America’s Prescription Drug Pricing Bubble and Reimportation
March 31st, 2007 by MoniesAuthor: Peter Ireland
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Who’s in the money? Telecom companies
March 30th, 2007 by MoniesThe big news out of the third-quarter MoneyTree survey – produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association based on data from Thomson Financial – is that a few niches in the telecorn sector saw significant interest from investors: Four of the Top 10 deals sealed in the third quarter were with telecom companies.
That’s a good sign for the telecom industry which hasn’t seen a growth in investment levels since mid-2002.
The majority of investor interest in the telecom sector, however, is centered on companies designing the infrastructure to build a new generation of consumer-oriented services and applications, such as Limelight Networks with its digital media content distribution network. That means enterprise IT probably won’t see the benefits of these investor dollars for a few years.
Consumer-oriented offerings “are what’s driving these investments, that’s certainly where the demand is,” says Tracy Lefteroff, global managing partner of PwC’s venture capital and private equity practice. In a few years, once these infrastructure technologies, such as wireless messaging services and mobile high-bandwidth delivery services, are proven, they probably will trickle down into the more-conservative enterprise domain, he says.
The software sector – a perennially hot area for venture capital investment – saw a significant decline during the third quarter, with deals totaling 19% less than they did in the previous quarter. A lack of interest in enterprise-focused technology again can be cited, because the market for corporate software is so mature that there’s little room for newcomers, Lefteroff says. Much of the software-related funding activity during the third quarter went to startups with whiz-bang Web 2.0-ish products and services aimed at the consumer.
But that’s not to say enterprise IT has become uninteresting to investors. In an era of information discovery, protection and compliance, start-ups with products in this new corner of the security industry are garnering attention, such as Renew Data, maker of electronic evidence and data recovery products, which received $31 million. Other examples include PortAuthority Technologies and Vontu, makers of information leakage prevention technology – which received $18 million and $10 million, respectively.
Author: Garretson, Cara
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Make money the e-marketing way! We’ll show you how to generate quick cash, from using your e-mail signature to pushing products on MySpace.com
March 28th, 2007 by MoniesMel Hopkins knew she would have to get creative when marketing her new supernatural suspense novel because her print-on-demand publishing method limits distribution to Internet booksellers. So with nearly all of her sales channels on the Web, the Naperville, Illinois, writer decided to generate big-time buzz online for Sleeping with a D-man so she could hear the ka-ching of her virtual cash register.
Hopkins crafted an aggressive, but affordable e-marketing campaign that has helped sell 200 books in six months. She spent just $200 to generate $3,200 in sales of the book at an average retail price of almost $16.
Hopkins, who owns The LeadStory, a media communications firm, developed an e-marketing strategy that promoted her novel while giving impulse buyers the option to purchase immediately online. This combined approach also eliminated the need to purchase advertising online, which can be prohibitive for small business owners. Will this strategy work for you?
Here are the simple, inexpensive tactics and tools Hopkins used to ring up sales:
Add a “buy” button to your e-mail signature. Hopkins’ e-mail signature includes book information and a “buy now” button linked to a product purchase page at her publisher’s Website. Are you selling multiple products? Rotate them in and out of your signature.
Create a blog in an online community. “The best way to be found online is to join a blogging community,” says Hopkins, adding that popular sites such as LiveJournal.com and Blogger.com aren’t communities so they are less useful. She prefers social networking sites MySpace.com and Xanga.com because as communities, they allow members with shared interests to connect more easily.
Hopkins’ Xanga blog connected her with another member who is now “hand-selling” Sleeping with a D-man offline. Hopkins points out that her MySpace page (www.myspace.com/nickyjett) attracted a promotions consultant who invited her to sell books in-person at a Chicago event showcasing the work of local authors, “The key to using these sites is to join the community to widen your circle of influence rather than do a hard sell,” she says.
Hake it possible for people to purchase your product on your Website. “I use PayPal because it’s safe, convenient, and easy to use,” says Hopkins,
Learn the latest technology and use it to help you sell. Hopkins used Windows Movie Maker, a video editing software program, to turn a PowerPoint presentation into a commercial hosted on the popular video Website YouTube.com. Creating a link to her YouTube.com video lets Hopkins post the commercial anywhere online or in e-mail messages.
Use interactive tools to help you identify niche markets. Hopkins originally targeted young African American women with her online marketing efforts but soon learned that men liked the book, too. “High-tech guys seem to love it,” she says, adding that the positive feedback she received from men who were reading her blogs influenced her to consider this market segment.
Getting others talking about your product on popular blogs is an effective promotional strategy, according to Havelock Nelson, an account executive at New York-based public relations firm Goodman Media International. “There are many literary blogs geared toward readers,” he says. “Their writers might interview Hopkins or review her book.”
Author: Sandra Beckwith
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Ludicrous Money Maker
March 21st, 2007 by MoniesA ludicrous money maker is not hard to find on the internet. Looking at it from a distributors view, a ludicrous money maker would be an opportunity that your where sure to make a lot of money with, but ended up not really knowing what happened, with an empty wallet.
Looking at it from a company’s standpoint, it must be an opportunity where thousands upon thousands of gullible people believe the hype that is presented. Letting everyone know that this “ludicrous money maker” will make everyone filthy stinking rich, just by participating.
Of course there will be some people that make money and there will be A LOT of people that will loose money.
I usually do not believe that people loose money in network marketing, since it is a product or services bought. In the so called “ludicrous money makers” people do actually loose their money because they have no intention to participate in the opportunity for the products or service that is offered. They only participate to become stinking filthy rich fast, without doing any work.
So in a case like this when the big masses sit in the dust not knowing what hit them, and the owners and heavy hitters move to another “ludicrous money maker”, they have indeed lost their money.
The “winners” is the heavy hitters and the company owners that make A LOT of money and when the excitement for this particular “ludicrous money maker” starts to fad, they plan a new and exciting “ludicrous money maker”.
If the new offer you just got in your email say something like: “just started, join now, before it is too late”, you should hit the delete button the fastest you can and refocus on your long term internet business.
Author: Lars Fagerliroen
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Money Trail
March 21st, 2007 by MoniesGone are the days when a game cost only a few grand and required three dudes to make. Today, big-name titles can run up to $25 million to go from concept to your console. What are the steps in between? Let’s deconstruct the budget process of a typical $10 million console game.
Development Budget
70%
$7 million
Creating the game—which entails the employment of designers, programmers, artists, sound engineers and musicians, voice actors, testers, and so forth—is easily the biggest chunk of change. This process also involves the creation or licensing of a graphics engine, tools and other middleware, and also general overhead concerns such as rent, electricity, and health insurance.
Marketing Budget
10%
$1 million
What’s the point of making a great game if the world doesn’t know about it? That’s where marketing and public-relations departments come in, and getting the word out costs money. PR reps work with the press to get media exposure, while marketing people deal more directly with the consumer through advertising, packaging, promotions, and retailers.
Console-maker Royalty
5%
$500,000
To create a title for a particular console, a third-party game publisher must cough up a royalty fee to that console’s manufacturer. Sony, for instance, may take $7 to $9 for every copy of a PlayStation 2 game made—but the better the title does, the lower this royalty rate becomes (as long as such deals are arranged beforehand). Also, royalties are less if it’s a game made exclusively for that console.
Manufacturing, Sales, Distribution
15%
$1.5 million
It ain’t cheap to create a few hundred thousand DVDs, with packaging, and then distribute them around the nation so they can appear at your local retailer. A publisher may also consider putting that game on other platforms, which means additional manufacturing, distribution, and other costs. Generally speaking, a publisher is looking at selling nearly half a million units before it sees a profit on its investment.
Author: Marc Saltzman
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What You Need To Protect Yourself In Money Making Internet Network Marketing Career!
March 20th, 2007 by MoniesWhat can you ultimately do to protect yourself? The major proton of the answer is to treat your internet network marketing career as the business you want and expect it to develop into a money making business. Follow the business attitude of committing yourself to building a long future with your present opportunity. Nonetheless, when you become a successful money maker, spend your money wisely as if the available money is not expected to last.
You should always keep your expenses in line. For instance, if the company you are currently with develops insurmountable problems, you will not be held back with any past debts provided you managed your expenses and wealth wisely. If so, you will be in a better position to begin with other money making opportunities.
Think as if you are the decision maker of your internet network marketing career. Be flexible as you develop that delicate balance between your business life and personal life. Many become very excited when they discover an opportunity to become a successful money maker from an internet network marketing program.
However, when they begin to see results of the program they are with, many will begin devote more time into money making but neglecting their social life. If one can manage both work and personal life appropriately, he/she is more likely to enjoy the network marketing career and become successful spiritually. Hence, always try to apply common sense to your goals and objectives.
Below are few suggestions to help you getting out of that “burned out” feeling.
1. It would be nice to earn over $100,000 per year, and many people in network marketing do. But keep things in perspective. Your personal financial goals may be more modest. And if they are, that’s just fine.
2. Success isn’t totally tied to being a success money maker. Everyone need not be in the top ten to be happy. Financial freedom for you is not the same as it is for someone else. What I’m saying is, don’t be frustrated if your income goals are not as high as someone else. Be proud of your own personal achievements.
3. There are many highly-successful internet network marketing achievers who go bowling, vacation, attend church, see movies, go to sporting events, and watch TV regularly. You are less likely to become “burned out” by maintaining at least some of your recreational activities. It’s just as important to work to budget your time as well as to budget your money.
Author: Elise Hong
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Money Maker: Bill for the Bill
March 19th, 2007 by MoniesJust when it looked like long-distance carriers might be down for the count, they may have come up with a way to make some money.
AT&T, Sprint and WorldCom are looking to reduce their costs — and consequently increase revenue — by convincing customers to move to online billing. The penalty for not choosing the online option can mean an extra $1.50 per month added to long-distance bills.
AT&T is contacting its customers through a direct-mail campaign to offer them a credit of $1 per month for choosing online billing. As an added incentive, the company is giving customers who make the switch a one-time $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com. Customers who don’t want to receive bills online can get a bill from AT&T directly at no charge, but folks who want to stick with a single bill delivered through the local phone company will have to pay $1.50 per month.
Sprint has been charging many of its customers $1.50 a month for a bundled bill since January, and WorldCom has mailed letters to notify its customers that it will begin charging for a bundled bill. (WorldCom already charges for bundling in Southwestern Bell territory.) Like AT&T, Sprint and WorldCom are offering discounts to customers who agree to pay online.
The long-distance carriers say local telcos are forcing them to charge customers for bundled billing. “My costs have gone up over 30%,” says Dan Alcazar, assistant VP of Sprint’s national consumer group. “In many cases, I’m paying significantly more than $1.50 per bill to the local telco.”
But analysts say the long-distance carriers also may be trying to get low-volume customers to pay up. “This is a way to increase the profitability of low-volume customers who haven’t been paying their freight,” says Bob Lane, senior analyst at Yankee Group.
Author: Dawn Bushaus
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Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs
March 15th, 2007 by MoniesMost people have heard of affiliate network marketing and for the most part people do understand what it is and how it works. What people don’t realize is that there are some amazing things happening in the affiliate marketing industry.
“Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs” When affiliate programs first entered the market, most people were a little slow to see their potential. While network marketing had been so huge and the commission structure seemed so much better, affiliate network marketing seemed like too little commission for the effort. It definitely took some time, but soon network marketers started to realize the amazing potential in affiliate marketing and it is now the fastest growing niche in network marketing.
“Pay Per Lead Affiliate Programs” or Affiliate marketing programs were basically an abbreviated version of network marketing with faster results. All forms of network marketing involve some level of sales and involve introducing people to a product or service idea. In network marketing it is not enough for the individual to want the product but they have to be so excited about it that they want to get other people interested in it as well.
Looking back over my network marketing years I hate to tally up all the money I lost if the goal had been either get people interested in the product or get them interested in the business. Plenty of people loved my products but so few were interested I the business. Perhaps part of that was my fault because I am not the best network marketer out there and I’m sure I fell short in my delivery a few times.
So I did what many people end up doing in network marketing. I quit. For a long time affiliate marketing didn’t interest me because without evaluating it, it looked just like network marketing. It took me several years to understand the difference between the two.
The issue that frustrated me in network marketing was the core difference in affiliate marketing. In affiliate marketing the profit is made whether someone wants to be involved in the business or if they just want the product. It’s about as simple as finding a really cool website that you’re excited about and telling your friends how cool it is and so they go and check it out. Of course you’ll need more people than most of us have friends in order to make a good profit, but the concept is still the same.
A Good Business Made Even Better
Once I began to really understand affiliate marketing and how people were rapidly building fortunes, I was knocked off my socks once again when I discovered a very specific type of affiliate marketing that was blowing the competition away.
“Pay per lead affiliate programs” are by far one of the most phenomenal home based businesses on the net to make money. This is the best of all “I failed network marketing because” concepts.
With “pay per lead affiliate marketing” plans you don’t even have to sell the product anymore. All my excuses have dwindled from “Nobody wants to do the business” to “Nobody likes my product” straight down to nothing.
With the pay per lead affiliate plan if somebody checks it out and they want to join the business then that’s great. If there’s not interested in the business but they want to buy the product then that’s great. If they are just looking and have no real idea about what they want well then that’s great as well because with pay per lead affiliate programs you get paid if all they do is fill out their information.
“Pay per lead affiliate programs” are serious money makers if you join the right one. In fact, pay per lead affiliate programs may eventually make other affiliate programs completely obsolete. The basic foundation of these programs is based on creating multiple streams of income. We have all heard that expression before, but most often we associate it with having more than one business pulling in profit. “Pay per lead affiliate programs” allow you to develop multiple streams of income from one business, one marketing effort, and one website.
What makes this so phenomenal is that you can actually retain these multiple streams of income from just one visitor. Because if Nancy is wandering around out there in cyberspace and she is just looking for a way to bring home a little cash she may pop in on your website and fill out her information. You get paid for that. Two weeks later when Nancy is still wandering around out there she has remembered that she wanted to take a second look at your website and this time she decides she wants to try the product, so you get paid for that sale. Two weeks later she is completely in love with the product, realizes that you got paid twice for her two actions, and now she wants in on this business. Yes, you get paid for that, too.
From one marketing effort you receive three streams of income. Most of the time it probably won’t happen the way that Nancy went about it. The real point is that a person has options when they come to your affiliate website and that equals three streams of income from the same marketing effort. That’s really exciting if you start to realize that some “pay per lead affiliate programs” offer tier payments as well.
Tier Payments
Tier payments are pretty simple as long as you understand network marketing. Tier payments are the financial heart of the affiliate program compensation plan. Once Nancy came back and realized she wanted to be part of the business plan she became your first tier down line. Most affiliate programs include a first tier payment. When Nancy gets her first tier down line, they will become your second tier. The process continues all the way down through. Some affiliate plans pay only through the first or second tier payment while others go to a generous eight or ten tier payment plan.
While the actual percentages of tier payment plans may seem quite nominal, these payments actually add up into significant sums as long as there is activity in the tiers. These tiny percentages add up into even healthier incomes when you consider that pay per lead programs give you three streams of income. You are now earning small percentages on three separate streams of income for up to eighteen people, depending on the tier payment plan.
Why Not Network Marketing?
If affiliate pay per lead programs are so good you may be wondering why not just get involved again in network marketing. After all the commissions in network marketing are much higher than affiliate marketing plans. While this may be true, affiliate marketing plans have several distinct advantages over network marketing.
Affiliate marketing plans are typically inexpensive to join, and in some cases even free. Multi level marketing businesses tend to run much higher just for the right to join their program let alone get into advertising and marketing costs. The costs of some of the better multi level marketing programs can run in the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars simply to join the program. Prospects who are truly interested in joining find these start up costs rather prohibitive.
Network marketing pays higher commissions, but they only pay commissions. Granted you receive commissions on several tiers, but unlike pay per lead affiliate programs you can not readily develop two or three streams of income from one marketing plan.
Network marketing requires at the very least a retail sale to generate commission. “Pay per lead affiliate programs” only require enough interest in the program or product to fill out some contact information in order to receive payment.
Some people find network marketing plans suit them perfectly and they are capable of running a solid business from these plans. However the majority of new to home business opportunity seekers are finding the pay per lead affiliate network marketing plan something they feel more confident in finding their success. Confidence is a key factor in success. Belief in the ability to build a reasonable income is half of what it takes to be successful in any web based business.
Author: Bobby Ryatt
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The money maker: Anna Escobedo Cabral, U.S. Treasurer
March 10th, 2007 by MoniesWhen most successful people reflect on their lives, there is always one person that made the difference between a future of success and accomplishment and staying on a road leading to a very different and perhaps a much darker place.
For Anna Escobedo Cabral, United States Treasurer, that one person was her high school math teacher, Mr. Philip Lamm. Born and raised in California, Anna Cabral’s family, and the generations before them, had worked in the fields of the Santa Clara Valley. She was the oldest of 5 kids. Her father struggled to support her family after becoming disabled.
At 16 years of age, Cabral decided to graduate high school early; she was a very good student. Her math teacher, Mr. Philip Lamm, told her that she should go to college. “He hand wrote the application. He told me that this was a better plan and found scholarship money for me to go to college.”
“When I got to college, suddenly everything changed for me. I realized that there is so much that you can do with your life. I grew up in a lot of neighborhoods that were poor. When I would go home, the people in my neighborhood were still doing the same things they were doing before I left for school. Some died early from drugs, alcohol or violence. It is a tragedy to let these things happen by accident. Young people need to be convinced that they have options, that they have a future. The dropout rate for Hispanics hovers at around 50%. The loss in human capital from this drop out rate is staggering. Nearly one in five people in the U.S. will Hispanic by the year 2025.”
Fast forward to spring, 2005. Now the U.S. Treasurer, Escobedo Cabral has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. She has been the Director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Latino Initiatives, leading the institution’s effort to improve Latino representation in exhibits in all of its museums, research centers and the National Zoo. Prior to this position, Cabral was President and CEO of the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), national non-profit organization which partners with Fortune 500 companies to increase Hispanic representation in corporate America.
From 1993 to 1999, Cabral she was Deputy Staff Director for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee under Chairman Orrin Hatch. She simultaneously served as Executive Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Republican Conference Task Force on Hispanic Affairs. Here, she managed a task force of 25 senators in their efforts to ensure that the needs of the Hispanic community are addressed by Congress.
Today, as she sits in her beautiful, spacious office in the Department of the Treasury, she is a spokeswoman for the Administration and for the Department of the Treasury on Presidential and department priorities. Hers is the second oldest position in the federal government. Her signature, along with that of the Secretary of the Treasury, is on many of the bills in your wallet. As U.S. Treasurer, Cabral works with the U.S. Mint on the design and introduction of new currency and the protection of currency from counterfeiting. Thanks to her collective efforts, you can look for a new $10 bill in late 2005, and new 20s and 100s in 2006.
A critical area of interest and involvement for her are her efforts to increase knowledge about financial literacy. In the aftermath of the hurricane disaster, this focus will be more important than perhaps at any time in our nation’s history. Her role and her voice in helping people understand how to rebuild their financial lives and offering the hand of the government to build a financial future is desperately needed.
As a Latina, she is extremely concerned about the need for Hispanics to become more integrated into the financial mainstream. “Nearly 40% of the Hispanic population of this country does not have bank accounts. We have to create ways for these people to develop trust, understand and participate in basic banking and financial services. We have to help people understand that they don’t have to stand in lines to buy a money order or a check. People have to know how to develop credit history, purchase a home and how they can achieve the American dream. She Adds, ‘The importance of saving, building and using credit is crucial to Hispanics, but also important to all Americans across the board.”
The difficulties of her childhood and the pain that poverty causes so many families and communities am circumstances and feelings that she knows far too well. Cabral remembers her father’s disability and her family’s struggle, “Despite his disability, there were 7 mouths to feed. He had to find other ways to earn a living. My mother worked several jobs. I remember as a little girl going with my father as he pulled metal parts and aluminum from the streets to sell. We had to move to a small house on the wrong side of the tracks.”
Author: Array
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Marketing Your Small Business Online
March 3rd, 2007 by MoniesThere are many ways to take your small business online but there is only one way to do it right. The right way is to follow a tried and true formula that works like gangbusters every time.
The formula can be summarized by the acronym CTPM.
The “C” stands for content. This means your business website must contain valuable content that visitors want and desire. Your content is like honey to bears, it will attract your prospects and keep them coming back for more.
The “T” stands for traffic. This means in order for your business website to survive and be effective it must generate massive amounts of visitor traffic. There are many ways to generate traffic to your site to include but not limited to search engine optimization, email marketing, article marketing, backlinking, etc. Your website must use a traffic building system or it will disappear into cyberspace.
The “P” stands for pre-sell. This means that your website must warm-up your visitors and put them in a buying mood before you try to sell them something. Pre-selling is a soft-selling process whereby you give visitors free information, sign them up to your newsletter or give them a free gift related to what you later want to sell them. In essence you prepare them for the hard sell by first getting acquainted with them and gaining their trust and confidence
The “M” stands for monetization or making money. This is the ultimate objective. Your website must make you money or it will serve you little to no purpose. Monetization is when you convert your visitors into buyers and then into long term customers who provide you residual income.
Author: George Stark
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