Category Archives: New Media

IMF Economy Update and Thoughts for You

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will revise its figures for global growth after the recent financial tumult. The largest downward revision is expected for the U.S. economy but the IMF says growth will likely slow in Japan and parts of Europe as well. Contributed by: BusinessCenter.TV -Sep 7, 2007


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My reading of the situation: it’s not bad at all compared to the difficult times we have seen before over the last 2 decades; so let’s not get jittery for every pothole on the road. And as far as I know, businesses that are using online channels today to reach customers worldwide are really growing at an attractive pace. So if you are deriving over 90% of your revenues from offline methods – BDMs, Sales Staff, Channel Partners, etc- you are at risk. I have absolutely no doubt in that because your cost structures are just too high compared to your competition which may be using online methods to get up to 50% of their revenues. I can say this because we recently helped a business in increasing the online sales component while reducing the sales force effort. It’s possible and it’s happening.

Stay Tuned!
Shankar AVSB, CEO, MyOrbit.tv

Phone Calls = Page Views?

Scott Hamilton, president and CEO of VoodooVox believes: “Phone calls are the new page views, and VoodooVox’s In-Call Network is the next breakthrough advertising channel. We strongly believe that most telephony services that consumers currently pay for can be delivered profitably and for less with advertising support. Our In-Call Media represents the new standard by which all voice-based marketing will be gauged.”

The idea is interesting and we will wait and see how consumers react to voice ads, while they are waiting on hold to speak with their bank or pay the utility bills. Meanwhile, Voodoovox has closed $8.1M Financing Round led By Softbank Capital.

Steve Murray, partner, Softbank Capital feels: “The potential for ad-supported telephony extends far beyond directory assistance applications….Over time, we expect VoodooVox to help drive new applications, improve customer experiences, and decrease pricing for consumer telephony services of all kinds while raising profitability for the call publishers that provide these services.” The full news release is on their website.

So what’s the takeaway for you? There are more and more options of advertising, and reach audience at the most suitable time and space. Following the Internet, the telephone services got online, and in a few years, we can have “personalized” digital TV channels (more about that sometime later). So for any product or service that you want to market, consider all possible alternatives – they are increasing all the time.

Google Mobile Search Ads Go-Live

After about a year of trials, Google has announced it will begin including AdWords advertisements within Google Mobile Search results. In an email shared with advertising partners on Tuesday, Google wrote: “We are happy to announce a new feature that will allow you to easily reach additional qualified customers who are searching Google from their mobile phones.

n the next few days, your search ads will be eligible to run on Google Mobile Search pages (like they currently do on Google.com). We are offering this feature – and any resulting clicks – for free through November 18, so you can experiment with the rapidly growing mobile platform while still reaching qualified customers.” For more info on this, read this Search Engine Land article.

Google Mobile Ads

Now, Mobile advertising has been predicted to be a big market, and while some businesses have taken their positions, others are still discussing over their white boards, and still others are making power point presentations that may not turn into action for another year.

One thing is for sure: mobile advertising is going to benefit from all the wide screen devices that we have been getting, including this Treo (one of our favourites!) You can receive text and images, like menu cards, driving directions, hotel room pricing lists, and more.

So how can you benefit as a business?

As you can expect, there will be a high demand for services while a person is on the move — related to transport, food, medicines, hotels, finance, etc. If you can deliver a reliable service, then there is an opportunity to advertise on the mobile platform, and sell at a better profit margin because the consumer is usually looking for immediate response, delivery, or action. For these services, he or she most probably won’t sit down to prepare a detailed comparison table, and you can get the order if you can deliver in the short time-frames.

But if you can’t you will have more than your share of irate customers!

Tricky Internet Video Copyright Case

Here’s an interesting story reported by WebProNews. See how North Carolina native, Chris Knight, is accused of copyright infringement for posting a YouTube video that Viacom International, Inc. made by infringing upon his own copyright in the first place. Chris told WebProNews he is shocked at this turn of events. You will also hear comments by Attorney Clarke Walton on the legal side of the story.


McKinsey: How can businesses use Web 2.0?

McKinsey Quarterly, in one of their recent survey reports tells how businesses are using Web 2.0, or want to use it. As always, their survey is very well presented, and most points are valid. Now, here are our notes from it for you:

Over 75% executives who responded to the survey intend to maintain or increase their investments in Web 2.0 technology trends that encourage user collaboration, such as peer-to-peer networking, social networks, and Web services.

The report also talks about some executives wanting to these technologies for a sustained competitive edge.

Now, in our view, while ‘sustained competitive edge’ is unlikely by any people driven Web 2.0 technology, it is already bringing benefits and profits for those early adopters who are able to understand what to do.

For example, are you able to use your websites to pre-sell your services? Or are you collecting enough information from your online clients and prospects? Or do your teams collaborate enough, and also keep client in the loop?

All these things can earn more revenues while reducing costs = more profitability. And this isn’t not some textbook equation…it’s happening already!

So if you haven’t got a clue where to start in your business, contact us, and we will show you at least 2 ways to rapidly benefit.