Jojo’s World

Marketing is the key factor that determines the success of a business. When ever you start or plans to expand your business, the most important question that you have to solve is “How to improve marketing”

Cold Calls (the practice of calling an individual/firm/company/organization,introducing yourself and about your company,explaining your services and how it can improve/help the other ones business and @ end of call enquiring “weather he/she is interested in the services”) are one of the conventional type or marketing tactic followed over ages. Its still used by many people who know only little marketing tactics and by new startup’s with no ability to hire a marketing team. When I and my friends started our business, we also were at the same situation. We had no marketing teams, not much money to employ some business consultants. The only option left was “do things yourself and study from your experience and mistakes“. If you are working on this mode or if you are doing things by yourself without much knowledge then you should always be in the “feedback” mode, means you should always take feedback’s from each experience. You should ask questions yourself, Why this client rejected my proposal? What was the reason? Analyse and find out then apply feedback correction (Correct yourself is the whole idea!!).

I think, we have made only few cold calls (some 10 maybe! ) so far and I am very proud to say that none of them worked out! After a few failed attempts we stopped making cold calls (well there’s another reason because we already started getting inbound leads by then). But its a fact that none of the cold calls worked out. Also many of the marketing guys I have talked with shared their experience with cold calls as “hell“.

Why cold calls fail?

There are many reasons for this. I will share some of my experiences and of other guys.

1. A cold call is not at all targeted - When we are making a cold call, we really don’t know weather the other hand is really in need of your services/product. In 90% of cases that party might not be interested in the particular services we are offering. They may just say” Oh I am not interested right now! Please call later”

2. Cold calls are indirectly equal to advertisements – Its a fact that we HATE ads! Cold calls also indirectly effect as ads or forced ads or push ads. We really don’t like calls from our mobile network vendors like Vodafone,Idea,Airtel etc. I know many guys placing “Dont Take” with these ad serving numbers.

3. Inappropriate time of call delivery -  We don’t know the mood of the person we are calling, weather hes busy or he/she is interested to spare their valuable 5 mins for us etc etc. In most cases people will say “Oh I am busy right now, please call later”

4. Already hired similar service/bought a similar product - This is another case. I myself had an experience. With an intention to sell SEO services to one of the top builders in Cochin, I approached one. It was fair deal as he understood what I said and granted me an appointment. I went there on time with proposal, explained all the stuffs pros and cons, advantages of online marketing, cost effectiveness etc. “Okay! Okay! great” he said and continued “but I already gave contract to some company ‘x’ so am really sorry. I called you to know what difference you can offer compared to the other” Hmm! so there are cases like this also. But I was more than happy when he said, “your proposal sounds much better than the other and I will certainly call you if the other guys failed”

5. Pricing dilemma- Its another major problem that many of you might have faced. Suppose we were lucky to close a cold call to sale. Next big thing is pricing or bargaining to the sense. When a business is gained through cold call, i think the “more needy” one is we service provider. Client might have the attitude “Its you who pushed me into this deal, I have no need” So he will start bargaining! sometimes to the xtreme that we can see only in streets. well that too is a nice experience. Highly efficient marketers will still tame such persons and close the deal in fair (fair to the marketer!)

6. Delay in payments- They might make an advance payment and most likely to make the second one too. I dunno/ I am not sure weather they will make the last scheduled payments.

7. Chance of dropping projects in half - A client that is achieved via cold calls are likely to drop the project in half the way. He might simply say ” I have run out of cash” or “I lost interest” etc. He may even ask a refund of advance payment.

8. Difficult to satisfy- They might not have a clear aim or a clear cut idea of the project they are buying. They will always ask for corrections here and there and at the end they will say “I m not satisfied”

9. Lack of marketing skills – Its another major reason I should have pointed out @ start of this article. One should be a “terrific” marketer to close a cold call. He should be sharp and clear with aim and knowledge and at the same time should be polite and cool.

10. Offensive – Most cold calls are really offensive! Chances are high it may create a resentful displeasure.

At the end think yourself, “Do you like cold calls?“ I dont!

What’s your idea? Share it as comments if you like and if you have time to spare.

Its been a couple of years now since I started working on web, especially on search but its quiet strange that I started to dig “what is search?‘ just recently(lack of time may be the reason).  So far I and my friends were working on some web projects, we were trying to build that up, bring traffic (we were successful in those attempts really) and @ the same time we were building our company Techseol Web Solutions up. If you fail to FOCUS on what you are doing, you will end up no where (thats what I learned so far!)

I am making a humble attempt to answer “What is search?” from my very small experience on this industry so far.

How search happens?

We always “search” to find an answer to a question in our mind.  When ever we need to know about something the easy solution is “search”. You will get your answers in Google or Yahoo or Live or @ some other places. When ever we finds an answer we stop searching because we have reached where we want to. I think that’s the whole basic idea of search.

How to utilize searches?

A search always ends @ an answer or a solution. Humans always love who helps them with a solution @ the right time. So in a way they love the search engine (mostly Google) who helped or guided him/her to an answer. They will keep in mind that “Google/Yahoo/Live gave me an answer so I am gonna use that again”. But the ultimate HUG will be received by the website/blog/wiki who provided him/her with the right solution. Here comes the importance of writing informative/useful articles in your website because it always leads to a HUG by the searcher. They may pay a return visit in future, they may share that blog with their friends, they may bookmark in social medias etc etc.

See 1 guy who payed a visit to your website is = 1 unique visitor = 1 valuable customer of your business.

If you are number 1 in Google for a particular search term say “How to compress a file” and you are getting 158 unique visitors a day from this particular term alone. If you can provide a COMPELLING article on that topic “How to compress a file” answering all the questions, you are making sure that you retains all that 158 customers+expecting more visitors by the reference of these peoples (each day). On the other hand if you are giving a worth less article you are making sure that you will not get the same customer again+no referals + bonus chances of putting your site down in search wikis.

How much searches happen?

Well, even Google can’t answer this exactly. There’s millions of billion searches happening each day. Always keep in mind that 1 searcher = 1 potential customer. I think by localizing things I might be able to give an idea about the volume of searches happening.

Case 1: Global search-Term “laptops”

From the figure its easy to understand that term “laptops” has a search volume (number of searches) of 13,600,000 per month.  This means around 4,500,00 unique searches happening a day in Google globally for the term “laptops”. So if you are the #1 result for term “laptops” in Google you gets exposed to that much inbound customers (targeted) a day, increasing the sale chances.

There arises a question always, what this search is happening for? Obviously not all  4,500,00 people searching for “laptops” intend to buy one. Their intentions diversifies, they might be looking for reviews,for comparisons,for price tariffs,for pictures etc. It Varies!

But more focused search term “buy laptops” has a different meaning. Those customers might be interested to buy a laptop, they might be looking for sources of buying a laptop etc. It also varies but I can say they are more focused and higher % of conversion to sale possibility exists. When search gets focused search volumes also gets reduced. Compared to “laptops” the term “buy laptops” has only 1800 searches happening a day. But always keep in mind its better to get focused on your industry rather than widening. Widening is a good concept when its viewed in terms of advertising. For ex: If sites of Sony or Dell or Hp can get #1 in Google for term “laptops” they can deliver a targeted advertising to  4,500,00 unique peoples a day free of ad cost! How sweet is that?

Giving more focus to search terms, we can see searches also happen for different models of laptops like Dell Xps M1330 or Sony Vaio Vgn CS 21 etc. These searchers are highly focused either to know more about a particular laptop or know its review or to see some photos or for a “buy”-a sale! From figure we can understand that “Dell Xps” has around 27,300 serches a day while higly focused “Dell Xps M1330″ has only 3700 searches happening a day.

Well I talked about only some 4 or 5 search terms only. Think about numerous jumbling s of these terms, infinite number of combination’s of search terms, different types of terms that can arise in a searchers mind like “clean laptop” comparison terms like “sony v/s dell” “is dell bad?” etc etc etc. Billions of searches happen a day about “laptops” and its various combinations alone. See how big search is!

Case 2: Regional search-Localised to a City

See lets take the same example of “laptops” but instead of thinking global lets go Local. Lets take a city of Chicago. From data it shows that the term “laptops chicago” has 1300 searches a month. These customers might be searching for laptop shops in Chicago or laptop service centres in chicago or they may be searching for some laptop showrooms in Chicago to see their model of choice in real (not as a digital image in computer monitor). Also the term “laptop repair chicago” has 1000 unique searches happening a month. Now think of the different cities in Usa, different countries, states etc etc. Know how big search is!

My aim was to answer “What’s the basic idea of search” with a perspective that might be helpful to webmasters,search marketers and all those related peoples.

Its a history being made with “Unnai Poloruvan” remake of critically acclaimed and successful Hindi film A wednesday . When the legendary actors of Indian Cinema industry Mohanlal and Kamal Hassan join hands to make a film, its quiet natural the viewers expectation goes high and a hype that shatters the sea wave will get created.

A wednesday was a different attempt which dared to get out of the cages of conventional Hindi cinema. Performances were really great in which Anupam kher and Nazarudeen Shah fights inch to inch to outshine each other, but in the end the viewer find its difficult to distinguish whos great! Both performed their best in A Wednesday. Storyline of the movie was pretty interesting and was a great variety and Kudos to the brilliance of the director who kept the pace of the movie according the script demands. Its a story thats happening in a day-A Wednesday!

Watch the movie asap if you haven’t yet!

I hope the south Indian legends Mohanlal and Kamal Hassan will outshine both Anupam Kher and Nazarudeen Shah with their damn best performances ever! Well there’s “reasons” to expect! I am eagerly waiting to see the national award winners (multi times) competing each other on screen…nothing less than an “inch 2 inch”

This Article was written by me  and submitted to  YOUmoz section of worlds most reputed SEO Blog-SEOMoz! Here is the link to SEOMoz Article

In the age of new media, how can we use them effectively to increase sales/business? How can you use new-age social media as a marketing channel?

Let’s start from some basics to have a thought on this subject. People always neglect some simple facts, and that’s why most people fail in building a social media brand. This article is about how can we use even our simplest web activity as a marketing effort. It’s about how to use the power of social media as a powerful inbound marketing tool.

How to Select Your Media

This is an important and primary question to answer. Social media ranges from forums, blogs, vlogs, social bookmarks, social networks, micro blogs, etc. The type of media you select depends on how it relates to your industry/market. For example, if your business is based on automobiles, obviously you should find social media sites/portals about  the automotive industry (related to cars, bikes, automobile reviews, etc). If your business is hospitality, find media related to tourism, travels, etc. What you must consider is whether the social media you selected fits to your business and its market. If answer is YES, then go on. It doesn’t matter if it’s a forum, blog or social network, just make sure it’s niche-related.

How to Use Forums as Marketing Channels

Most people consider forums as cheap or don’t value them much as powerful tool for marketing. Actually, forums can do something “big” if you use them properly. It’s obvious that all the new age web 2.0 social media we see today are an extension/expansion from the basic concept of forums in one way or another. What many people do is just register in some forums, participate in some threads and they might not bother much.

How can you generate some business from your participation in forums? Here are some basic suggestions:

1. The first thing you must do is complete your personal profile when you register on any social media site (this is the most basic stuff).
2. The next big thing is to find out where you can place a link to your official/personal website. This is highly important, as this “link” acts as the key to contact you for any means (sometimes a potential client).
3. Make your profile look original and personalize it to any extent you can.
4. Put a signature link (a link to your official/personal website) in every forum you join.

Simply registering in a forum with a complete profile will not help you generate business. You must actively participate in discussion boards, reply to active threads, and create appealing new articles/threads.

Build your brand!
This is a universal law. For the industry/media/people you choose, the value you get for your words depends highly on your “brand.” For example: American presidents’ words appeals more than Russian presidents. The case is similar in forums — if you are reputable, if you have a large number of posts/threads, if people value your words, you will build your brand gradually.  When someone contacts you for business, you will enjoy this brand value for sure.

Your attitude!
This plays another key role in branding/developing a smart profile. Your attitude should be based on one & only one “HELP”. Other members in the forums must feel you are here to “help.” When someone asks some doubts or some questions, give them quiet, good answers and you will see your reputation building up.

Making personal relationships
Making good human relationships with other active members of the forum and disclosing your identity will surely help. When you introduce yourself to a new person, immediately say, “Who you are? What company do you work for? What are your company’s products/services?” If possible, try to tell your new contact how you can help him/her with your products/services to improve his business. Try to re-connect with many useful members frequently.

There’s a lot more to write about forums, but I need to go through many other media so I’ll move on. However, what I have written about forums applies to all other media–it’s all basic stuff that helps with Internet marketing.

How Blogs Can Bring You Business

A deep understanding of your business and market will let you know what niche you should blog about. It’s better to start blogging on your company’s official website — this will increase credibility of your content and blog and add value to your company.

Design and content
A beautiful, attractively designed blog with compelling content will drive natural, relevant traffic to your blog. You need to update this blog daily with the latest, worthy content of your niche. People from different locations may visit your blog via organic results, referrals, or some other social media channels. Some 3 to 5% of these visitors might be looking for products/services that you sell. This may certainly lead to conversions. You must also do SEO/SEM/SMO to bring traffic to your blog. Invite other brand people in your niche to do guest blogging, which can also improve your referral traffic.

Don’t forget:

• A complete, personalised “About Me” page on your blog (add your photo too).
• A special dedicated page “About your company,” detailing your products/services with beautiful pictures.
• A good “Contact Me/Contact Us” page. You should also include your email and contact links in social networking profiles like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.

How blog commenting will help
You might have heard of/worked with many people offering “Do follow blog commenting” services. But I don’t worry about whether the commenting is do follow or no follow. What you must do is make appealing comments to blog posts related to your niche, but don’t forget to type in your name and website. If your comment is very good or appealing, people may look to know more about you by visiting your website, which may lead to conversions. You are lucky if you can get into healthy fights in “commenting” (like comment baiting) because such activities will make you noticeable. Chances are that people may visit your blog/website/social profile more often.

How guest blogging helps in marketing
Find some good blogs related to your niche and contact them for guest blogging (most people will agree to let you blog since it provides them with free content). Now write a compelling article related to your industry/market, revealing who you are with a link to your website. Also, don’t forget to write a one liner on what you do and what your company is about.

How to Use Social Networks

Social networks can help in different ways, but the most helpful one is LinkedIn, as it’s dedicated to business networking. Facebook also needs to be considered. Here too, the basic stuff is creating an appealing profile. In LinkedIn, complete your profile with all the achievements/expertise/credentials you can show. After building a profile, start building your network by adding new connections. While selecting a new connection to add, be sure it’s worthy. Always select people related to your industry, and consider who can refer you some business, who can bring you sales, etc. Be helpful in LinkedIn as well–your attitude plays a key role!

Participating in Groups/Communities
LinkedIn offers a good platform for active discussion in Groups. You can also bring traffic to your blog via LinkedIn groups. Write an appealing/controversial post in your blog, and then post that link in a LinkedIn discussion board with a catchy excerpt/one liner. While writing controversial posts, be sure to take a neutral stand or not to hurt a person, which is not a good practice. Similar activity can be done in forums, Facebook, Twitter or any other social media platform.

Using Social Bookmarks

How to use Digg, StumbleUpon, etc is a well discussed topic everywhere. If you can get enough diggs to bump your submission to the front page/”popular” category, you can receive a load of traffic.  You can follow this link for a great article about social bookmarks.

Using YouTube/DailyMotion/metacafe

Create an attractive complete profile with links to your personal blog/official website. Here the difference is only in what to create. So far you were to write articles/content, but here it’s a video which can help in marketing. Create a video (shoot a new one) or an animation related to your industry and then upload. Don’t forget to add credits to the video. You can get more traffic if you can create the video based on a good concept/story. Creating fun/satirical videos will also win huge traffic. People watching this video may look at your profile or visit the website shown in the credits, so you are improving your chances of a sale.

Using Micro Blogging Services for Marketing

I will start with a recent example. Last week Dell, using its Twitter account, announced a sale. The discount sale was only for Twitter users, and it worked! Dell has about 50K+ followers on Twitter, and their sale announcements have always worked well. Each of the Twitter users who follow Dell will alert their followers by tweeting them about the offer. With a single tweet, Dell got a chance to expose their offer to 50K people and, additionally, got another 50K tweets about the offer. What an awesome idea! Dell’s decision to limit its sale to Twitter users is another key point because it gives a personalised discount feeling, which will work far better than a general offer.
I hope the Dell story alone is enough to make you aware of the power of social media as a marketing channel. I am winding up my article here and will share my new thoughts in coming articles. To end, practicing the tips given above gives you a chance to expose your products and services via social media marketing. Today I’ve written about the basics of inbound marketing. Studies have proven that Inbound marketing efforts have a 60% chance on closure of a sale, whilst outbound techniques have less than 30%.

Hope you all heard about the recent Obama move to bring back the ailing US economy back in track. Obama said that all US company’s who creates a job in Buffallo city instead of bangalore will get tax deductions. How great is that?

“We will stop letting American companies that create jobs overseas take deductions on their expenses when they do not pay any American taxes on their profits,” Obama said at White House announcing the international tax policy reform.

“We will use the savings to give tax cuts to companies that are investing in research and development here at home so that we can jump start job creation, foster innovation, and enhance America’s competitiveness,” Obama said.

What will be the effect of this idea on outsourcing to countries like India,China,Philipines etc? Is this an anti-outsourcing phenomenon? is america playing agianst globalisation? or is this just a strategy to increase the american reveneue or create new jobs inside america for a while?

Well literally 100′s of questions can arise on an Indian’s mind, especially on the young IT pros. I will share my thoughts below.

Taking biggies first, TCS,INFOSYS & WIPRO – what’s their stand? I dont think obama’s move is going to make any effect on these companies and its operations other than the setback they are facing now due to bad economic conditions. Reason is for years they have evolved & evolved in their process and operations to become IT giants! Means they have setup their own infrastructure,HR potentials,talent pools, knowledge resources etc etc which is not available in America right now. If any American Fortune 500 wanna execute some IT project, they must depend on these biggies or an Indian IT company. So I hope Obama’s move has nothing to do with IT outsourcing!

Second reason is – American companies are not forced to PAY any additional Taxes for outsourcing their businesses. Only thing is the Tax deductions they enjoyed so far because of creating an outsourcing job is gonna end. I dont think American fortunes created outsourcing jobs because they can benefit a lot from “Tax Deductions”!

But I highly doubt this “Obama move” can cause significant problems in the BPO industry like call centre, data checkings, entries, etc etc where not highly skilled jobs are created. Many companies can transfer these jobs to Baffalo city from Bangalore without much over head, if they wanna do so! This is because BPO industry is backed by Soft Skills (which can be achieved by training) and not by Technical Skills like IT industry is backed by.

Let me know your thoughts as comments!