One of the things you can do to accelerate your progress is to engage in conversations based on these four affirmations with family, friends and acquaintances. I invite you to visit Prosperity’s 12 Affirmations Blog, http://www.prosperingtimes.com/blog and if you wish to powerfully accelerate the potency of this affirmative process, accept our invitation to subscribe to the complimentary e-course “Introduction to Prosperity’s 12 Affirmations at http://www.prosperingtimes.com/Intro2P12Registration.html
Angel Investing: if this is Such a Hot Wealth Creation Strategy, Why Don’t More Millionaires Do It
April 8, 2012 By
Angel Investing: if this is Such a Hot Wealth Creation Strategy, Why Don’t More Millionaires Do It
A 2006 national survey of angel investor groups actively investing in private companies revealed that 66% of their members do not actively invest because of their lack of knowledge of the process, not because the opportunity was considered too risky. When I heard this statistic and called the firm conducting the survey to confirm, I couldn’t believe that was the primary reason aggressive sophisticated investors didn’t invest in private companies. So many exciting emerging growth companies struggle to find growth capital from angel investors. On average, only 23% of the companies that qualify to be considered by angel investor groups actually receive investment. Although, there are many factors that drive this low percentage such as valuation of the company, structure of the investment offering, and validity of the business model, this study revealed that the biggest reason an investor doesn’t invest is completely outside of the control of the entrepreneur. The potential investors simply are uncomfortable with the process of private equity investment and their desire to participate does not supersede their fear of uncertainty.
Private Equity investing is a wealth creation strategy used by sophisticated millionaires. First championed by legendary aristocrats JP Morgan and J. Paul Getty, millionaires interested in wealth creation and not just wealth preservation, understand that by buying a companies’ stock at wholesale before the company goes public and then selling those stocks at retail prices produces the greatest return on investment. A $15,000 investment in Home Depot or Microsoft before they went public could be worth between $5,000,000 to $10,000,000 today.
I first became aware of the need for millionaires to learn about the private equity investing process when a few wealth managers and investors came to me seeking information on how to be an angel investor. I couldn’t believe there wasn’t information readily available. Yes, there were many books at the library or book store regarding private equity investing. Most are oriented toward the entrepreneur or read like a text book. I realized that very wealthy people don’t want to spend hours and hours reading theory on angel investing when they could be playing golf or spending time with their family. They want to learn how to take their experiences and apply that to private equity investing. Affluent people invest in private companies to make more money, of course, but also for the gratifying feeling of being able to point to a successful company and to be able to say they were a part of that success. Entrepreneurs are visionaries and angel investors are entrepreneurs that have the capacity to catch another entrepreneur’s vision and the generous nature to impart their experience and wealth to repeat their success in another entrepreneurial endeavor.
I found from talking to many investors that many of them learned about investing by doing or by being mentored by others. Unfortunately, during the dot.com bomb period, this translated into learning by losing. For investors today, that just isn’t acceptable. Affluent people who want to invest in early stage companies want a way to learn about angel investing the same way they might learn about investing in real estate or the stock market. They want books that are comprehensive, yet easy to digest and apply. They want to be able to attend seminars and workshops. They want access to the specific information they need to fill a gap in their experience and knowledge as it relates specifically to the art and science of angel investing. They want to be part of a group with other investors that is informal so it is flexible, yet structured so they have planned times to meet and review and consider opportunities. They want to have access to a team to help them perform due diligence on an opportunity. Private equity investing is new for many successful men and women who aspire to take a portion of their wealth and put it at risk to get a greater reward than what they can get through traditional investments.
The Network of Business Angels & Investors (NBA&I) offers an environment for those new to the idea of angel investing to come into a community of experienced private equity investors to share their experience and to learn how to apply their experience in traditional investing and real estate investing to private equity investing. NBA&I offers its members and guests access to e-books and workshops on topics pertinent to the world of angel investing.
Angel investors are a critical source of capital for early stage companies to go from start up to bankable or VC-able. Without a thriving angel investor community to bring their capital and experience to the aid of fledgling early stage companies, our economy will suffer because there won’t be small businesses to grow into big businesses. According to the same research report, angel investors invested $23.1 billion in 2005 and created 198,000 jobs. A total of 49,500 entrepreneurial ventures received funding in 2005, a modest 3.1% increase over 2004. The market is on an upswing and our economic recover can be even stronger with more investment in free enterprise and by helping wealthy investors to get comfortable with the process of private equity investing so that the number of investors that have a desire to invest and do invest grows from 33% to greater than 50%. That would mean another $10B could be invested into early stage companies adding at least another 80,000 jobs to our economy. The long term impact for wealth creation, job creation and economic growth is immeasurable.
Angel Investing: if this is Such a Hot Wealth Creation Strategy, Why Don’t More Millionaires Do It
Karen Rands spent the last 4 years, in the tough economic market, figuring out what works for the investors and the entrepreneurs and developing the curriculum necessary to educate a new generation of Angel Investors. To further her commitment to connecting investors with qualified companies, she launched the Launch Funding Network http://www.launchfn.com and acquired the Network of Business Angels and Investors http://www.nbai.net
Qualified investors are invited to join this growing national network of high net-worth individuals and sophisticated investors committed to providing experience and capital to worthy early stage companies. Entrepreneurs wishing to connect with angel investors should Register at LAUNCHfn. If you are interested in getting involved in a community of investors, please visit http://www.learntobeanangelinvestor.com to receive a free ebook: The 5 Secrets of Billionaire Investors.
Contents About : Angel Investing: if this is Such a Hot Wealth Creation Strategy, Why Don’t More Millionaires Do It
Brand Creation and Criteria for Development
April 7, 2012 By
Brand Creation and Criteria for Development
1.0 What is a brand?
Brands can be defined in two ways. Firstly, a brand can be an identification or a mark that differentiates one business from another (through a name or a logo, for example). Secondly, a brand symbolises how people think about your business.Building a brand helps customers in their decision-making, creating a perceived knowledge of what they are going to buy – before they buy it. Brands are based on three related criteria.
Confidence in a business, product or service doing exactly what the customer already believes it will do. For example, a 24-hour convenience store brand can be based on customers’ confidence that it will be open, whatever the time of day or night.The emotional response of the customer to purchasing a product or service. For example, a clothing retailer can create a brand based around making its customers feel good about what they wear, how they look, how good they feel about buying clothes from that shop and what it says about them to their peers.( Josephine Collins,(March 2008)
A brand builds a unique personality for a business, and therefore attracts a defined type of customer.Most importantly, branding is based on consistently rewarding the confidence and delivering the expected emotional response. For example, a domestic cleaning company can build its brand successfully if customers’ homes are always thoroughly cleaned, the owners believe that they are using the best cleaning company and feel good about returning to their newly cleaned homes. Your brand can cover your business as a whole or separate products and services. (Josephine Collins,(March 2008)
When starting your own business, one of your most important concerns is to develop your company’s face to the world. This is your brand. It is the company’s name, how that name is visually expressed through a logo, and how that name and logo extend throughout an organization’s communications. A brand is also how the company is perceived by its customers – the associations and inherent value they place on your business.
A brand is also a kind of promise. It is a set of fundamental principles as understood by anyone who comes into contact with a company. A brand is an organization’s “reason for being”; it is how that reason.( Josephine Collins (March 2008)
is expressed through the various communications to its key audiences, including customers, shareholders, employees, and analysts. A brand should also represent the desired attributes of a company’s products, services, and initiatives.
Apple’s brand is a great example. The Apple logo is clean, elegant, and easily implemented. Notice that the company has altered the use of the apple logo from rainbow-striped to monochromatic. In this way they keep their brand and signal in a new era for their expansive enterprise. Think about how you’ve seen the brand in advertising, trade shows, packaging, product design, and so on. It’s distinctive and it all adds up to a particular promise. The Apple brand stands for quality of design and ease of use.
Brand is a big buzzword in today’s market, but what exactly does it mean? Simply defined, is the brand essence and purpose of what your business stands in the minds of your customers, that they thought what they purchase, both tangible (physical) and intangible (subtleties and feelings ).For example, Nike products provides sports physical. Nike also “selling” speed, fitness, strength, and style.
The brand is not accident, you should deliberately Show&Tell the public what you want them to know and remember about your business unique.
Branding is the action of transferring the brand to target market and create emotional tie to your unique product or service. Branding attract, satisfy and retains customers. Nike work through their consistent visual, logos and slogans determined using well-known athletes as spokespeople for the transfer of non-tangible of their brand.
The brand is important because it solves a problem for consumers. The brand helps them to choose that product or service quality, safety, or function cannot be complete until after the purchase is made is identified. Branding builds trust although cannot remove some risk, especially when doing business with big corporations located outside a local geographic area (credit card companies, broker, online shopping).
Without brand name, products and services easily be compared with each other, any financial institution, insurance representative mix, chocolate bar, coffee, beans, and athletic shoes will be indistinguishable from another, even if in reality a big difference in quality, price, taste, and service can exist.
The Logic behind branding is very simple: If your target market is familiar with your brand and good imagination, they more likely to purchase products and services. But consumers do not know what your business is all about unless you tell them!
Is your company branded? If a distinct graphic, slogan, or feeling doesn’t emerge when buyers hear or see your company name, the brand of your business has yet to be defined and developed. Customers must clearly understand and agree with the nature, character and purpose of your product or service before they’ll buy it. And how they know if you don’t inform them? Hire a professional graphic designer, copywriter, advertising agency to help create and promote your brand of.
It’s never too late to embark on your own branding campaign, regardless of size and age of your business. Creating a successful brand takes deliberate thought and execution, but the sooner you start, the faster the results you see on your bottom line. Here’s how to start:
* Who you are defines what you offer, your method of business, their audiences, and why customers should believe in your products and services is placed.
* The transfer decision and its recognition of all other companies with strong reference image, logo, typeface, colors, slogan, jingle, theme, or tagline. For best results, work with professional skill in graphic design and copywriting.
* Commit to consistently carry your brand through every aspect of your business- stationery, marketing materials, advertising, signage, product packaging, customer service, etc.
Invest in your brand is investing in the success of your company. Clearly know that you are and what you offer, then loudly and consistently portray the image with your target market. Brand of your business is a powerful asset, and therefore maximize its value!
In fact, a brand is mental real estate’. It’s a set of expectations a company instills in its customers and prospects, as well as its employees, suppliers and competition. Further, it’s a service/product or concept that’s easily distinguishable from others. Most important, a brand should enhance how you communicate with customers. I believe that successful branding begins with the recognition that everything a company does/says must drive profits and increase value for the customer. Sounds easy. But what is the true value of branding initiatives (i.e., your ROI), and why invest time and money this seemingly non-revenue-generating activity? In truth, there are many rational reasons, including:
Market Differentiation (competitive advantage)
Customer buying preference (retain a positive impression)
Supports the highest possible tolerance to price (perceived value)
Increased cross-sales opportunities (better profit margins)
Better awareness and recognition (leadership in the market)
Investor confidence (plus employees and external alliances), etc.
Without question, successful branding initiatives can have immense payback and add genuine value to your company, whether new or well-established. However, your brand’s success depends on an implementation strategy comprising four essential must’ principals. It must be a genuine reflection on your core strengths-values-management commitments and align with your customers’ values.
Your brand must also identify a unique position that clearly differentiates you from competitors. It must carry through every aspect of an organization, meaning you must articulate your brand identity into a series of actions, beliefs and tools. Finally, and perhaps most important, it must be consistent over time.
In every brand development process, we employ four distinct elements, each weighted equally. First, the Value Proposition; it defines the uniqueness you provide to customers. Brand Character Definition and Expression follows; the character of your brand must make sense to your most important customers (While your logo is part of your branding, other important elements include corporate identity, company boilerplate, and collateral materials such as brochures, ad templates, website identity, etc.) Next, Positioning Statements must express your place in the market to help suppliers, investors, customers and competitors understand your intent; these concepts often form a mission statement or a byline tagged to your company logo. And lastly, Key Messages must consistently communicate your chosen information; these must promote the brand intent and be consistently employed by the entire team.
Looking further, brand launch must comprise a continuous monitoring process to measure value over time to ensure maximum impact and benefit is being derived. This stage may also include press releases, promotional programs, presentation and memorable methods of reaching the marketplace.
It’s accurate to conclude that your brand gives your company identity, character, presence in the market and, yes, even respect. There is substantial evidence that this structured process works, in both the short and long view. A brand grows successfully by leaving a lasting mental picture a positive mark upon everyone inside and outside your company. A true value picture like none other. As Rodney blurted out on stage at Dangerfields’ that night years ago,” Why am I sweating, I’ve got the job it’s my Club”.
Look after your club’; the benefits of a professionally developed and well managed brand could astound you.
1.1 Do I need a brand?
Every business has already got a brand, even if it doesn’t treat it as one. Your customers (and potential customers) already have a perception of what your business means to them. Building a brand just means communicating your message to them more effectively so they immediately associate your business with their requirements. Brands can help increase turnover by encouraging customer loyalty and are particularly useful if you are in a fast-moving sector. If your business’s environment changes rapidly, a brand provides reassurance to customers and encourages their loyalty.
If you operate in a crowded marketplace a brand can help you stand out. For example,
there are many kinds of adhesive tape, but there is only one Sellotape. If you have no other points of difference and when customers are confronted with a wide choice of comparable suppliers, they will always choose the brand they feel will suit them best. Your suitability for a customer is portrayed through your brand.
Moreover, if you want to add value to your business a successful brand can make businesses more attractive to potential buyers or franchisees.
1.2 Branding a Start up
For start-up and small businesses, branding often takes a backseat to all of the other considerations – such as funding and product development. This is unfortunate, for a company’s brand can be vital to its success. Dollar for dollar, it is as important and needed as any other start-up activity.
Recently, a software management company, temporarily named TallyUp, invested in a branding assignment. Its flagship product, a software suite that tracks and runs bonus incentive plans, needed a clear identity and platform to appeal to its target audience – primarily financial executives. The name TallyUp, while somewhat descriptive, didn’t capture the appropriate and required level of sophistication to attract the desired clientele. TallyUp retained a branding consulting company; they recommended the name Callidus, which is Latin for expert and skillful to effectively and in an instant communicate their position. While both names communicate a similar concept, the new one works on a completely different level. Callidus better suits the ideal position of the company.
Serial entrepreneurs have a great deal of wisdom to share about branding and positioning. You can gather additional useful advice on the challenge of brand development from someone like Thomas Burns, whose story is covered in our article, Building a Credible Brand for Your Small Business.
If you’re concerned about the cost of brand development, take heart. While it’s easy to spend a lot to create a brand, you don’t have to. Read our article, How Much Does a Brand Cost? to understand the price range of brand development.
1.3 Creating a Brand
Once you have worked out your core competencies, brand values, perceived quality and brand stretch, you can communicate them to your customers. Build the message into everything your customer or potential customer sees and hears before they have any direct contact with your business. Make sure your company literature reflects your brand values. If necessary, redesign your logo and company stationery so it provides an immediate visual link to your brand values. (Kenneth A. Fox,Nov-Dec 2002)
For example, if speed is a brand value, add an indication of movement into your company’s designs.Reconsider any advertising you may do. Is it in places that reflect your brand values?
Does the copy reflect your brand values?
Make sure your staff understand the brand values and believe in them. Your staff’s attitude and behaviour will influence the success of your brand more than any promotional activity. Remember that if you make strong customer service a brand value, the brand is damaged if one customer feels that whoever they are talking to doesn’t care about service. Review your systems and make sure every point of contact that a customer or potential customer has reflects your brand values. For example, if being friendly is one of your brand values, make sure anyone who answers the telephone or has direct contact with customers is friendly. (Kenneth A. Fox,Nov-Dec 2002)
1.4 How Much Does a Brand Cost?
How much you can expect to pay for the creation of your brand is the $64,000 question. The answer is that the fee doesn’t have to be astronomical, but it can be depending on who you decide to do business with.
Creating a brand is often a classic case of getting what you pay for. Your cousin may create a name and commensurate logo (without applications like letterhead, signage and packaging) for $500, or you can pay an international identity and branding company $100,000. In theory, that $100,000 should by you higher quality images and plenty of targeted branding theory, but that isn’t always the case. (Kenneth A. Fox,Nov-Dec 2002)
Our recommendation is that emerging companies look for an in-between solution. Look for a company that is experienced in branding small or start-up businesses, and that understands your timing and budget constraints. Reputable firms charge anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000 for a name and logo. You should be thrilled with the product and get terrific results from a firm in this range. (Michael Long et al,June 2007)
Before choosing a branding, naming or identity company, scrutinize its portfolio to make sure their style matches your tastes. Also, don’t hesitate to ask for references-they should be proud to provide them. Call a couple of the references and find out whether they liked working with the firm.
Finally, remember that branding is a serious, long-term investment. If you’re going after or have received outside financing, it should be a line item in your budget. Building a brand is a core business activity, as important as leasing office space, recruiting the right people and developing your product or service. (Michael Long et al,June 2007)
1.5 Finding the Right Branding Company
Companies that create branding and identity are often difficult to distinguish from graphic design firms, but how they go about creating your brand may be much different. There are several important steps to select the right company to help you to brand your new business.
First, ask your contacts which companies they know that specialize in branding. Conduct Internet searches for “naming” and “corporate identity” and “branding.” Think extensively about what types of names and logos appeal to you. Research the firms that created the brands that you most admire. Be aware of the firms’ creative styles. Choose a company with
a track record for unique and original names, not one that has a history of creating coined names. However, don’t go with a highly creative firm if your constituency is very conservative and traditional. (Michael Long et al,June 2007)
Contact a handful of companies and take note of how quickly they get back to you. Do they seem motivated or preoccupied? Is the person who returns your call a partner or a sales representative? Meet with a few different companies and trust the chemistry. If it’s there you will know it; if it’s not, keep looking. Make sure that the person with whom you initially meet? usually a partner or owner – will do, or at least direct, the work. That way they will be personally motivated to produce results for you. (Michael Long et al,June 2007)
Ask each company about its process. How forthcoming are they? Are the representatives willing to talk about their procedures and the steps that they’ll take to create your brand? Make sure you talk about money; they may ask you if you have a projected budget for this project. It’s acceptable for them to ask, but it’s also okay for you to hear first how much it will cost, without disclosing your budget. How quickly do they get back to you with a written proposal? If you agree on Tuesday to work with them and you haven’t heard from them by the end of the week, this might not be a good sign. Again, be smart and go with your instincts.
2.0 Top Branding Mistakes
Branding, a commonly used term throughout the business world, essentially means to create an identifiable entity that makes a promise of value. It means that you have created a consciousness, an image, an awareness of your business. It is your company’s personality. Numerous businesses try, but many fail at creating a successful brand. For more on the definition of a brand, read What Is a Brand?
Here are 10 of the most common mistakes:
1. Not thinking analytically. Too many companies think of branding as marketing or as having a catch phrase or a logo. It is more than simply vying for attention. A brand warrants attention on a consistent basis, represents something that your audience wants but does not get from your competitors. For example, it could be providing the best customer service in your industry – not just through your tagline or logo – by actually providing the best customer service in your industry.
2. Not maintaining your brand. Too often, in a shaky economy, businesses are quick to change or alter their identity. Too much of this confuses your steady customers. For guidance, think of big brands – Nike, for instance, has used “Just Do It” as a logo for years. One rule of thumb is that when you have become tired of your logo, tagline, and branding efforts, that’s when they begin to sink in with customers.
3. Trying to appease everyone. You will never be able to brand yourself in such a way that everyone will like you. Typically the best you can do is to focus on the niche market for your product.
4. Not knowing who you really are. If you are not the fastest overnight delivery service in the world, do not profess to be. Too many business owners think that they are providing something that they don’t. Know your strengths and weaknesses through honest analyses of what you do best.
5. Not fully committing to branding. Often business owners let the marketing and advertising department handle such things as “branding,” while they work on sales and other important parts of the business. But sales and branding are tied together as integral aspects of your business. Many Fortune 500 companies are where they are today because smart branding made them household names.
6. Not sharing the joke. If only the people in your office get a joke, it is not going to play to a large audience. The same holds true for branding. If your campaign is created for you and not “them,” your brand will not succeed.
7. Not having a dedicated marketing plan. Many companies come up with ideas to market themselves and establish a brand identity but have neither the resources nor a plan as to how they will reach their audience. You must have a well-thought out marketing plan in place before your branding strategy will work. For help putting together a marketing plan, see How to Build a Sound Marketing Plan for Your Business.
8. Using too much jargon. Business-to-business-based companies are most guilty of piling on the jargon. From benchmark to strategic partnering to value added, jargon does not benefit branding. If anything, it muddles your message.
9. Trying too hard to be different. Being different for the sake of being different is not branding. Yes, you will be noticed, but not necessarily in a way that increases sales.
10. Not knowing when you have got them. Companies that have succeeded in branding need to know when to stop establishing their brand and when to maintain that which they have established. Monitor the results of your branding campaign. If your small business is a local household word, you can spend more time maintaining your professional image.
2.1 First Steps for developing a brand
Before you develop your brand identity, you have to assess your business, how it operates and the messages that you want to – and are able to – deliver consistently to your customers. You must be realistic right from the start. There are five key areas to consider.
1. Work out your business, product or service’s core competencies. These are what you achieve for your customer, not necessarily what you do. For example, a good wine shop’s core competence is selling wine that its customers enjoy – not just selling wine.
2. Assess who your existing and potential customers are and find out what they like and what they don’t. For example, if they are driven by competitive pricing, there is little point in you presenting yourself as a premium-price supplier of the same products offered by your competitors.
3. Find out how your customers and your employees feel about your business. Reliable? Caring? Cheap? Expensive? Luxurious? No-frills? Later in the process, these emotional responses (brand values) will form the basis of your brand message.
4. Define how favourably your business is viewed by customers and potential customers – this is your perceived quality. Do they trust your business, product or service? Do they know exactly what it does for them? What do they think of when your brand is mentioned to them? Low perceived quality will restrict or damage your business. High perceived quality gives you a platform to grow. (Stephen M. Wigley, et al,July 2005)
5. Consider how far you can develop your business with its current customer perception without moving away from your core competencies. The amount you can change your offer is your brand stretch. For example, a shop known for selling fresh sandwiches could also consider selling homemade cakes and biscuits without going outside its core competencies. But selling frozen ready meals too may stretch its brand too far. (Stephen M. Wigley, et al,July 2005)
2.2 Managing the Brand
A brand will not work instantly – it will develop strength over time as long as your business consistently communicates and delivers your brand values to customers. Keep all your staff involved in your brand and your business. As your staff will be responsible for delivering the brand, they all need to feel a part of it and believe in it. Discuss your brand values regularly with your staff so they are clear about them.(R.E. Rios et al,Jan 2009)
Encourage them to offer suggestions to improve your systems so the brand values can be more easily delivered. Monitor your customers’ response to the brand regularly and continually review how your brand values are communicated to them. Get regular feedback from friendly customers and find out if what your business is doing for them matches the expectation your brand creates. Ask dissatisfied customers or former customers too – you learn useful lessons about your brand through honest criticism. (R.E. Rios et al,Jan 2009)
Regularly review your products, services and systems to make sure they efficiently back up your brand message. For example, if freshness is one of your brand values, are there ways you can deliver the product even more quickly?
Once the brand is developed within your own business and your existing customers, you can use it to attract new customers. Use your core competencies to show the benefits of your business to potential customers. Show what your business can do for them, not just what you do. Make sure every communication with potential customers is also consistent with your brand values. Advertisements and sales literature to potential customers must be visually and emotionally consistent with what you provide to existing customers.
2.3 Extending the Brand
A successful brand can offer opportunities for a business to grow. However, if you are introducing new products or services, you must make sure they are consistent with your existing brand values.
Stretching a brand too far reduces its strength and can damage it. If you are introducing new products or services, consider carefully if they fit with your core competencies and brand values. If they do, brand them in the same way as your existing products and services so they benefit from your existing branding. If they don’t, you should consider branding them separately.
If your new products or services remain within your core competencies but not your brand values, you can consider a diffusion brand. A diffusion brand is a different message with its own identity tied to your existing brand. For example, an insurance company’s core competence is getting things put right after they go wrong. If it introduces a new service that repairs items rather than pays for their replacement, it should be a diffusion brand: the Fixit Service from XYZ Insurance.
Remember that any problems with a diffusion brand will also damage your main brand, so treat the diffusion brand with similar care. If your new products or services fit neither your core competencies nor your brand values, you must brand them separately.
2.4 How Long Will My Brand Last?
Your brand should last as long as you want it to. Barring unforeseen circumstances, such as the sale of your company, a change in leadership, or a major shift in your audience or product offering, your brand is the most important and permanent manifestation of your company and its values. It used to be conventional wisdom that your brand should last 20 years. In the information age, that seems like a long time – and it is. (Tim Ambler et al,July 1996)
Your brand might not last that long because your company might change into something else in months, not years. Still, you shouldn’t plan on changing your brand with any regularity. It takes discipline and vigilance to build and maintain a brand. You want it to work for you in the long haul. In time, it will assume a life of its own that transcends the company itself.
3.0 Conclusions
Having consider all the above mention results if a company wants to stand out in his field and make a distinction between themselves and their competitor there is no cast of shadow that they need a branding to explain an unusual line of business through which earn above average return other wise if they don’t have a dedicated marketing plan they have to lose the market.As you learned you must have a well-thought out marketing plan in place before your branding strategy will work. As a result we found that branding is one of the undeniable segments of our business.
Brand Creation and Criteria for Development
References
1. Josephine Collins,(March 2008) Think global, act global: Global Brands Group has gone from a standing start in 2003 to today’s international brand management business. Co-founder and co-chairman Jonathan Sieff tells License! Global how that has been achieved
2. Kenneth A. Fox,Journal of Business Strategy (Nov-Dec 2002) Brand naming challenges in the new millennium. (Brand Management).
3. Michael Long and Chris Czajkowski (June 2007); Brand management–consistency breeds success: brand development involves integrating all elements to create a consistent message that reaches the target consumer
4. R.E. Rios and H.E. Riquelme, (Jan 2009)Brand equity for online companies.
5. Stephen M. Wigley, Christopher M. Moore and Grete Birtwistle. (July 2005) Product and brand: critical success factors in the internationalisation of a fashion retailer.(Retail Insights: Papers from the 8th International Conference of the European Association for Education and Research in Consumer Distribution.
6. Tim Ambler and Chris Styles. Marketing Intelligence & Planning 14.n7 (July 1996); Brand development versus new product development: towards a process model of extension decisions.
Content About : Brand Creation and Criteria for Development Article
Abundance, Prosperity and Money Creation
February 16, 2012 By
Abundance, Prosperity and Money Creation
Having problems in the money department? Struggling to look after yourself properly? Lacking a sense of abundance and prosperity? Thanks to a conference I graphically recorded years ago, I have a very vivid image of the word ‘abundance’. If you break the word into parts, you get A-Bun-Dance — ‘buns’ as in butt or rear end, dancing. Abundance is literally about moving, shaking and having a good time. Moving to the beat of life in a happy way. Getting your mojo on. Contrast that with the word scarcity — or Scar-City — living in a scarred or scary place. Choosing to focus on scars. Such a contrast between the two words and funny how their meanings can be communicated in such a succinct way!
Are You Vibrating Scarcity or Abundance? So, what locale are you primarily living in – abundance or scarcity? Chances are if you are having repetitive money, prosperity or abundance issues, you spend more time in the scarcity or lack region. The majority of your focus is on the things you don’t have (the scar) as opposed to on the things that you do (abundance) — and as a result you are vibrating a scarcity harmonic rather than a prosperity chord. Your energy or vibration is out of whack. Money and other forms of prosperity and abundance can’t easily make their way to you — cause you are vibrating lack rather than have and like attracts like.
How to Get Out of Scar City: Different people have their abundance and prosperity issues wired up in different ways. One of the common keys to getting out of Scar City is to develop an appreciative focus — to focus on what you do have and to develop a sense of empowerment (with a healthy dose of deserving).
There are so many different ways you can choose to view life, yourself and other people. You can choose to focus on the things that you don’t like, or you can choose to focus on the things that you do. The two have very different flavors or feels to them – and are connected to radically different outcomes.
Empowerment and Ability to Create: Abundant people are empowered people. They believe in their ability to create and look after themselves. Somewhere along the line they have developed a can do attitude. They aren’t victims. They are creators. And they have pretty positive beliefs about life, their abilities and their future.
Contrast that with scarcity folks: for different reasons they have less-than-helpful beliefs about themselves and their ability to create and look after themselves. They are disempowered. Feeling like they don’t have what it takes, that things are done onto them, that life is difficult, or the future is unfriendly. Outlooks like these hamper creative energies. Snuff them. Squash them. Keep creativity and sharing energy down and covered. In short, there are some scars to heal and overcome. Some healing work is required.
Share, Give and Help: Want to increase your prosperity? Think about what you can share, give and help others with. Lots of money creation involves reciprocal arrangements. Give something of value and assistance in order to receive. If you are in a salary environment, how can you be more helpful and resourceful — how can you increase the value of what you do, by adding to your responsibilities or by seeking out more (either in the job you are in or through another position)? If you are entrepreneurial, what can you share, give or help others with — the more people you can help the larger abundance you can attract.
Be Open to Unusual Forms: Abundance doesn’t just come in the form of direct income. Be open to receiving abundance in forms other than the usual ones.
Refunds, rewards, winnings, prizes, discounts, gifts and trades are just some of the other ways that abundance can make its way to you. Think of abundance in wider terms. It gives the ‘universe’ more ways to give to you. When they come to you, recognize them for what they are — abundance and a reflection of your ability to create!
Get Over Your Receiving Issues: When you give, it is OK to receive (in fact, if you want to go even further, it really is ok to receive without even giving – but I’ll leave that one for another time). Sometimes people have money issues because they have a hard time receiving.
Somehow they got it wired up that it is bad, wrong, or selfish (or some such thing) to get or receive. Perhaps they are oldest children who were told to ‘be big boy or girl’ which was interpreted as it’s not ok to look after oneself. Or they have faith beliefs that complicate their ability to receive. Or have self-esteem or self- valuing issues that keep them feeling less than or seemingly in need of punishment or containment.
Whatever is going on, it’s necessary to identify and work through these limiting beliefs to develop a healthy ability to receive. You do count. You do matter. It is ok for you to receive too. It is ok for you to live a decent life. To have decent things. To live a life of comfort and joy. There is more than enough to go around. Your having does not take away from someone else. Your success helps many people, while your failure or discomfort really helps no one, most of all yourself.
Put Your Financial House in Order: Money is attracted to a person who likes it and knows how to look after it. If you want to increase your financial abundance, then start by looking after the money you do have. Appreciate it. Treat it properly. Look after it. This means provide a proper home and place for it. Little things go a LONG way. Our minds are symbol making machines. Give your mind good symbols about money. If you are in debt, appreciate and be grateful for what you purchased. Organize your bills. Know what you have and what you owe. Make consistent payments (even if they are small). Take responsibility. Seek out financial advice. Tie up other outstanding loose ends like overdue taxes, filing, IOUs, etc. Get your books in order. As a financially savvy client of mine says ‘money likes to have fun’ — make yourself a fun and enjoyable place for money to reside. When you demonstrate you can look after it you lay the groundwork for more to come.
Envision a Positive Outcome: No matter what your present economic circumstances may be, begin now to envision a more positive outcome. As written about in other SHIFT-IT articles, one of your greatest assets is your imagination ability — and it’s free. Use your mind’s eye to imagine yourself in a more fiscally pleasant future. Feel what that more positive reality feels like. Soak up that resonance. Meet your Future Self that has it going on where money is concerned. Feel the relief of this position. The warmth. The calm. Whatever it is that being in a prosperity position does for you.
Do this repeatedly — get that improved energetic humming through your veins. It may seem that this is just a silly imagination exercise that isn’t really doing much, but in fact it is a very powerful activity that lines you up with the state that you seek – its pre-paving a path (laying the groundwork) for a more prosperous and abundant you.
© 2006 Christina L. Merkley
Abundance, Prosperity and Money Creation
Christina Merkley, “The SHIFT-IT Coach” and creator of the SHIFT-IT Graphic Coaching Process? is a Visioning and Planning Expert specializing in Graphic Facilitation and Law of Attraction techniques. Based in charming Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, she works deeply with individuals, couples and groups in defining and getting what they really want in work and life. For more information visit: http://www.shift-it-coach.com and http://www.makemark.com
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Online Forex Day Trading The Tao Of Rapid Wealth Creation And Perpetuation
February 10, 2012 By
Online Forex Day Trading The Tao Of Rapid Wealth Creation And Perpetuation
Foreign currency trading is the most profitable and powerful way to make money today in the world.
It is a 2.5 trillion dollars daily global market and business.
For this reason the knowledge and the secrets of how to do it successfully have been kept away from the public for thousands of years.
This is because it is the jealously guarded “SECRET” of how the “Money and Power” Elites, the multi-national and multi-billion dollars corporations, largest banks and governments of the world, the “Movers & Shakers” of International Banking & Finance, Business moguls & Tycoons, CEOs of major Corporations, secret societies and the privileged blue bloodlines of the Wealthiest Families of Europe and the Americas make their money and get rich.
They create vast fortunes easily trading foreign currencies.
Thereafter, using this great wealth, they create factories to manufacture consumer goods and products and hire you, Joe Bloke to work in those factories, banks and jobs at minimum wages.
So, it is no wonder why they don’t want you to know about the REAL TRUTH and “SECRET” on how to generate great wealth through foreign currency trading.
If you know how to trade foreign currency and generate $100,000 monthly for life, will you be idiotic, naïve and crazy to go to work at these DEAD END jobs to earn minimum wages and be paid nickels and dimes?
So, there has been a persistent organized campaign by the powers that be, the Money Elite to KEEP AWAY AND HIDE these “SECRETS” of creating vast wealth from foreign currency trading.
That is why they are always floating false propaganda and negative campaign in the mass media that currency trading is risky and you should not do it because you’ll lose all your money.
If you go to your bank manager or money management advisor or investment management company and tell them that you wish to make money at home from online currency trading, they will scream at you and try to discourage you and frighten you with the false information and half truth that it is risky and that you’ll lose your money.
This is because it is THE SECRET with which they make money and get rich!
Citibank alone makes $20 billion dollars trading currencies yearly.
Most banks, including your bank trade currencies and it is among the major ways to create income.
It is just that they don’t advertise this secret.
George Soros, the King of forex trading makes billions of dollars yearly trading currencies!
It is reported that a few years ago, he nearly caused the government of Thailand to go bankrupt because he made so much money trading their currency!
Yes, foreign currency exchange trading or forex trading can be risky.
It is true, you can lose your shirt and go bankrupt.
But this is half of the truth.
The other half of the truth is that if you buy and study a good forex currency trading e-book guide or program and understand how it works, avoid the pitfalls and get to know the secrets of risk management and trade with discipline, you can get fabulously rich so fast it will make your head spin round and put the devil to shame.
This is why there is an organized campaign to discredit online currency trading.
If you get rich so fast, then you’ll not need to depend on the “Money and Power” Elites and their jobs and welfare system where they allow you nickels and dimes to keep you subjugated.
If you get rich too fast, they will no longer be able to manipulate you into voting and keeping them in power to continue milking your life by making you labor and work yourself to death making them rich.
There are so many reasons why most beginners in foreign currency trading fail to earn money and instead lose all their savings.
When they first hear about how easy and fast it is making money from day trading currency, they search the internet and find a forex trading broker.
Then they open a currency trading account and put in a few thousands of dollars in the online currency trading account and immediately begin to try to earn money from online currency trading.
And they get entangled in all the foreign currency trading sophisticated strategies and systems of technical and fundamental analysis such as reading “Forex charts”, “Moving Averages”, “Elliot wave”, “Stochastics”, “Bollinger bands”, “Directional movement index”, “Trend and Oscillator indicators”, “Fibonacci retracements and others.
They spend all day and night listening to business news on radio, reading forex newsletters, forex articles in magazines and watching business news on TV
These beginners don’t take their time to buy a valid online currency trading e-book guide to study and understand the forex market and the currency trading “SECRETS” before they begin trading.
They don’t open the free demo trial forex trading account to practice for free to develop viable profitable currency trading skills first before they open a paid forex trading account to begin trading and making real money.
They make the fatal and dumb mistake of trying to fly in the world of foreign currency trading market before they learn how to crawl.
So, they get confused, make grievous foreign currencies trading errors and lose their money.
When they lose their money, they will not accept responsibility because that is the difficult part.
The easy thing to do is to blame their mistakes on online currency trading and to declare and gripe that it is risky and a scam designed to con the unsuspecting public.
This gives them the justification to begin filing false complaints and instigating legal action with the lame excuse that they were naïve and didn’t know the risk involved and so have been ripped off.
The truth is that there are at least one million people around the world who have foreign currency trading skills and do it well to make millions of dollars monthly!
Yes, sometimes they will lose.
But most of the time they are fabulously profitable.
I once read about a taxi cab driver from New York who started trading foreign currencies about 10 yrs ago.
While driving his taxi cab, occasionally during his lunch break, he will log into his forex trading account and enter a few currency trades.
By the end of his driving day shift, he would check his online currency trading account and was always surprised to find that for a few minutes of trading currencies, he had made more money that day in minutes than he made driving the cab for a whole month.
This encouraged him to stop driving the taxi cab and to begin trading currencies full time.
In 10 years, he made $4 billion dollars ($4,000,000,000) trading foreign currencies online and was listed in Forbes Magazine’s 400 richest Americans!
He is just one out of the many average people all over the world who took the time to study online currency trading, understood it and trade it correctly and are making millions of dollars without any hard work.
You too can do the same.
It is simple.
If you can click your mouse once to buy the currency and in a few minutes click your mouse a second time to sell them, you can make money.
It is a no brainer. Even a caveman can do it!
So, foreign currency trading is not difficult to understand or to do like stock or bond or commodity trading.
If you know where to get a good and valid forex trading guide or e-book and be patient to spend 1 hr daily to study it to understand the foreign currency trading market, how to click your mouse to buy and sell the currency; and if you will be patient to do the free demo trial for a few months before you open a paid forex trading account to begin trading, you can get obscenely and insanely rich so fast, it will make your eyes want to pop out, seeing all the piles of cash you generate just by clicking your mouse twice for a few minutes daily!
One powerful secret that will help you as a beginner is to avoid hiring money managers at the beginning to trade currencies for you.
The reason is that 90% of these money managers who advertise with highly impressive websites and brochures and also in TV infomercials and radios and seminars are fraudulent.
When you hire them to trade for you, they will over trade your account (churning) so as to generate a lot of trading fees for themselves because whether they make money for you or not, you must pay them their fees.
The more they trade your account, the more fees they generate for themselves!
By over trading your forex currency account, they expose it to massive risk which will eventually lead you to lose a lot of money.
This is because there are certain days and times which are profitable to trade and there are some days and times which are not.
Therefore by over trading (churning) your currency trading account, they get rich at your expense.
Plus, some of them will even use some profits they generated from trading your account to trade for themselves and make themselves rich without you knowing what is going on.
As if that is not bad enough, some will entice you to trade on margin. This means that they will loan you money to trade.
But the trick is that they are loaning you digital money which is created from the air and has no value.
All they do is go to your account and enter any amount of money they wish to loan you. (They don’t actually put real money into your currency trading account!)
This is not real money because it is just digital artificial numbers.
But if you use this fake funny digital money to trade and lose, then you’ll owe them real money!
You’ll be required to pay them with real money!
And if you fail to pay them, they can freeze your bank accounts, assets and homes to collect the debt.
This is how most of these brokers get rich at the expense of naïve beginners in online foreign currency trading.
So, if you’re a beginner, avoid hiring money managers to trade for you at the beginning. Stay away from managed trading.
Instead learn to trade and after you have made at least $500,000, contact us to give you the list of the best and honest money managers in the world (as well as the best forecasting services) who can trade for you and make you richer.
There is another fraud which some money managers perpetrate.
After you open a paid online currency trading account and put in thousands of dollars in there for them to trade for you, they use your money to trade for themselves.
Then they use a computer software to generate a fake forex trading account statement for your forex trading account which will show that you’ve lost money.
There is no way most people will find out, because you can’t access their trading activities.
And sometimes even when you find a honest and reputable money manager to trade for you, when your account becomes profitable and you request to withdraw some of the money, they will begin to give you a run around, excuses and try to discourage you from withdrawing the money.
If you persist, you’ll find out that suddenly your account will begin to lose money because they have softwares to manipulate it and generate dubious account statements to make it seem as if you’ve been losing money!
Above all, most beginners in forex currency trading fail to earn money because they spend too much time in doing complicated forex mathematics, reading charts, listening to business news on radio, TV and reading too many forex newsletters and magazine articles, which are conflicting, confusing, time consuming and counter productive.
They spend so much time over stuffing themselves with forex trading news and information that they become constipated with information and overwhelmed and so have little or no time to actually click their mouse to buy and sell the currencies and make money.
Most beginners also are unable to find and use a good currency trading system and software.
Some of them are even conned into buying outrageously expensive trading softwares and system for $4000 from some companies who advertise on TV infomercials late at nights.
They don’t know that they can get the same forex trading system and softwares for free online at the websites of some forex trading companies!
These $4000 softwares are not for beginners and when we checked them out, we found they are complicated and not easy to use.
Infact after you manage to master how to use it, they will not help you to make more money!
So, it is not wise squandering your hard earned $4000 to buy them.
If these over priced worthless forex trading softwares work as they are advertised in seminars and infomercial, the companies will not be selling them.
Instead they will keep them secret and use them to make billions of dollars.
If you wake up tomorrow and discover you have a goldmine underneath your house, will you go out and advertise in TV infomercials and radios and seminars to sell your house for $4000???
The truth is that most of these infomercial advertising forex companies don’t really trade currencies. They are just sales people. Shysters. Tricksters.
They make their money by peddling worthless forex trading softwares to the naïve beginners for $4000.
When you check one of these companies out (one of them has the audacity to call their worthless software “Forex Made Easy”), you’ll discover that the CEO of this company actually admitted that not only that he does NOT use his $4000 software to trade but he knows nothing about trading currencies!
He only lends his name to his company to use to market their worthless foreign currency trading software.
The company’s pitchman who conducts the seminar is a sales man and he also doesn’t trade currencies because he had committed fraud in the past and was barred from trading commodities.
While the CEO of the company runs infomercial and seminars peddling worthless forex trading software for $4000, he doesn’t use it and doesn’t trade currencies.
Instead he hired a money manager who trades the currencies for him!
So, if you’re a beginner who desires to get rich fast from currency trading, you must know these insiders’ “SECRETS” of currency trading market and the pitfalls and how to avoid all the fraudulent companies peddling worthless forex trading e-books, books, softwares, systems and complicated trading strategies.
There are millions of them.
Beware because they are smooth operators who are very skilled in salesmanship and who can easily dazzle you with their big refined nonsensical English and so con you.
There are billions of dollars to be made in foreign currency trading and you can get abundantly rich trading these currencies online from home or office starting small.
But you must locate and buy a valid foreign currency trading e-book guide.
You must study it and understand it.
You must try the free demo account trading and do well in it before you can open a paid forex trading account to actually begin making real money.
You must begin by trading only one or two currencies at the beginning.
With time as you acquire more skills, you may trade more currencies.
You must learn how to trade with discipline and learn the BEST DAYS AND HRS to trade to be profitable and the other times when YOU MUST NOT TRADE to avoid losing money.
You must know how to “go long” or “short” on a currency, how to enter “Market Order”, “Limit Order”, “Stop Order”, “OCO order” and “Entry Order”.
If you learn how to do Online currency trading hedging, it will help you to maximize your profits.
You must be disciplined and avoid emotional currency trading.
When you make a reasonable amount of money for the day, stop trading because you can’t be profitable at all times of the day and if you don’t stop and take your profit, you may end up losing all the money you made.
Above all don’t open a paid currency day trading account and trade until you have done the free trial demo account trading for a few months and mastered it.
At the beginning, keep your trading strategies simple.
Avoid complications and advanced trading strategies of technical and fundamental analysis because these are the reasons why 90% of beginners lose money.
Use a simple trading strategy to get rich at the beginning.
Afterwards you may then take advanced forex trading courses and do technical, fundamental analysis and use forecasting services to make even more profits and get richer, making millions of dollars effortlessly.
If you’re serious in learning all the insiders’ “SECRETS” about how to make millions of dollars trading foreign currencies online, without selling your soul to the devil and without losing your shirt, you must get our powerful currency trading e-book which reveals a very simple and yet profitable and powerful trading strategy which is guaranteed to make you $100,000 monthly for life from home or office.
You can learn to get rich from the jealously guarded foreign currency trading “SECRETS” of the “Money and Power” Elites, the multi-national and multi-billion dollars corporations, largest banks and governments of the world, the “Movers & Shakers” of International Banking & Finance, Business moguls & Tycoons, CEOs of major Corporations, secret societies and the privileged blue bloodlines of the Wealthiest Families of Europe and the Americas.
With the millions of dollars which you make from foreign currency trading, you’ll be free like a bird to buy a mansion, with the most lavish and expensive furnishings, jewelry, antiques, electronics, a 50ft yacht, dream luxury cars, pick your choice: Lexus X470, $44,000 Jaguar 2007 S type, Silver Porsche Carrera, $180,000 Ferrari Testarossa, Mercedes 2007 Model S Class, 2007 Rolls Royce Silver Seraph, Bentley Mulsanne S, $220,000 Bentley Arnage Silver Tempest or a flaming red Lamborghini Jalpa!
You can make all your dreams in life to come true, without any hard work!
May these insights into foreign currency online investing, foreign currency trading program, investing online, forex trading, day trading, online trading e-book, day trading online, day trading system, day trading course, day trading future, forex day trading, day trading book, day trading firm, day trading training, currency day trading, online future trading, online currency trading, online forex trading, online commodity trading, online currency trading system, currency forex online trading, online trading course, online trading education, trading, online trading investing, forex, forex trading, forex broker, forex market, forex trading system, forex news, forex trader, forex signal, forex trading, online forex, trade forex, forex quote, forex education help you make millions of dollars and to achieve your life’s ambitions and dreams.
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Online Forex Day Trading The Tao Of Rapid Wealth Creation And Perpetuation
Ikey Benney is the creator of Mscsrrr Millionaire Automated Foreign Currency Trading e-book Guide. Discover how to begin generating $100,000 monthly for life from home or office without doing any work currency trading program [http://www.mscsrrr.com]: [http://www.mscsrrr.com]
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