Author: WaelBadawy
Action Figures: Antiques for the Common Man
Given enough time, one boyís toy is an antique collectorís prized possession. Strange as that may sound, there are many collectors who would love to see an original G.I. Joe or an original Star Wars action figure. Remember He-Man? Action figures tend to be based on shows, movies, or comics that always have a following, and therefore even years after companies stop producing the figures, there are individuals who still seek to collect them. There are many a man who think of all the G.I. Joes they blew up with fireworks, only to find out twenty years later how many hundreds or even thousands of dollars their collection would have been worth if it remained in mint condition!
One interesting story dealing with action figures involves Takara, a Japanese toy company. They are best known to modern toy collectors as the company that built the original Transformers action figures. In 1974 Takara created a 4-inch humanoid action figure, which was called “MicroMan.” In the late 70’s and early 80’s this toy was brought over to the United States by the Mego Toy company, which was desperate for a hit after they made the famous blunder of passing on Star Wars. They re-named the line “Micronauts”, and created enough of a back story for Marvel Comics to get a good run of comics. Mego got several years of good sales, which was about the same size as Star Wars figures, before the whole company went down.
The basic construction of the Micronauts action figure would soon be utilized by Hasbro for their new action figures: the now famous and very collectible 3-3/4″ G.I. Joes (an action figure famous amongst young boys of the time for their propensity to have bad run-ins with fireworks). In recent years, the Micronauts concept has enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence. There has been a decently successful series of comic books, a trilogy of paperback novels, and a toy company called Palisades managed to re-create many of the original Micronauts molds. Now the original company is coming out with larger action figures based on the originals. Like many classics, companies want to keep dipping back for more. Why mess with success? Still itís the old action figures that gain the most attention from collectors, so if youíre thinking about putting out the old toys from twenty years ago out in the garage sale, maybe think twice and take a second look before putting the boxes out. Who knows what you might find?
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Be a Red Apple and surround yourself with Red Apples and don’t mind the Green Apples
Like all aspects of life, and in business, we have different customers who can be negative, positive or neutral. We have different employee who can be negative, positive or neutral. We have different co-works who can be negative, positive or neutral. No matters what is the example, we will always find red apples, green apples and brown apples.
The Red apples are the good ones, the delicious one, the performers, the positive, the high energy etc.
The Green apples are the sour ones, the ones who do not want to move but they do not decide, the undecided, I call them waiting for the train to have a ride or a hit, etc.
The Brown apples are the bad ones, the negative, the rejection, the non-performers, the road blocker, the negatives, Etc. These are the bad influences, who can harm you.
To be successful, you must be a Red Apple, surrounded by at least 90% Red Apples and do not mind up to 10% Green Apples. But, avoid Brown Apples and have 0% Brown Apples in your life. Your goal is convert Green Apples to Red Apples. If you stuck with a Brown Apple, you will be Brown.
It is Red, Red, Red, Apple; and only Red Apple.
Add Value to All You Do
While reading some very informative material recently, I found myself inspired by a concept that enables a person to soar to higher heights. The concept of adding value to everything you do, when applied to specific areas of a person’s life, can bring that person to be highly sought after by those receiving the added value. The material I was reading focused on business and what this concept will do for the success of a business. Another way of looking at this concept is in the idea of doing more than is expected, or doing more than that which you are compensated to do. When doing this a person will be “weighed” against others who do not. In comparison, the person who adds value to all he/she does will be sought after to the degree that there will be keen competition for his/her service. As a person becomes more and more recognized for doing more than he/she is compensated to do, he/she will begin receiving more and more compensation for their services.
There is an additional benefit that comes to the person who exercises this concept in his/her business; the development of that person’s strength. In nature, do you suppose the strongest trees are those that are protected from the storms and hidden from the sun? This isn’t the case. The one that stands out in the open and bears all of the winds and rain and is shone upon by the blistering sun is the tree that develops the strength to withstand the most violent weather. This also is the case for the person who goes beyond expectation to deliver added value in everything he/she does. This is the person that becomes strong enough to succeed despite the adversities that one is sure to come up against in his/her business. The fact that most people are delivering as little as they can get by with, serves as a great advantage to you when you deliver added value. One who delivers as little as he/she can, may rest assured he/she will receive the same.
I hope this information will add value to all of your experiences.
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A Look At One Creator Of Sports Logos
The members of every sports team wear an embroidered logo somewhere on their sports gear. That embroidered logo is a symbol of pride. The makers of those logos are equally proud of their creations.
Who makes those embroidered logos? Does each city with a professional team have its own set of embroidery experts? If one were to look at the logo for the Philadelphia Phillies, one would get that impression. Their logo contains a liberty bell. It looks like a logo designed by a present-day Betsy Ross.
Yet ìRossî was not the last name of the family that did the embroidery for that logo. That family had a different last name. Their name was ìMoritz.î
Before the depression, the Moritz family had a business focused on the making of embroidered lace. Then during the depression, Carl Moritz, the founder of the company, and two of his sons changed the nature of the companyís efforts. They got the employees to start doing the embroidery for the emblems put on sports uniforms.
At the time of its founding, 1885, the Moritzí company was located on Vine Street in Philadelphia. In 1970 the company moved to northern Philadelphia. In 1986 the Moritzí company moved much further north. It moved to the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania.
The Moritz family has been an important part of the embroidery industry for five generations. Carl Moritz, Jr., the grandson of the companyís founder, took time off during World War II to serve in the Marine Corps. After three years of service (1943-1946) he got an honorable discharge, and then he returned to Philadelphia to help with the family business.
His son and grandson have also lent their efforts to advancement of the skills required for making embroidered logos. They have made sure that the company has stayed in tune with the times. The youngest Moritz has created a new line of offerings called QDT Products. Those products are computer hardware and software for use in the embroidery industry.
By using such QDT Products, embroidered logos can be made much more efficiently. Design changes can be readily added to the available software. That makes it easier to train the employees who will make the embroidered logos.
With computers as part of the logo-making process, it is doubtful that sports logos will soon go out of style. They will probably be an important part of professional sports for quite some time.
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12 Handy Tips for Generating Leads through Cold-Calling
Cold calling can be a great way to generate quality leads. You get to speak to the gatekeepers and stakeholders, and you get a great insight into their requirements and influences.
But cold calling is an art-form. It can be daunting, itís always a lot of work, and you always need to make a good impression. So you need to do it right. Following are some tips which will help you do just that.
1) Record everything
Always write down all details of every phone call. Write down any names and titles you learn. Not just the name of the person youíre trying to contact. The receptionist’s name can be vital to remember as they’re often gatekeepers. Write down when you called, and when you said you’d call back.
2) Use a database or spreadsheet to record everything
Youíll never manage by hand, and Excel spreadsheets arenít user friendly in the long term. If youíre prepared to invest in a real CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool, thatís a great idea. If not, you there is a cheaper alternative. I created my own database using Microsoft Access. Visit https://www.divinewrite.com/downloads/contacts and jobs.mdb to download a 208KB working copy for FREE. Youíll need Microsoft Access 2000 to run it. Iím no database expert, so itís not a work of art. Itíll certainly get you started though. (TIP: When using the database, press Ctrl + ; to enter todayís date.)
3) Always call back when you said you would
Donít let them down. They may not even remember that you committed to calling back. But if they do, and you donít meet your commitment, youíll lose valuable credibility and respect. And wherever possible, work to their schedule. You’re here to help them, not make things harder.
TIP FOR COPYWRITERS: If youíre an advertising copywriter or website copywriter, ask to speak to the Marketing Manager (or if the person who answers the phone says they don’t have a marketing manager, ask for “the person who looks after your advertising & website” – all businesses have that person – it’s generally one of the owners).
4) Always try to get on with the gatekeepers
Receptionists and personal assistants have great influence, and quite often do more of the real work and decision making than the person youíre trying to contact! Make friends with them and youíve got a foot in the door. (But donít waste their time or crawl ñ they get a lot of that!)
5) Keep it short ën sweet
When you do get to speak with someone, keep it short ‘n sweet unless they want to talk a lot. The purpose of the phone call is to get their attention, let them know you’re there, get their name and contact details, and assess whether they have any requirement for your services. (TIP FOR COPYWRITERS: If youíre an advertising copywriter or website copywriter, you might have called about brochure writing and then find out they need web writing.)
6) DONíT HARD SELL!!!
Donít pressure people or make it hard for them to get off the phone. Tell them what you do and that you’d like to send them an email with a link to your website with samples and testimonials (or with an attachment containing samples), then leave them to it.
7) Follow up with an email
If you have permission, always send a follow-up email ñ and do so immediately. Be specific in your subject line. (TIP FOR COPYWRITERS: If youíre an advertising copywriter or website copywriter, use the words “advertising copywriting” or ìwebsite copywritingî in the subject. Most people don’t get many emails with this in the subject line, so it’ll be distinctive and probably wonít be snuffed by their spam filter if they have one.) Address the email to them (e.g. “Hi Joe”), keep the email short ‘n sweet. Include only the essential info, make it easy to read and conversational, and bold the important words or phrases as they’ll probably only skim it. Include a link to your website, reference the day and date you talked on the phone (and thank them for that time), mention any names you learnt (e.g. receptionist’s name, especially if the receptionist gave you an email address but you didn’t actually get to speak to the decision maker), tell them that you’d like to follow up in a few weeks (assuming the conversation indicated that this would be a good idea).
8) Follow up with another call
If the lead looks promising, make sure you follow up. And when you do, always mention the day and date of the original call, as well as the fact that you sent an email. Give a quick summary of who you are and what you do, and say that you’re just calling to make sure they got the email. Most of the time, youíll find the lead will talk to you about your services, if only to remind themselves of what you do!
9) Donít expect to make too many calls
On a really good day, I’ve made 80 cold calls. Most days, though, you should be very pleased to average around 40. Youíll spend a lot of time playing telephone tag.
10) Donít leave message
Unless you absolutely have to (or youíve just about given up on the lead), donít leave messages. Most people have trouble returning phone calls from people they know and like; returning phone calls from someone whoís trying to sell them something isnít high on their list of priorities.
11) Donít expect to qualify too many leads
Depending on your business, if you get one good lead a day, you’re probably doing very well.
12) Donít expect immediate conversion
Unfortunately, most leads take a long time to come to fruition (up to 2 years). So you have to be prepared to be patient.
Good luck and happy calling!
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The power of one cent
What is the power of one cent?
To answer this question, imagine that one cent doubles every day. As shown in the table, one cent after 9 days can buy you a coffee at $2.56. One cent, after 20 days, can buy a car at $5,242.88. One cent after 30 days can buy your dream that is worth $5 Million dollars. AND, you keep it to the following day, you will become a double-digit millionaires. One cent will be a $1,374,389,534.72 on day 38 and will be $5,497,558,138.88 on day 40.
Then what?
The model above presents the strength of a network. I focus my effort to recruit my team and double double every day, or a week or a month. I can reach a powerful result and I have the passion and dedication to do it for 30 days.
The model is also applicable to sales, if I can double my sales every day, I can reach amazing business size after 30 cycles.
The cycle can be one week, one month, or even one year.
Just keep it doubling and do not rush and have the passion to be a billionaire starting with one cent.
John D. Rockefeller who is the world’s richest man and the first American worth more than a billion dollars, controlling 90% of all oil in the United States at his peak. said “I would rather earn 1% off a 100 people’s efforts than 100% of my own efforts.”
A Guide to using T-Shirts for marketing
Promotional T-shirts have been a part of business promotion and marketing of brands for a long time. Promotional T Shirts can be given to clients, to prospective customers, and also to your employees to give them the added feeling of belonging to a brand. You do not need be a world famous brand to benefit from promotional T-shirts. Even new busineses have used T Shirts to create awareness of their product, brand or business.
giving Promotional T Shirts to your employees is a great way for brand endorsement. You can design T Shirts with your company brand and marketing message for your employees and if you are hosting a conference, exibition or promotional event, make it mandatory for your employees to wear promotional T Shirts. It is a very inexpensive method to make your staff stand out from the crowd and you present an orderly unity among your employees, the same way in which a uniform serves.
Some businessesthink that it is too expensive to buy a t-shirt online but they are often incorrect. Purchasing t shirts online is a fast and easy process and the choice of online shops is very much better than you expect it to be with some allowing you to undertake the entire design process and payment online.
Corporate branding on T-Shirts can significantly improve the brand awareness of a business in a very short period of time and aside from the obvious marketing advantages branded T-Shirts and other clothing can enhance the perception of customers to your business. Considering the relatively low cost of purchase and printing T shirts against the length of time a good quality T Shirt can last makes branded T shirts one of the most cost effective methods of marketing for many businesses.
It is widely believed that DTG tshirt printing is more environmentally than screen printing. DTG uses water-based inks to print directly onto clothing, this means that there are no excess inks used in the actual printing and the only waste that occurs is from the occasional print head cleaning ñ itís worth noting that head cleaning does not involve any external materials only ink. Then as long as waste ink is disposed of correctly, printing tshirts using the DTG method should have virtually no environmenal impact. Screen printing however has excess inks from parts of the stencil not printed to the tshirt and when screens are cleaned these excess inks are usually washed down the drain.
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A Guide to Brochure Printing
Brochure printing can be easy if you first identify your needs and have a clear sense of your budget. Whether it is for is a real estate listing, a trade show handout, a data sheet, or another application, brochures are a great promotional tool.
Start with a layout that includes the text and images you will need to convey your message. Then choose the type of printing that best suits your brochure. Brochures are typically printed in more than one color.
There are two basic choices in printing: offset printing and laser or digital printing. Both printing processes are capable of producing large quantities of high-quality documents. Most high quality, full-color commercial printing is done on offset presses using the four-color process. Offset printing is a process whereby ink is spread on a metal plate with etched images, is transferred to an intermediary surface, and is then applied to paper by pressing the paper against the intermediary surface. Although set-up costs can be relatively high, the actual printing is generally inexpensive.
Laser or digital printing uses a laser beam to produce an image; this is also the way copy machines work. Offset printing usually produces clearer, crisper type and higher resolution images than laser or digital printing. However, smaller printing jobs can be done on a small low-volume laser or inkjet printer, or at a copy store, thereby eliminating set-up fees and some shipping costs.
Choosing paper is another very important aspect of brochure printing. Most printers will recommend a heavyweight, coated, or glossy paper to achieve a more vibrant, upscale look.
The folding of your brochure is another key consideration. Basic folding options include: the half fold or single fold, the tri fold (the left and right flaps open), and the ìZî fold (which opens up like an accordion). Almost all printers will give you a greater discount the more you print.
Brochure printing can be easy and fun and allow for a good deal of self-expression, so go ahead, what are you waiting for? Print that brochure.
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A Good Autoresponder
How many free autoresponders have you tried? Really how many? And how many emails did you get through using them? How do you know? How many people opened your followup message?
My point here is that if you have no clue for the answers above you probably are not operating a followup campaign successfully. These are crucial element that must be explored when you are choosing an autoresponder.
Some good steps to take to ensure you are getting what you need out of a autoresponder include… Compare your autoresponder with those of top marketers, chances are they are using the best in the business. You can’t go wrong with this step!
Other observations you might make are related to spam filters. Have you ever gotten an e-mail and seen something like this…”F`R`E`E” Yes this is a good way to beat the spam filters as they won’t read Free they will read something totally different. However it can be time consuming going through your article and finding which words are “Danger” words. This can go along way in your marketing efforts. So make sure you find an autoresponder that has a spam rating feature… these features will automatically show you where in your article your “Danger” words are.
Another crucial element of e-mail marketing are your statistics. How many e-mails are being opened can tell you if your subject line is any good or if you did a good job branding your name. If you know your e-mail statistics you are one step in the right direction in optimizing your potential sales. Finding an autoresponder that shows in depth analysis with your followups are also key.
What should a followup contain? Good question… My personally experience suggests directing your subscribers to a full article located on the web. There are some good reasons for this. You can create an excitement teaser in the followup e-mail and beg your article to be read on the web. There is also the chance that since you have an article archive on the web many subscribers will often read more than just your original article. Your subscriber might not be interested in one article but they may find what they are looking for browsing through your previous articles.
Broadcasting! So your subscribers are finished receiving their original followup series… now what? Find an auto responder that allows you to broadcast an update or an offer to the entire subscriber list. Don’t let your subscribers go to waste, this feature is a must!
Remember not to bore your hard earned subscribers. Present them with a problem and offer them a solution! Its that easy…
Find my recommended autoresponder on my marketing blog!
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