Effective Web Hosting for Social Media Sites

Social media websites are a relevant and a crucial aspect of web surfacing in all parts of the world. The social media networking websites of today require only the most accommodating and innovative Web hosting. Because social media, podcast, forum wikis and weblog formats are varied, website hosts must be responsive and flexible to all of their client's needs. One of the common features among social networking websites is how they discuss and share personal information, which is something all social media campaigns need to keep in mind.

Above all else, it is important to remember that social media campaigns are becoming quite crowded and generate a huge amount of traffic. Because of this, bandwidth usage is higher than ever. In order to meet this demand, fast servers are a must when launching social media efforts. Every day, high bandwidth usage continues to grow as various media elements, such as applets, instant message functions, pictures and videos, are integrated into social media websites. All of these types of media place a heavy demand on the web hosts of today.

Perhaps the most critical area where web hosts need to excel is in their response to the public interest. Targeted SM campaigns cause big traffic boosts once the public begins to respond to the campaign message. Due to this traffic surge, server overload risks increase, which is why website hosts need to take a proactive approach to accommodating this high demand. But they cannot get away with using any kind of site content. In order to attract new users as well as nail down long-term interest, it is essential to utilize timely content management. Websites that do not provide regular fresh content, are not well maintained, run slow and are not open to suggestions do not gain and keep substantial amounts of traffic. Traffic is the main goal of all successful SM campaigns.

Because SM website hosting relies on content management, it is the job of web hosts to provide a wide array of tools for installing and editing Web content. Drupal is one of these effective software packages that helps people and businesses publish content on their websites. The free add-ons and built-in functions of Drupal aid users in uploading files, creating blogs and using p2p networking. cPanel is another crucial tool for website hosting. This application allows for tight security, layered administration and features not available in any other similar application. The cPanel program is a must-have toolkit for launching new websites, which is a critical phase in any SM campaign.

Besides the above-mentioned tools, there are more common features shared by superb social media campaigns. One such similarity is that they are all goal oriented. A clear and straightforward description of the goals and is the start of all great campaigns. If you want to raise product awareness or get product/service feedback, you need to first determine your goals in order to avoid aimlessness. As the campaign continues, review these goals to maintain focus as you consider account experiences.

Brand identity is of the utmost importance. Due to social media's nature, your marketing campaign will have a wide reach so your campaign must correctly reflect its purpose from the word "go."

It is also important to establish a communication outlet with the Internet community. While there are some SM campaigns that dislike feedback and disable comments, successful campaigns are responsive and tailor their message in order to meet the always-changing demands of their target audience.

Entice your visitors. You can encourage online visitors to share information about your campaign efforts by giving away new offers and special discounts to repeat guests.

Finally, utilize your Facebook page's status changes and updates to expand your network of prospective clients. Because people tend to check their personal profiles on a regular basis, you will be able to instantly update them regarding special promotions.

If you use the above tips and tools, you can achieve a powerful social media campaign in just a few clicks. 

You can read more stuff written by her, including web hosting reviews of leading and affordable hosting companies and much more. Further more information search a WHS - bringing transparency to web hosting.

By Vanessa (WHS)

Reprint by Acarre Community Media

Things to Consider When Looking For the Best Web Design Company

Websites are the calling cards of every online venture that you should be proud of! It should provide relevant information along with pleasant viewing to all its users, achieved through quality web development and designing services. With advancements in the field of internet marketing and web technologies, now the market is over-flooded with avowedly best web design company. Therefore, selection of a good web designing company has become a tricky task. However, there are many determinants based on which a probable decision is reasonable as well as worth the value of your hard earned money. if you want to reach to any worthy decision, consider these following points before finally venturing out on any web design company:

• Experience- this factor plays a very important factor while looking for the best web design company. A web design company with years of experience is undoubtedly competent in understanding customer needs and requirements, rendering relevant solutions. Experience helps in honing expertise that directly impacts productivity. A web design company rendering services like Application development, SEO, brand building, etc for years should be kept on top of the list.
• Service portfolio- always make sure to check a web design company's service portfolio. Go through the range of service packages provided by the company along with their expertise level in every domain of web designing. The richer the service portfolio of the company, the better the chances of receiving multifarious web design solutions under a single roof.
• Methods of working- checking on the workflow as well as the work procedures followed by an apparently best web design company will save you from the unnecessary worries and troubles. Those companies following unorganized and complicated workflow will demand your presence, delaying web designing and development projects unnecessarily. Talk about their working methods and go with systematic and simplified one. This will save your time and money, ensuring timely submission of assigned projects.
• Reputation- gauging out the reputation of a web design company is probably one of the trickiest tasks. Get ready to do a thorough research on the selected companies to know more about their company profile along with their market reputation to reach to a decision. Go through the company website, check their clientele and accomplishments and don't miss out on their client's feedback. Or simply search over the internet to find information about the company through online forums, communities and groups. Never trust a web design company without checking its credibility.
• Cost effectiveness- this is another important factor that goes into selecting the best web development company. It is vital to measure the cost effectiveness of the company's web design solutions. Check whether your investment is worthy or not and for that you can even ask for quotes. Compare your needs with the company quote to get cost effective web design solutions at competitive rates.

The above mentioned points surely would help you to find the best web design company. But you should also invest your foresightedness to determine the suitability of a web design and development company that will build your dream website.

Further more information about this articles, the author invites you to see WDE - website design expert.

By Saheli Kundu

Reprint by Acarre Community Media

Identifying revenue opportunities via capacity analysis - Introduction

Capacity is defined as the output- or revenue-generating ability of an entity or a component thereof. It is a measure of the ability to produce goods, services and revenue.

Not all capacity concepts or components are created equal. Capacity's several components include, of course, the physical facilities that exist 24/7 although they may not be utilized 24/7 for various reasons. Because physical capacity is not easily adjusted in the short term, the notion of fixed physical capacity is central to much of the RM literature. Another component of capacity is personnel or the level of staffing provided to make the physical facilities operational. The amount of personnel capacity is discretionary and in many cases may be easily modified in the short term. Processes employed constitute a third component that affects how physical facilities and personnel are utilized to produce output.

Because they are internal to the organization, these three components of capacity depend on decisions made by management. A fourth capacity component is at least partially external: the supply chain (purchases) that reliably provides the goods and services necessary for the organization's outputs. Thus, we may think of the ‘four Ps’ of capacity:

1. Physical
2. Personnel
3. Processes
4. Purchases

 

Capacity illustration

To illustrate, observe that from a physical facilities viewpoint a restaurant's capacity consists of the size of its dining area and its kitchen. The number and capabilities of food preparation and service personnel also affect capacity. Processes utilized include the various techniques of preparing and delivering output. Although a fast-food restaurant's capacity differs from that of a fine dining restaurant of comparable size – a fast food outlet's physical capacity is able to serve more customers due to shorter preparation and service times – it will not necessarily produce more revenue. Finally, the ability to service customers depends on a steady and reliable supply of food and service products.

All four restaurant capacity components – physical facilities, personnel, processes and supply chain – interact to create the restaurant's revenue potential. Thus managing the revenue process requires measuring capacity on the various dimensions discussed above, and to analyze how those dimensions of capacity are being utilized. The CAM-I capacity model, discussed next, offers a useful framework for such analysis.

Summary and Conclusion

Building on the theme that proper consideration of capacity and its components is central to any effective RM scheme, we examined the insights provided by the CAM-I capacity model. The breakdown of capacity utilization into idle, non-productive and productive components provides a convenient framework for managerial review and analysis. Why is capacity idle? Are there impediments to its use? Should previous conclusions about the non-marketability of idle capacity be re-examined? Are there new and creative ways to put some idle capacity to work? How much capacity is non-productive and why? Can ways be found to convert non-productive time to productive? Analyses such as these can help identify new revenue opportunities. A CAM-I capacity analysis provides a straightforward framework for identifying revenue-generating enhancements without sophisticated mathematical analysis.

A further impact of capacity analysis is the recognition that capacity to generate revenues does not depend solely on physical facilities. Personnel, supply chain and processes also play a role; all four components should be considered.

Capacity analysis has its limitations. The analysis works best for entities where physical capacity directly limits revenues. Thus it is most readily applied in industries that have been the mainstream of the RM literature – airlines, hotels, restaurants, golf courses and the like. The analysis is also relevant to most manufacturing environments, although complicated by how multiple products impact the use of physical facilities. The most challenging applications lie in retail and service businesses, where physical assets play less of a role in RM. However, in such environments the other elements of capacity – personnel, supply chain and processes – may take on greater importance. More study is needed on these dimensions of capacity analysis.

Overall, capacity analysis, especially the CAM-I framework, can be a valuable tool for RM.

Further more information about this articles, please you check on Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management or e-mail to rhuefne@buffalo.edu.

By Ronald J Huefner & James A Largay III

Repost by Acarre Community Media

Competition in the Specialty Coffee Industry

Starbucks products always have been associated with a prestigious name. With Starbucks high quality of products, delicious tastes, friendly atmosphere, consumers want to pay a high price for its products. Starbucks widens its product line with the new Frappuccino tastes and thus, it meets here its contestants like Jamba Juice. 

Therefore, to occupy a position in the consumers' heads as a high quality brand, Starbucks should widen its position via nutritional products. This effect can be gained by decreasing the calories or by adding fresh fruit to the product. With the increase of the product's nutritional and taste, their product quality will increase as well. Proposing a more quality product for the same price will raise sales and make the company more competitive. 

Starbucks has played a significant role in creating the USA

Specialty coffee market. Nowadays, it has a unique value proposition that goes far than products and services. Starbucks executive staff believes that the organization should actually give a definite number of services. All this should be added to a satisfying coffee experience that combines premium coffee drinks such as cappuccino, cafe latte, espresso macchiato with great consumer service and an inviting, sociable atmosphere that makes people feel comfortable. This strategy involves not only what the coffee consumers drink, the way they communicate with shop assistants, and the atmosphere they are covered with. The coffee aromas in the air, background music, and other strategies are also included of shops' organization.

Starbucks is known for providing high quality products and services. Consumers have enjoyed the services they have at Starbucks. Nowadays those people who look for a high quality non-coffee drink can find it in Starbucks line of products. By producing new summer drinks, Starbucks will add an entirely new part of consumers to its clients. One should look at the sales benefits for the summer drinks. It is important as some of the present consumers will want to taste and begin consuming the new drinks. In the end, the widening of the product line is a right step because of the ease of adoption to Starbucks reputation for quality as well as the low cost of products.  

The first contestant to the new summer drinks is Jamba Juice. Starbucks summer drinks have significantly lower prices. In addition to low price, the gained profits for consuming a Starbucks drink are quite high for most consumers. Thus, if a consumer conducts a comparative analysis and divides gained profits by the price, the outcoming value for the consumer is rather high. 

The price of the summer drinks is comparatively lower than it contestants have. Nevertheless, while consumers adopt the product, they may taste other products and so, the price will increase appreciably with time. The balancing strategy is to make the price of the drink low enough to gain the profit and preserve Starbucks' prestigious image.

By Olivia Hunt

Repost by Acarre Media Community

Reviews of Shopping Cart Software - Utilizing The Right Choice For Shoppers

Today's technology is ever changing. There are a lot of advances everyday for people to take advantage of. Utilizing these technologies when starting or enhancing a business that utilizes online purchases is something that would be beneficial to you.

Often, websites with purchase abilities use a very familiar thing to show people how to check out, the shopping cart. The online shopping cart has been used in ecommerce sites for years, and is familiar to even the most novice of consumers.

Shopping cart software is a part of technology that can take a website from old and archaic to one that is ready for today's consumer.

With so much competition out there, having the right software in place can make a difference. The ease as to which someone is able to navigate through a site sometimes determines whether or not the person will come back and be a customer again. The online shopping cart is the driving force behind the ease of a site, and oftentimes stays in the customers mind as to the overall look and feel of the site.

That's why it's so important to have a software program that is customizable and modern in comparison to your competitor's sites. When you want to make the step from having customers merely look to actually buying your products, having the right software is the first step technology, such as this, is built into the website, leading the consumer down the path to end up with the product that they came to the website to find and buy.

There are reputable companies out there that help to make websites work easily for purchasing. Doing the research and finding the right company can make all the difference in having your shopping cart software make a true impact on your sales. Researching for the things that you want as part of your technology company is the first thing that should be done. I always suggest going through your site as if you were the consumer. Make a list of the items that you'd want to see upon getting to the site, browsing, and so on. Having a starting point such as this helps to lead you to where you want to go and figure out what you really want to gain from your website.

The details in determining how to approach your prospective customer will become the determining factor for your overall success. The right computer technology, software, will assist you in customizing your site to fit your customer base.

Of course today, technology is the leading force behind most things on the internet. Without technology, there would never be software developed or even an internet to be a part of. The technology out there has driven a lot of people, businesses and companies think outside of the box so that they can continue to stay competitive and top of mind. Without these technologies, moving forward would be something that would not happen easily.

Because of the technologies, the software, like the shopping cart, for consumer sites would never exist. Technology and software go hand in hand, equally as important on the world wide web.

Having the right software in place increases the utilization your website, not only for the consumer but for the business owner too. The right shopping cart software will have additional options for you. Need help with your bookkeeping, bank accounts, inventory, etc?

The extras that you need can be incorporated into the software that you purchase. Color scheme, usability, and overall look can be customized to fit your brand and current web design. Before you start looking do what we've suggested here and write down a few things. Think of your site in the eyes of your prospective client, and see what you can come up with. You'll be surprised just how fun it can be.

In below is website for make a online stores with shopping cart software :

Pinnacle Cart - Make e-commerce a work.

Shopify - Hosted e-commerce solution with a straightforward interface to build exactly the shop you want.

FleaPay - A simple shopping cart system that works with your existing website and payment gateway.

ASPdotNet Store Front - E-commerce platform for the serious business. Fully customizable storefront - 1000s of settings, source code and a rich feature set.

iVend - Is an eCommerce, mCommerce platform allowing organizations to offer their products on the web.

3D Cart -  Complete shopping cart and web site solution for internet merchants to build your store online, quickly, and right the first time.

AppTerra - Cloud collaboration solution for enterprises with globally dispersed trading partners.

CustomCommerce - Provides a flexible ecommerce platform to streamline the sale of complex products.

ShopSite - Shopping cart software for small to medium-sized businesses with an intuitive interface - get a store online in 15 minutes.

X Cart - PHP shopping cart software for e-commerce websites and solutions for high-performing online stores.

AgoraCart - Manage your store online with the easy to use management modules.

Modular Merchant - Modular Merchant's simple and secure system for selling downloads is a fully automated. This makes it easy to sell ebooks, music, videos, files and other downloadable products.

eCommerce Templates - Digital downloads Ecommerce Template plug-in, It is possible to have both standard products and downloadable ones on the same store.


EarthSkater - Online store with free setup and everything you need, personal support.

VStore - Free Shopping Carts & Ecommerce Website Solutions and fully customizable, professional online storefront where you sell your own products and keep 100% of the profits.



Writer by Andy West
Reviewer by Kautsar R.Aritona

Reprint : Acarre Community Media

Reviews of Shopping Cart Software - Utilizing The Right Choice For Shoppers

Today's technology is ever changing. There are a lot of advances everyday for people to take advantage of. Utilizing these technologies when starting or enhancing a business that utilizes online purchases is something that would be beneficial to you. Often, websites with purchase abilities use a very familiar thing to show people how to check out, the shopping cart. The online shopping cart has been used in ecommerce sites for years, and is familiar to even the most novice of consumers. Shopping cart software is a part of technology that can take a website from old and archaic to one that is ready for today's consumer.

With so much competition out there, having the right software in place can make a difference. The ease as to which someone is able to navigate through a site sometimes determines whether or not the person will come back and be a customer again. The online shopping cart is the driving force behind the ease of a site, and oftentimes stays in the customers mind as to the overall look and feel of the site. That's why it's so important to have a software program that is customizable and modern in comparison to your competitor's sites. When you want to make the step from having customers merely look to actually buying your products, having the right software is the first step! Technology, such as this, is built into the website, leading the consumer down the path to end up with the product that they came to the website to find and buy.

There are reputable companies out there that help to make websites work easily for purchasing. Doing the research and finding the right company can make all the difference in having your shopping cart software make a true impact on your sales. Researching for the things that you want as part of your technology company is the first thing that should be done. I always suggest going through your site as if you were the consumer. Make a list of the items that you'd want to see upon getting to the site, browsing, and so on. Having a starting point such as this helps to lead you to where you want to go and figure out what you really want to gain from your website. The details in determining how to approach your prospective customer will become the determining factor for your overall success. The right computer technology, software, will assist you in customizing your site to fit your customer base.

Of course today, technology is the leading force behind most things on the internet. Without technology, there would never be software developed or even an internet to be a part of. The technology out there has driven a lot of people, businesses and companies think outside of the box so that they can continue to stay competitive and top of mind. Without these technologies, moving forward would be something that would not happen easily. Because of the technologies, the software, like the shopping cart, for consumer sites would never exist. Technology and software go hand in hand, equally as important on the world wide web.

Having the right software in place increases the utilization your website, not only for the consumer but for the business owner too. The right shopping cart software will have additional options for you. Need help with your bookkeeping, bank accounts, inventory, etc? The extras that you need can be incorporated into the software that you purchase. Color scheme, usability, and overall look can be customized to fit your brand and current web design. Before you start looking do what we've suggested here and write down a few things. Think of your site in the eyes of your prospective client, and see what you can come up with. You'll be surprised just how fun it can be.

In below is website to make work a online shop with shopping cart software :

Pinnacle Cart - Making e-commerce work. more information at Pinnacle cart.

iVend - m-commerce platform allowing organizations to offer their products on the web. more information at iVend.

3D Cart - Complete shopping cart and web site solution for internet merchants. more information at 3D Cart.

Shopify - Hosted e-commerce solution with a straightforward interface to build exactly the shop you want. more information at Shopify.

AppTerra - Cloud collaboration solution for enterprises with globally dispersed trading partners. more information at AppTerra.

CustomCommerce - Provides a flexible e-commerce platform to streamline the sale of complex products. more information at CustomCommerce.

ShopSite - Shopping cart software for small to medium-sized businesses with an intuitive interface - get a store online in 15 minutes. more information at ShopSite.

ASPdotNet Store Front - E-commerce platform for the serious business. Fully customizable storefront - 1000s of settings, source code and a rich feature set. more information at ASPdotNet Store Front.

FleaPay -  simple shopping cart system that works with your existing website and payment gateway. more information at FleaPay.

Agora Cart - Free shopping cart software powerful, evolving and grow up your E-commerce. more information at Agora Cart.

X-Cart - Shopping cart software and solutions for high-performing online stores. more information at X-Cart.


Writer by Andy West
Editor by Kautsar R.Aritona

Repost : Acarre Community Media

10 Application for you Website/Blog, Free Content Sliders

One of the biggest challenges in web design is presenting lots of information in a limited space. Content sliders help solve this problem.

While content sliders can be used for navigation or for displaying multiple products in one place, they are commonly used on website home pages. Sites like Hulu, MSN, and Disney — and, Web Marketing Today — all use content sliders to display information on the home page.

Content sliders often include different features and configurable options. Depending on the content you intend to display, one slider might be better suited than another. Here are ten beautiful content sliders. All are free.

1. Nivo Slider
The Nivo Slider is a WordPress plugin and jQuery image slider with nifty features. Not only is the Nivo slider fully responsive to changing screen resolutions, it comes with HTML caption support, 16 image transition effects, and three preconfigured themes. While the jQuery version is “free to use and abuse under the MIT license,” the WordPress plugin has pricing options from $19 to $99.

2. SlideJS
SlidesJS is a beautiful little content slider. SlidesJS runs on jQuery and is simple enough for novice developers, while also offering advanced options for more seasoned ones.

 3. FlexSlider
FlexSlider is free by WooThemes and is a fantastic, fully responsive jQuery slider. Flexslider supports full HTML slides as well as Vimeo video slides and even supports touch swipes.

4. DualSlider
DualSlider is, well, a dual-slider. DualSlider presents slide content on one side and a correlating HTML slide on the other. Both the content and HTML description slides can be customized to use different transition and the content slide can display both images and Vimeo videos.

5. Elastic Slider
he Elastic Slider is a nifty responsive jQuery slider with thumbnail previews. The Elastic Slider is also presented with a full tutorial on how to build it, or you can just download the source code.

6. Blueberry
Blueberry is an open source jQuery slider built with smartphones in mind, designed specifically to work with fluid, responsive web layouts. Blueberry is an “experimental” slider and a few kinks are still being worked out.

7. Orbit
While Orbit was recently moved to the Foundation framework, you can still use this great slider in an older, standalone kit. Orbit has lots of options for HTML captions, layout, and thumbnails.

8. Slidorion
Similar to DualSlider, Slidorion has two sides to it. One side contains images and HTML content, while the other side contains HTML supported navigation. Both sides of Slidorion can be animated and there is plenty of room for placing information.

9. Sequence
Sequence is a content slider that prides itself on not having a default theme — providing lots of customization options. Sequence uses unique CSS3 transitions while gracefully degrading to accommodate older browsers. Sequence also supports swiping on touch devices, as well as  parallax scrolling, where images on a screen move at different speeds.

10. AnythingSlider
AnythingSlider lives up to its name by allowing full HTML content panels. This means AnythingSlider can include images, YouTube videos, links, and more.

Free Sliders, Paid Sliders, or DIY Sliders?

All the content sliders listed above are free. However, if you are looking for more features or additional documentation, there are a number of great premium sliders you can purchase. Code Canyon, for example, has many affordable content sliders with many additional features and support.

Another option is to build your own, if you are familiar with code. There are plenty of great tutorials on creating your own content slider, or you could try customizing one of the free ones listed above. Whatever method you choose, if you are looking to display a lot of information in a limited space, you should consider content sliders. Further more articles at WebMarketing Today.

By Drew Coffin
Repost by Acarre Community Media (R & D Team)

Execute Your Video Content Strategy in 8 Steps

When deploying a content strategy for B2B video marketing, the goal is to maximize viewer impact measured through analyzing a campaign's ROI. One video per message generally works the best. Selecting the correct distribution channels is also a key factor. With B2B video communications campaigns, it is important to consider resources beyond the YouTube video sharing site (since many organizations block direct access to YouTube). In my previous post, “Using Video Content to Drive Brand Awareness, Leads, and Sales,” I took you through the first four steps of the definitive B2B video marketing strategy.

In this second post, we focus on executing your video content strategy, maximizing impact, measuring results, and ensuring that you create sustainable campaigns that add long-term value to your organization.

Step 1: Execution

Now that you’ve completed the planning stages for your video content campaign, including defining the objectives, target market, video style, length, and tone, it’s time you got the ball rolling and produced your first video. But what steps do you need to take?

The first thing you do is take your overall campaign and break it down into single, discrete messages, and hold yourself to one per video, where possible.

For more to review this post, please visit ContentMarketing

By Mark Walker

Repost Acarre Community Media

Can Mobile Marketing Benefit From Mobile Commerce? (Reprint)

According to the latest predictions, mobile marketing will hog the limelight in the coming years as far as the field of digital marketing is concerned. This is primarily because more and more companies are realizing that there is a lot of potential in this particular arena. With the passage of time, the attention has been slowly shifted from the computer to the mobile phone. Mobile commerce or m-commerce services are nothing but buying and selling of products and services through the mobile phones. They make use of the wireless application provider sites to reach out to their audience.

Now, as far as mobile marketing is concerned, it includes the ability to zero down on a particular group of consumers. They could belong to a particular age group, geographical region as well as educational background. This specific medium of targeting the customers is extremely beneficial in this age of smart phones. If you are the owner of a business, you have to look for subtle ways in which you can promote your company. If you follow the method of texting, you will reap the benefits of viral marketing as the recipients of the messages usually forward them in case they are offer or discount coupons. It saves you a lot of time as well as money because you do not need to create a promotional message and the text can be sent to a large number of consumers in a matter of minutes.

A fact that has been established from a latest research is that, the paper coupons have taken a beating from their mobile counterparts as far as the redemption rates are concerned. For the mobile coupons, the redemption rates are more than 50% whereas for the paper coupons, it hardly touches the 2% mark. This explains why mobile coupons have become so popular these days amongst the retailers as well as the advertisers.

M-commerce has been able to successfully overtake e-commerce by enabling the users to break away the limitations imposed by wired means of communication. Thanks to these technological advancements, m-commerce services have been picked as the preferred form of transaction.

As far as the buyers are concerned, they can now purchase goods online even if they do not have access to a computer. Be it a hotel booking or a purchasing a movie ticket, it can be done in a matter of minutes through the hand-held device called the mobile phone.

In case you are the owner of a business, with the help of m-commerce services you can carry on with the transactions while you are on the move. You do not have to carry a heavy laptop along for such purposes anymore.

With the arrival of mobile commerce

, buying, selling as well as promotion of products and services has indeed evolved for the better. More and more people therefore are using this particular means to fulfill their marketing as well as sales requirements.

Ashley Forrester is a prolific writer. She is an expert in the domain of mobile commerce and has authored several articles on mobile commerce and mobile marketing trends. For more information visit http://www.cart2mobile.com.

Author : Ashley Forrester
Repost : Acarre Community Media

The Truth About Product Marketability When Selling in eBay? (repost)

EBay is a big market where you are able to sell almost all kinds of merchandises. You can go to eBay and browse through all the product categories to have an idea what are the products on sales. However, to sell merchandise on eBay, you will need to know about the characteristic of the product you intent to sell, in particular the product life cycle.

If you intent to sell a fast moving consumer product such as digital camera, PC, handphones, etc, you will need to know about the product life cycle as these products evolve very fast. Typically, the product life cycle behavior as a normal distribution curve or a bell shape curve. It consists of four phases, namely the Launching Phase, Full-Retail Phase, End-of-Life Phase and Liquidation Phase.

In the Launching Phase, this is the time where the product is just introduced into the market. It is new to the market where everybody is very interested about it and wants to get hold of it. As time goes by, the product will go into the Full-Retail Phase where you can find it selling everywhere and at the same price. During this phase, most of the people would have already purchased the product if they intent to have. And the purchased is usually done at retail shops. As times go further, the product will go into the End-of-Life Phase, where the sales and interest of the product start to decline. And finally, the product goes into the Liquidation Phase whereby the interest almost reduced to zero. Usually, at this final phase, a new product will be launched.

So how does these information helps you on the product selection? As can be seen from the behavior, there are two phases during the product life cycle you can exploit. They are the Launching Phase and the Liquidation Phase. In the Launching Phase, this is the time where the interest in high where buyers are looking for something new and hope that they can get a good bargain from eBay. At times, due to the great interest, the buyers do not mind to pay a little more.

Whereas in the Liquidation Phase, the buyer is really looking for some big bargain. They do not mind that the product is a bit out of fashion as long as it can still function. They do not mind the reduced in features as compared to those newly launched. So, you can see, if you are selling consumer products, these are the two phases where making a sales is more likely than the middle two phases. This is because, there are no reasons for the buyer to buy from eBay when they can get the products anywhere and at the same price.

However, this product life cycle may not be applicable to antique or collectibles. For this category of merchandises, there is really no time line tag to it. The buyer will buy as long as they like what you are selling.

So as you can see, knowing the product life cycle and the way how it is being marketed in the market is crucial in your eBay product selection. Choosing the product to sell when they are in the middle two phases may not be desirable whereas choosing the product at the two extreme phases may be the best option. It is reported that buyers are expecting a reduction of between 20% to 50% off the retail price when buying on eBay. You can only give these offers most likely at the Liquidation Phase as you are able to get the product at much lower cost. This is because, the manufacturer or whole seller are trying to dispose whatever stock they have to prepare for the new model.

It was also reported that liquidation product sells for 10% to 20% of cost. This means that, they are making a lost of 80 to 90%. It was also reported that for items that are in the Launching phase, they can sell anywhere from 10 to 100% above the retail price on eBay. This is particular true that during every holiday season, popular items such as toy are typically sold out at department stores and you can generally get it at eBay. This is the time whereby you can fetch a good price for your product.

Understanding the product life cycle will definitely help you in deciding what and when to sell your product in eBay and make profit. Knowing the right time to sell your items in eBay is crucial.

(Note: Figures taken from eBay Strategies by Scot Wingo. Prentice Hall 2005)

Author : Rosemary
Repost : Acarre Community Media

Why there is free software

Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with minimal restrictions only to ensure that further recipients can also do these things and that manufacturers of consumer-facing hardware allow user modifications to their hardware. Free software is generally available without charge, but can have a fee, such as in the form of charging for CDs or other distribution medium among other ways.

In practice, for software to be distributed as free software, the human-readable form of the program (the source code) must be made available to the recipient along with a notice granting the above permissions. Such a notice either is a free software license, or a notice that the source code is released into the public domain.

The free software movement was conceived in 1983 by Richard Stallman to satisfy the need for and to give the benefit of software freedom to computer users. Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation in 1985 to provide the organizational structure to advance his Free Software ideas.

From 1998 onward, alternative terms for free software came into use. The most common are software libre, free and open source software(FOSS) and free, libre and open source software (FLOSS). The Software Freedom Law Center was founded in 2005 to protect and advance FLOSS.^[3] The antonym of free software is proprietary software or non-free software. Commercial software may be either free software or proprietary software, contrary to a popular misconception that commercial software is a synonym for proprietary software. An example of commercial free software is GNAT.

Free software, which may or may not be distributed free of charge, is distinct from freeware which, by definition, does not require payment for use. The authors or copyright holders of freeware may retain all rights to the software; it is not necessarily permissible to reverse engineer, modify, or redistribute freeware.

Since free software may be freely redistributed it is generally available at little or no cost. Free software business models are usually based on adding value such as applications, support, training, customization, integration, or certification. At the same time, some business models which work with proprietary software are not compatible with free software, such as those that depend on the user to pay for a license in order to lawfully use the software product.

In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, it was normal for computer users to have the software freedoms provided by free software. Software was commonly shared by individuals who used computers and by hardware manufacturers who welcomed the fact that people were making software that made their hardware useful. Organizations of users and suppliers, for example, SHARE, were formed to facilitate exchange of software. By the late 1960s, the picture changed: software costs were dramatically increasing, a growing software industry was competing with the hardware manufacturer's bundled software products (free in that the cost was included in the hardware cost), leased machines required software support while providing no revenue for software, and some customers able to better meet their own needs did not want the costs of "free" software bundled with hardware product costs. In United States vs. IBM, filed January 17, 1969, the government charged that bundled software was anticompetitive.^[7] While some software might always be free, there would be a growing amount of software that was for sale only. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the software industry began using technical measures (such as only distributing binary copiesof computer programs) to prevent computer users from being able to study and modify software. In 1980 copyright law was extended to computer programs.

In 1983, Richard Stallman, longtime member of the hacker community at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, announced the GNU project, saying that he had become frustrated with the effects of the change in culture of the computer industry and its users. Software development for the GNU operating system began in January 1984, and the Free Software Foundation (FSF) was founded in October 1985. He developed a free software definition and the concept of "copyleft", designed to ensure software freedom for all.

The economic viability of free software has been recognized by large corporations such as IBM, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems. Many companies whose core business is not in the IT sector choose free software for their Internet information and sales sites, due to the lower initial capital investment and ability to freely customize the application packages. Also, some non-software industries are beginning to use techniques similar to those used in free software development for their research and development process; scientists, for example, are looking towards more open development processes, and hardware such as microchips are beginning to be developed with specifications released under copyleft licenses (see the OpenCores project, for instance). Creative Commons and the free culture movement have also been largely influenced by the free software movement.

What do you think about free software is beneficial or even detrimental?

Free software licenses

• the GNU General Public License
• the GNU Lesser General Public License
• the BSD License
• the Mozilla Public License
• the MIT License
• the Apache License

Source : wikipedia, GNU, FSF, Apache, Open Source, Mozilla