LCD enclosure, the screen will be protected from the weather, kept at the correct temperature (regardless of the ambient conditions), and be secured from theft, damage or vandalism.

Stop Whining About Price

Price cutting is a self-inflicted wound. Nobody holds a gun to your head and makes you cut your price. I know that many of you are thinking right now: "There is so much competition today that you can't maintain profits," "Everybody is giving everything away," "The salespeople can't negotiate," and "Everybody knows our pricing from the Internet..." Blah, Blah, Blah. Stop whining about price!

Only about ten percent of buyers buy on price alone. For that ten percent, you can decide to lower your prices or let your customers buy elsewhere. Every person who has ever sold anything knows that the happiest customers are the ones that pay you profit, whereas the unhappiest customers are the ones that you gave everything away to. Here's a news flash: You don't have to do business with them. It's your choice.

All things being equal, money will be the customer's final decision. It is your job to make everything unequal. Customers consider the 3 M's: Money, Machine, and Me. What are you doing to elevate the "me" part of the equation? The "me" part of the 3M's stands for you: your process, the dealership, the service, and the reputation. It's the easiest part of the equation to change. Your dealership is unique and your customers need to know why. You have to believe that you are the best and that you are worth more. Many salespeople and sales managers have a flawed, weak belief system. If you don't believe you are outstanding, you will make yourself a replaceable commodity.

Every day you must work as hard on yourself as you do on sales. When you get better, your customers will get better. Do you work on yourself every day in the area of attitude, education, motivation, sales skills, customer follow-up, and marketing? Let's be brutally honest and forget about being politically correct...most sales people stink at their profession.

The majority of salespeople never work on the above skills. Can you really tell me that those unmotivated and uneducated idiots are the tough competition? Your only competition is in your own mind.

Recently, while in Las Vegas, I shopped for shoes at Caesar's Palace. At the first store I went to, I noticed the salesperson looked agitated to have to hang up the phone to wait on me. He was extremely rude and did nothing to add value to his store or differentiate himself from other run-of-the-mill salespeople.

The second store I went to, I encountered a sensational salesperson that created rapport, sold value, and quality. He knew his product and made a high price seem like a bargain.

The first store lost two sales and the second gained from the first salesperson's stupidity.

Is the first salesperson and his inadequacies the norm, or was it an aberration? My experience says that unfortunately, he's the norm. My hunch is that your experiences are the same as mine.

Work every day to get better and show it to your customers. Work on your belief system. Don't be a commodity, and stop whining about price. Price is the easiest problem to solve in the sale.

T Shirts, Printing Methods Explained for Promotional T Shirts

I have had many of my customers ask me why we print their products using different methods at different times.

This is a valid question and for the sake of educating the larger masses and for those that are interested I will outline the difference between the printing process and how they may apply to your project. There are generally four printing methods, they are screen printing, heat transfer press, and embroidery "well this is not really printing but I place it there as you still need to place an image on a t shirt". The last and the latest technology is direct to garment. This process can produce some fantastic high resolution photographic printing but it is at a cost.

Screen printing

Screen printing is most likely the most popular method of printing promotional t shirts, the set up process is similar to offset traditional printing methods where you need to provide your images in to separable colour files, for example if you have a four colour file you need to supply a CMYK file which the print production firm can break each colour down and isolate them from each other creating, four separate print images, one for the cyan colour, one for magenta and one each for the yellow and K being black or grey scale.

Now that the CMYK files have been separated a separate screen is produced for each colour in total four screens a C screen, M screen, and one each for the Y and K screens. So each colour has its own separate screen. After the screens have been produced and have been quality tested and all adjustments have been made they are mounted on to the screen printing press were each colour is aligned to the next using registration marks on the screens. What this means is that each colour is printed separately on the promotional T shirt. Now that the screens have been set and have been tested we can begin the printing the t shirts.

In summarising screen printing we note that there is quite a bit of setup work to be done, you need to allow a hefty lead time for the turnaround of the promotional T shirts, also as the setup process is so intensive there is a substantial cost involved about $70 to $150 per colour so in a four colour print it would be between $280 and $600 depending on the print, and you have yet to print one good promotional T shirt.

The good news is that the set up is the costliest part of the screen printing process and from now on each t shirt is at a minimal price. To sum up, screen printing is the best process for producing large amounts of promotional T shirts, a minimum order of a few hundred and upwards.

Heat Press

Printing Promotional t shirts with heat transfers involves the digital reproduction of a heat transfer image on to specially coated paper that is then reversed printed and heat pressed on to the promotional t shirt.

The advantages of printing t shirts with heat transfer are that it is conducive to short runs. For example it is possible and cost effective to produce as little as one promotional t shirt. Therefore if you need only a few t shirts this is the method to be used, unfortunately this process comes with a huge restriction, you can only print on to white t shirts, now you may think that that's not real good but considering over 80% of promotional t shirts that are printed white the option is not that bad.

Embroidery

As I previously mentioned in the introduction of this article embroidery is really not a printing process but fundamentally you are placing an image on to a promotional t shirt, so I have decided to include it, if for nothing more than clarifying the process used to embroider promotional t shirts.

In a very simple explanation embroidery involves re scanning the image in to a stitch pattern or more so this creates a digital stitching map for the embroidery machine to follow. One of the limitations of embroidery is that it is only conducive to stitching smallish images like a logo on the breast pocket of the t shirt or a club emblem on the sleeve of a polo shirt.

Embroidery produces highly durable products, commonly used for corporate clothing it is not limited to t shirts or polo shirts.

Direct to Garment Printing

This is the latest in printing promotional t shirts, a fully digital process; it works similar to your home inkjet printer. The t shirt is placed on a movable platen and is guided through the print heads with extreme accuracy to produce some of the highest quality printed graphics to date. This printing method is capable of printing on to any coloured t shirt, as it uses white ink as the base colour on coloured promotional t shirts.

With digital direct to garment printing all you do is mount the t shirt on to the platen and press print on your computer just as you would when printing a word document. The direct to garment process is medium priced and is getting more cost effective as new technology are being released on to the market. It is possible to produce a single high quality t shirt to several hundred in a cost-effective manner

Summarising

The screen printing process is very intensive and costly to set up but when done it is the most cost-effective method for printing large volumes of promotional t shirts. The heat press method is only able to print on white t shirts, but you can print very small runs and is perfect if you only want a single t shirt.

Trash Can Be Your Treasure

Have you ever found some nice things that were still in excellent condition sitting on the curb for garbage? Well, in my case someone else's trash, has put money into my purse. Living in or going through a pretty nice neighborhood can be very beneficial, especially on garbage day. I have passed by something on the side of the road and asked myself, are they really going to throw that out?

The majority of people throwing out nice or excellent conditioned items, usually have lots of money and assets already. Their main goal is to keep up with the Kardashians. For instance, family A went and bought a 48 inch flat screen TV two months ago. They were talking to their neighbors (family B) when they found out that family B has a 52 inch flat screen with 3D. Now family A gets rid of the t.v that they have only had for two months, just to keep up with family B. Or plain and simple, they just don't want that particular item anymore and set it out for the trash. That's where I come along and take their trash and turn it into a gift or better yet, cash!

When you see something set out for trash that looks pleasing to the eye get it, test it, and research it. For example, I found an electric guitar sitting on the side of the road. I didn't own amps or any type of guitar equipment, but I did remember my neighbors had a rock band and they could help me out with information on the electric guitar. I recommend researching the item you have found, that way you educate yourself on what you have. Information such as original cost, year, make, model type, and compatible items can be very beneficial for you. When doing research online, I found that this is a very common electric guitar which was made in 2007 and originally cost $449.00. I didn't have any interest in guitar playing, so my neighbors (with the rock band) offered to buy it for $200.00 and it was sold!

Just recently someone had a box with PS2 games (20 of them), PS2 Game system, wireless controller, and 8 megaByte memory card on the side of the road for garbage. I couldn't tell whether it worked or whether everything was intact until I got it home. Good thing it worked because my 11-year-old nephew had a birthday right around the corner.

You never know what you may find sitting on the curb waiting for the garbage truck. Anything that you think that may have some value get it and do some light research on it. You may find out some very surprising news about that item.

The Power Combination

To drive traffic to your website, you'll need to speak to your prospects and customers in a language they understand. This means finding and using keywords that your customers are looking for. It also means using keyword terms that few competitors have caught onto yet. This is really a pretty simple concept, like selling water in the desert. However, before you roll up your sleeves and haul your water jugs to the Sahara, you'll want to calculate the cost versus benefit of your proposition. You'll want to know how much money you stand to make by using any given keyword, and you'll want to factor in your time to market in taking advantage of this opportunity. I call this concept Keyword Economics, and it's not all that difficult to understand. It's even easier to put into practice. Here's what you need to do.
Begin With SEO:
Use Google's free keyword research tool to get good suggestions for keyword terms to use on your site. Check the number of monthly searches and compare this to the number of results found using the Google search engine. (As you check the number of results, make sure you put the term in quotation marks.)
When you divide the total number of Global Monthly Searches by the number of Search Results, that number can be expressed as a percentage. I call it my Blue Ocean Index or BOI. It shows you how much or how little competition there is for your chosen keyword. You want a result that's better than 30%. If your result is anywhere above 100%, then you've got a hungry market on your hands
BOI = Global Monthly Searches / Results
Let's say you get terribly lucky and identify a term with a 500% BOI. Even with that, you still may find yourself with very few customers in the marketplace. Just because a keyword term has a relatively high ratio of searches to results, or a high BOI, that doesn't necessarily equate to a large volume of sales. For example, if your chosen term has 10,000 searches a month and there are only 2,000 results on the whole of the Internet, you have a 500% BOI, but you may wind up with only 15 customers a month, even with an optimized website.
Keyword Economics: Calculating Your Return Per Keyword
How can you tell how much money a given term will bring you in hard dollars? The answer is easy. It's Keyword Economics. I've come up with a formula for analyzing your opportunity for any given keyword term. Here's what that looks like.
Keyword Economics makes a set of assumptions, and these are scalable. They'll work for any term you use. The assumptions, however, are a little grand - that is they involve work, and the work is up to you. Keyword Economics assumes the following:
A) You've done your homework, and you've identified keywords to use in your website domain, site content, social media, and/or any other marketing venues that are routinely crawled by the search engines.
B) You have managed to come up in position 2 or 3 on a Google search for your chosen keyword term. Coming up Number 1 is dicey to pull off - aspirational if you will, and hard to guarantee.
C) You have a click-through rate from the Search Engine Results Page of 15%. That means out of 100 people searching, 15 are clicking on your link.
D) You have a 1% conversion rate. Of the people who do click through, 1 in 100 are buying your product.
E) The average profit for each product you sell is about $20. This figure is completely arbitrary, but it's manageable enough that it works consistently with our formula.
When you blend all of these factors together and mix them up just right, you get a figure of 3%. Keyword Economics is always 3% of Global Monthly Searches when all of these 5 assumptions have been met. That means when you find a keyword term with 10,000 Global Monthly Searches, you can gauge that your opportunity for that term has a monthly Keyword Economics factor of $300. It's an educated guess, and it's a great place to start.
KE = Global Monthly Searches * 3%
The better job you do getting onto Page One of a Google Search, the more likely it is that you'll score. It all starts with activity. It all starts with you and what you do next with these formulas. The good news is, most people will not act on this powerful combination. Will you be one of them?

Considering a Working At Home Business and Becoming Part of a New Thriving Economy

If the last few years have been any indication of what is to come economically speaking then isn't it time to rethink the world of business and careers? Currently there is a "new economy" that has been emerging and thriving. In this "new economy" a business is started every 11 seconds and the average revenue for 28% of these businesses according to enterpaige.com is between $100,000 to $500,000 annually! What is this new economy and who is taking part?
The good news is a lot of people! From college grads who can't find work, to those who can't afford an advanced education, and even people with a lot of experience who have been out of a job due to a slumping recovery. People all over the country and even the world have looking to the internet to begin creating their next business in the hopes of replacing lost income, have a life filled with choice, freedom and financial stability. Why are so many rushing to learn this new business model?
It's quite simple really. They can rely on themselves rather than an employer. Also, show me a business that you know of in this world that has access to 2 billion potential customers. Can you think of any business that is open 24 hours a day 7 days a week? Name one business that is not hindered by its geographic location? And finally, can you fathom of a single business in this world where the owner doesn't have to be there to operate it? You probably guessed by now, there is no such business! At least not in the physical - bricks and mortar - type business. Read on.
The only business that would clearly fit the above description is a business that is created from your home and exists in cyber-space. Other advantages are minimal expenses, no overhead, no franchise fees, no -- fill in the blank. The revolution of the online working at home business man (or woman) has brought with it a promise of a new day for entrepreneurs. And these entrepreneurs have realized something. What do they know that you don't?
With minimal startup fees, proper training, great compensation plans, and products that are in need, anyone with a commitment and a some hard work can literally reinvent their lives. From vacationing at your own whim, more time with the family, complete freedom and choice as to where and when to work, and many other advantages, a working at home business is the salvation and solution to many of today's entrepreneurs and those who never even considered that they could be one. How do you find the right home business?
Finding the right home business can sometimes be a challenge, but if you understand what is needed to be successful then the pool of choices shrinks down to only a few. Where do people go wrong?
While many MLM or networking marketing companies promise high reward, the statistics are unfavorable in regards to success. Instead, the 'top-tier' direct sales companies have proven to have a significantly higher degree of success, trumping the pyramid structure. Some companies have already produced countless 6 and 7 figure earners with this structure in only a few short years.
To be involved in a working at home business it doesn't take rocket science. It takes a little ingenuity and mostly common sense. One should consider that any company that doesn't offer training, personal development, a fair compensation plan, or products that the market needs will be very difficult to get off the ground, but when the right ingredients are found together the lifestyle you deserve and want is truly possible.

Perfecting the Meet and Greet

Many sales today are won or lost in the first five minutes! There are many reasons why this is so, but poor business etiquette skills are to blame in a lot of cases. We all know that selling today is as cut-throat and bloodthirsty as it has ever been, with many salespeople spending their days relentlessly chasing their next pay check, commission, or accolade. Because of this many fundamentals are overlooked, including the important meet and greet. But simply being 'too busy' is no longer an excuse!
One of the most critically important and yet frequently overlooked aspects of selling is creating a solid foundation of trust and rapport. Practising and learning to relate to other people is not something a lot of salespeople are well educated in. In the sales game relating to others is the single most important success determinant, with the foundations being laid in the first five minutes. So what are the key areas of the meet and greet and how can we all become better at it?
First Impressions Count
When it comes to building trust and rapport in the sales environment, there is nothing more important than making a favourable first impression. You are being constantly scrutinised and factors such as appearance, attitude and time management are all part of your impressionable package. Always ensure you are well groomed, smiling and on time - nothing ruins a first impression more than tardiness and lateness.
Introduction and Handshake
When a handshake is offered it is impossible to avoid reaching within an arms length in distance. This automatically encroaches on the other person's personal space and many people are put out by this incursion and they become defensive. By invading their comfort zone you now have to face many of their defence mechanisms, but the best way to counter these is to use eye contact, body language and a tone a pace of voice that sets them at ease.
Remembering Names
A typical exchange of pleasantries will usually include name, occupation and then health and wellbeing. However, only seconds after the initial introduction most salespeople and customers cannot remember each other's names, so what hope do they have to remember them throughout the sales presentation. The two fundamental aspects of rapport building during the meet and greet process are the lowering of apprehension levels and attending to their name. Salespeople should focus as they greet people then listen closely to their name, repeating it in the next sentence in order to create an imprint.
Positive Environment
Customers obviously respond more favourably to positive experiences than negative ones. Therefore, it is the role of the salesperson to create a positive environment in which to 'exist' for the duration of the presentation. Enthusiasm, humour and stories are great fuel. It is important to realise that your actions and results are directly linked to your thoughts, so a positive pre-sale programming session might just be what you need to kick-start your positive energy again as you greet your customer.
Common Ground
The meet and greet is the sales warm up and it is here where you can establish common ground by discussing the weather, sports or a local news story. Also try to find out the other person's hobbies, awards or past accomplishments, for positive conversation on these topics will cement a good grounding for a business relationship.
Customers today have many options available to them and will turn to these if they do not find you to be likeable and trustworthy. Avoid leaving this backdoor open to your competition by developing strong relationships right from the outset.