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

How to Resolve Conflict at Work

Sometimes conflict at work can't be avoided. Problems will always occur among all staff, including management, supervisors and other personnel. Here are some top tips for dealing with and resolving these problems at work.

1. Deal with the conflict as soon as possible
Don't delay resolving the issue at work, just face it head on. It's all too tempting for some to just wait for the problem to ‘blow over' but this rarely happens and in quite a lot of cases, the issue can just get worse. The best thing you can do is talk it through and tackle the conflict, ask the person you are having trouble with for a quiet word, it may seem unpleasant to do this at first but it is worth it in the long run.

2. Count to ten
This may seem patronising but if you feel yourself getting angry or stressed out, before erupting into shouting or making negative remarks, count to ten. This may not always work but sometimes taking some time to calm down and just think about what you are going to say can make all the difference. Getting into heated discussions at work can cause unnecessary tension.

3. Let everyone speak

Usually, there are a few people involved in a conflict at work. Ensure everyone has the chance to voice their opinions, be careful not to speak over people and don't turn the disagreement into a one-sided rant. Take the time to listen to others and learn something from the situation.

4. Avoid gossip
It is really important to have professional relationships with those you work with. This doesn't mean you can't be friends with them outside of work but ensure you don't gossip. There is a fine line between friendly chitchat and rumours. Avoid gossip by not involving yourself in the conversations and not relaying the information to other people and just keep it to yourself.

5. Don't take things personally
It can be easy to interpret things wrong and take them personally. Just because some work has been returned to you or rejected, it doesn't mean that you are incapable of doing your job. This also goes for what your colleagues say to you, if they say they don't like something you have created and give some constructive criticism, don't take it personally and instead see it as a learning curve.

There are loads of training companies out there that provide courses for development in the workplace so you can always take advantage of these if you feel your business would benefit.

More about the author please follow information at Focal point.

By Tracy Powley

Repost by Acarre Media Community

E-Business: difference between success and failure

Many people start an e-commerce site as their primary business. If you have a brick and mortar store where you sell products on online auctions or simply operate a business from home, starting an e-commerce site can provide an additional sales channel for you.

Creating a Web site for the purpose of selling products or services online entails a large amount of research and planning. When you start an online business, forgetting one simple step can make the difference between success and failure. Here are the steps to help you get started: Create a business and marketing plan.

Schedule a time to meet with your business partners or team members. Brainstorm together and lay out all of your plans in one document. This plan should incorporate all startup and recurring costs. Set up an overall expense budget and sales forecast. Choose a good Web site address (domain name) to help customers find you. You will need to select a domain name for the site that accurately represents what you are selling and helps brand your business.

For example : if you sell jeans chose jeans related domain name. However, did you consider that the search engines will also be using your domain name as a symbol of what you sell? Give some thought to an appropriate URL and go shopping for one. Select the right e-commerce software with a shopping cart. In order to sell products on your Web site, you have a few options. You can hire someone to develop custom online storefront functionality.

However, most small businesses who are looking for more cost effective solutions purchase e-commerce Web site hosting software. This allows your customers to select products like online auction from your Web site, put them into the shopping cart on your site, and then checkout using their choice of various payment methods. Apply for a business account (merchant account) for processing credit cards. It is critical to give your customers multiple payment options on your Web site.

Most customers are accustomed to paying for goods and services online using their credit card. In order to accept credit cards as payment for your products, you must apply for what is called a merchant account. If you do not accept credit cards on your Web site, you are doing a great disservice to your site's potential for success, so make sure you apply.

Secure your site to let customers know it is safe to do business with you. As an online merchant, security is a key consideration for you. If you are going to accept consumer financial information such as credit card payments, you are responsible for ensuring that data is protected and secure and that you meet credit card company security requirements.

Design your site to be user-friendly. Once you have all of the products uploaded to the Web site and you can accept credit cards it's time to work on improving the site's appearance before you go live with your new online storefront.

Test the site. You only have one chance to make a first impression with each visitor, so be sure that you test and tweak your site before going live with it. Plan at least a few days or weeks to do this. Make sure everything is working properly or all of your efforts can be for naught. You might try inviting a few friends to help you test the site. Ask them to visit your Web site while you watch their browsing behavior.

Try not to say anything as they click around. Give them fifteen minutes, and then ask them about their experience. Promote your site online. Promoting your site on the Web can be expensive and complex, but taking advantage of search engine behavior to drive targeted traffic to your site can result in a favorable long-term return on your up-front investment, whether that investment is your time or money.

By Stoyan
Reprint : Acarre Community Media

How to Write a Product Description

Do you compete for sales in a market that is full of other people? Are you trying to sell a product on eBay or other website? Do you often wonder why a customer chooses one vendor over another when they are selling the exact same product? The answer can be found in the product descriptions.

A good product description conveys the benefits of using the product and not just the facts around the product. A good product description convinces the customer that they need the product and they need to purchase it from you.

In order to write a good product description you need to start your product descriptions by highlighting the features of the product. The best method to learn the features of your product is to use the products yourself. Get to know your products and keep track of how they benefit your life. Use stories and examples form your personal usage of the product to express these benefits. It is important to become a real person to your potential customer.

Next, you need to know your customer. Spend some time researching your possible customer and the people who will purchase the products for them. Sometimes the person who will use your product, your customer, is different than the person purchasing your product so make sure you understand both sets of people. Determine what product benefits will appeal to your target market and incorporate those details into your product descriptions. If your selling electronics you need to communicate not only to the customer who understands electronics and the corresponding terminology but to the casual user as well. This means you need to make sure that use words words that all your customers will understand. Do not use technical jargon unless your customer knows the words.

Always remember that you are not only writing to win a customer but to beat your competition as well. Creativity will help set you apart from the competition. Do not become lazy with your product descriptions and rely solely on the manufacturers product description or sales literature. Connect to the reader through your writing and show a little of your personality in your product descriptions. Concentrate on writing in a friendly informal tone. You do need to avoid urban slang in your product descriptions but that does not mean you can not have fun and be a little creative.

Finally, when writing your product descriptions you must include a call-to-action. You must ask for the sale and provide an easy method for your customer to purchase your product. This is especially important when you sell items on the internet you always need to provide people with an instant method to purchase. Pay close attention to your purchasing process never add more steps than necessary. You want to capitalize on the passion your product description has evoked in your customer and you need to allow them to purchase the product they desire immediately.

Product descriptions are one part fact and one part emotion, you must include both in order to write a product description that will sell. Writing a good product description requires that you create a balance between technical and emotional writing while keeping your word count down. Remember the number one rule is do not bore your customer with long product descriptions because they will move on.

By Andromeda
Repost : Acarre Community Media

What Robert Kiyosaki And Donald Trump Say About Network Marketing ?

Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki are concerned that the rich are getting richer but the poor are getting poorer. Donald and Robert want you to be rich and that is why they co-author the book: Why We Want You To Be Rich.

Donald Trump said: "Network marketing has proven itself to be a viable and rewarding source of income, and the challenges could be just right for you. There have been some remarkable examples of success, and those successes have been earned through diligence, enthusiasm and the right product combined with timing. As with so many issues, there are tangibles and intangibles involved, but success is not a total mystery, and that applies to network marketing, as well."

Robert Kiyosaki said: "Building a B-quadrant business is not an easy task. So you need to ask yourself, "Do I have what it takes ? Am I willing to go beyond my comfort zones ? Am I willing to be led and willing to learn to lead ? Is there a very rich person inside me, ready to come out ?" If the answer is yes, start looking for a network marketing business that has a great training program - one that emphasizes education and personal growth."

I have read many books of Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump and have benefitted from Robert Kiyosaki's business seminars, I was fortunate to attend a few seminars conducted by him and he has helped me made lots of money.

I also learned a lot from Donald Trump by watching his popular program: The Apprentice.
It is very obvious that Robert and Donald agree and recognize the power of network marketing to transform people's lives and make a positive difference to millions of people worldwide.

Robert Kiyosaki also wrote a network marketing best-selling book: The Business School for People Who Like Helping People. In his book he said: "Many network marketing companies are really business schools that teach values not found in traditional business schools...values such as the best way to become rich is to teach yourself and other people to become business owners, rather than teach them to be a loyal employee working for the rich."

For anyone who is interested in network marketing, I highly recommend you read "Why We Want You To Be Rich" and, of course, Robert Kiyosaki's network marketing best-seller: "The Business School for People Who Like Helping People."

Network marketing has created millions of millionaires and it is truly a proven and tested system for ordinary people to earn an extraordinary income. Having said that, over 97% of people in the home-based businesses or network marketing are happy to earn $300 to $1,000 or more a month and less than 3% are really serious about earning income from $3,000 to $10,000 or more a month. That is the reality of the business and I speak from over 14 years of network marketing experience.

I have also written a song: "Why Network Marketing?" which you can watch and listen on youtube and it has over 5.800 viewing. If you are tired of working hard in a job and getting nowhere, I highly recommend you give yourself a chance by looking into a network marketing opportunity because you only have one life and you want to make the best of it.
For things to change, first you must change. Albert Einstein defined the definition of insanity as doing the same thing and expecting a different result. You must have the courage to make a positive change to your life. There is a popular Chinese saying: "I rather live one day as a tiger than hundred years as a sheep!" It takes courage to take action towards living your dream.

Take responsibility for your results in life and take action to make a better life for yourself and your loved ones.

I leave you with these thought-provoking questions: If not you, who? If not now, when? It is not how? It is why??? Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the cause of it all?

By SAS Bruceseah (contributor)
Repost : Acarre Community Media

Managing Money is No Easy Task - How About in 2014 ?

In this recession some people will learn the hard way that managing money correctly is not something that can be postponed until your kids are teenagers. Managing what you earn is no easy task and you should set aside some time to do it a couple of days each time you get payed, that means that Thursday before your salary is deposited into your account you have to sit down and write down what is it exactly that you are going to do with your money.

Experts recommend a lot of things, and many smart people have written books on how to create a budget and what are the best practices to save money and spend your hard earned money wisely. So before the budget is casted in stone, inform yourself of what people who know what they are doing recommend for your case.

Actually there are gazillions of "money wizards" out there that tell you a lot of different things, but most of them agree on basic principals. Saving ten per cent of everything you earn is one of those advices that you will hear everywhere you look for financial advice. That may seem a bit drastic to you, specially if you are living check to check, but in reality it will help you think twice before buying anything, and so become much more responsible on the way you decide to spend your money, with the added benefit that when there is no income the person will have something to fall back on.

Try to avoid any type of credit. If you purchase everything with cash you won't buy things you can not afford. Credit is a good thing if it is used only when the sky falls down, not to buy thatPlayStation, or to pimp out your ride. This is a common mistake a lot of people who just started earning money and has no real responsibilities. When they actually try to manage their money better it is more difficult because of the repayment of the borrowed amount. Stick to the basics, if you want a new fridge save until you have for a new one, or buy what you can afford, this will help to have less expenses when the income grows and the ability to purchase better things is actuallyattainable without more credit.

Never, and I mean never, use the money from the ten per cent you are saving for yourself to buy that refrigerator we where talking about. Instead do it as if you had already purchased the fridge with your credit card, pay a monthly fee to that account. That way you are true to the concept of saving money which is meant for retirement or for an emergency, and not just saving up to buy stuff.

After you have saved up and have had the good insight of keeping track on how is it that the paycheck is spent, and saved up quite a bit of money, the tricky part starts. Keeping the money in your checking account or savings account will not get you anywhere, it will actually make you loose money, that is because of inflation and the bank fees.
Learning what to invest your hard earned savings will require some knowledge, but it is really recommended that you instead get an advice from a trusted professional and put that money to work, by investing in something, but that is the subject of a different article.

By Charles Cruz (contributor)

Acarre Community Media

5 Inbound Marketing Books that Will Change Your Life

Brand Like A Rockstar by Steve Jones

Recommended to me by fellow Inbound Marketing Agent Jasmine Henry, Brand Like A Rockstar is a classic business book with a rock & roll twist. Based on a blog started by music business insider Steve Jones, the book uses popular bands’ rise to fame as illustrations for how you can better brand your business, utilize novel theories in marketing and advertising, and ultimately create more groupies for your company. If you love music and you love marketing, you’ll probably love this book.
Side note: Jasmine wanted me to note that, while she very much enjoyed reading this book, she was not in full agreement with the fact that Nirvana was referred to as a pop band.

Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers by Seth Godin

This book was a real game-changer when it came out. Because advertising and marketing have traditionally been viewed as interruptive, the idea of having the permission to market to someone is fairly novel in the grand scheme of things. This book is obviously meant for the content marketer – it’s filled with valuable information for anyone who wants a career in inbound marketing.

Guerrilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business by Jay Conrad Levinson

This marketing book is a classic in the modern marketing industry. Since this book was published in 1983, it’s pretty old as far as technology is concerned, but it’s still as relevant as ever. Focusing on small businesses, Guerrilla Marketing was revolutionary for the marketing business. If you have a small business or are interested in how to market one, this book is for you. Additionally, it’s a great look into the beginnings of what the marketing industry is today.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell

This book is certainly not geared toward marketers, but it is incredibly useful for them. I love reading Malcom Gladwell’s books and would recommend any of them, but this one is a powerful read if you’re interested in marketing. It goes into great depths about making snap decisions and what really goes into this process. It’s a fascinating look into the human mind, and can help you as much in your business practices as it can in your personal life.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini PhD

While this book is a perfect read for anyone who’s interested in learning more about becoming a master persuader and guarding yourself against being persuaded by others, it’s a must for marketers. Why? Because when you know what persuades people to say “yes”, you know how to market to them. If you’re naturally drawn to science and mathematics, you’ll enjoy this read.

By Pat Owings

International Brand Naming And How Words Can Hurt You (repost)

It was the famous publicist PJ Barnum who said in 1855 "I do not care what people say about me but get my name right".

In today's international marketplace, getting names right is vital.

Marketers and brand managers are becoming more and more concerned that their newly created name will be inappropriate in their target markets.

We've all seen middle aged marketing executives embarrass themselves when trying to appear trendy to the youth market but things get even worse when attacking overseas markets.

What many people don't realize is that innocuous English product names often do not travel well. So called, 'bad' names, names which embarrass, offend or are just plain unsuitable, are profligate.

Bad products names, bad brand names and even bad company titles, are continuously spawned and the headlong drive towards globalization has given unwelcome publicity to all of them. There are many instances of where things have gone awry, most of them too rude to mention in this article.

It's not just names which need careful attention, straplines can go just as wrong. Take for example, Electrolux, the Swedish white goods company, who used the strapline "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux" to great effect when promoting a vacuum cleaner across Europe. Unfortunately, when they used the same line for the US launch they became a laughing stock as 'sucks' means something is 'very bad' in America.

Bad translations on apparel can also convey the wrong message. Take the slogan "I saw the potato", instead of the correct Spanish translation of "I saw the Pope," used on promotional T-Shirts for the Pope's visit to Miami.

The cost of such a damaging event cannot easily be counted. The very fact that a product might have to be hurriedly withdrawn, or quickly re-badged can have a catastrophic effect on the image, position and value of the brand and, of course its owner.

How can one put a value on that? The cost can be enormous, with the repercussions leaving careers in tatters. It seems almost ridiculous to many outside the marketing business that there are still organisations that undertake no due diligence and take a chance on it being 'alright on the night'.

Most sensible people take out insurance to cover them for almost every event and occasion, yet when instances of such obvious potential devastation occur, it is always too late to do anything about it.

Traditional remedies such as expecting your advertising agency to provide such a service is, with some exceptions, a waste of time. It's like asking your dentist to give you a diagnosis in respect of a pain in your toe.

You might expect your translation agency to offer this service but, unless they are very experienced and have regularly handled the needs and demands of checking words worldwide, again you could be wasting your money. Proper checking involves much more than whether the word means something contentious or just risible in a foreign language.

So, what can be done to reduce the risks of things going wrong? Fortunately, there are a few simple but highly effective precautions which can be taken:

1. Remember names change with speech

There's a world of difference between the written and spoken word. Accents and dialects play havoc with the pronunciation of English words and vice versa.

Most of have had an experience of the way our own language is treated by foreigners. We sound similarly strange to foreigners when we try to speak in a language which isn't our own. Before deciding on a name, simply ask a native speaker of the target language if it sounds OK to them.

2. Avoid names that can't be pronounced easily, or at all

Although this sounds like another blatantly obvious point, it's something which many people forget completely. Many languages have an alphabet and a way of speaking which makes the reading of English words difficult or, in some extreme cases, practically impossible.

For instance, all words in Japanese end in either a vowel or the letter 'n' so it makes sense to chose a name which follows this convention. By doing this, you can be confident that your Japanese customers will be able to pronounce it without difficulty or embarrassment.

3. Avoid names that confuse

A name may meet every other criteria but due to culture, product qualities or its position in the market place, it may still confuse its intended consumer. This fault will seriously endanger product positioning and so clarity must be established.

Many years ago the then President of the USA, John F Kennedy was making a speech close to the Berlin Wall. He finished off in an effort to try to identify himself with the long-suffering inhabitants by announcing to his audience "Ich bin ein Berliner". Unfortunately, and unknown, to the President he was telling everyone that he was a doughnut; a Berliner being the popular name for a local pastry.

I am often amazed that companies spend tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars launching a product with a name which is so obviously wrong that it would have been flagged as inappropriate immediately had they undertaken proper checking.

The cost of checking is tiny compared to the damage caused by not doing so.

Author : Peter Bennett
Repost : Acarre Community Media