Description About Advertising

Advertising is an audio or visual form of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are often businesses wishing to promote their products or services. Advertising is differentiated from public relations in that an advertiser usually pays for and has control over the message. It differs from personal selling in that the message is non-personal, i.e., not directed to a particular individual. Advertising is communicated through various mass media, including old media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising or direct mail; and new media such as search results, blogs, social media, websites or text messages. The actual presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement or “ad” for short.

Commercial ads often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through “branding”, which associates a product name or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. On the other hand, ads that intend to elicit an immediate sale are known as direct-response advertising. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Non-profit organizations may use free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement. Advertising may also be used to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful.

Modern advertising originated with the techniques introduced with tobacco advertising in the 1920s, most significantly with the campaigns of Edward Bernays, considered the founder of modern, “Madison Avenue” advertising.

In 2015 advertisers worldwide spent an estimated US$529.43 billion on advertising. Advertising’s projected distribution for 2017 was 40.4% on TV, 33.3% on digital, 9% on newspapers, 6.9% on magazines, 5.8% on outdoor and 4.3% on radio. Internationally, the largest (“big four”) advertising-agency groups are Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis, and WPP.

In Latin, adventure means “to turn towards”.

Egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages and wall posters. Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of Pompeii and ancient Arabia. Lost and found advertising on papyrus was common in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another manifestation of an ancient advertising form, which is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. The tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock art paintings that date back to 4000 BC.

In ancient China, the earliest advertising known was oral, as recorded in the Classic of Poetry (11th to 7th centuries BC) of bamboo flutes played to sell confectionery. Advertisement usually takes in the form of calligraphic signboards and inked papers. A copper printing plate dated back to the Song dynasty used to print posters in the form of a square sheet of paper with a rabbit logo with “Jinan Liu’s Fine Needle Shop” and “We buy high-quality steel rods and make fine-quality needles, to be ready for use at home in no time” written above and below is considered the world’s earliest identified printed advertising medium.

In Europe, as the towns and cities of the Middle Ages began to grow, and the general population was unable to read, instead of signs that read “cobbler”, “miller”, “tailor”, or “blacksmith”, images associated with their trade would be used such as a boot, a suit, a hat, a clock, a diamond, a horseshoe, a candle or even a bag of flour. Fruits and vegetables were sold in the city square from the backs of carts and wagons and their proprietors used street callers (town criers) to announce their whereabouts. The first compilation of such advertisements was gathered in “Les Crieries de Paris”, a thirteenth-century poem by Guillaume de la Villeneuve.

Why Should You Start an Online Home Based Business?

Understanding the complexities in starting an online home based business can be vital for the success of such a business in today’s ever changing climate. On one hand, there are newer and better online business opportunities out there, yet on the other hand, there are also a lot more scams to be made aware of.

With all of the various home based business ideas out there, let me help you get up to speed. Currently, someone will start a home based online business every 11 seconds in the United States. And 79 million Americans plan to start a home business in the next 3-5 years. However sadly, about 97% of all money earned from one of these online home based business opportunities, only 3 percent ever become profitable. Now, is the cause of the 97% crowd due to ignorance, the lack of education and training, or due to the increasing number of “scam-programs” online these days? I would confer that it’s a combination of all three but let’s go through the process of filtering out the bad online home based businesses.

With all this doom-and-gloom, why should you start an online home based business then? First off, many people still believe in the lottery or “get-rich-quick” sales pitch done up by so many online home based businesses pitched online in the past as well as currently. Stop! Don’t fall for these programs and start by doing your homework! Let me explain some basics that can help you become part of the 3% crowd by following 4 steps to validate your chance of survival and success.

1. First off, before you start an home based business there are typically two main parts to their online system. A product and a business model. Your first sign of legitimacy should come by 1st taking a close look at the home based business model, and then 2nd taking a close look at the product. Could the business model sell other products? Is it unique to the industry, yet make sound sense. Then after you determine the business model, you should look at the product and determine if it’s a solid product in high demand even when the economy is not doing so well.

2. Simply put, starting an online business can be frustrating at times. Is there a proven and tested “plug-in” type system to help you launch your home based business opportunity to help you eliminate your lack of experience (despite your background)? Will you need a PHD at Harvard to help you launch your online home business, or can you follow a step-by-step system that even the beginner can follow if they have a serious desire to learn?

3. Not everyone learns at the same level or way (think about those that barely passed high school, yet went on to be the most successful people you know). Therefore, is there multiple types of training such as video, webinars, audio, conference calls and even an internet coach you can call if you have questions? Extensive training and support will mean just as much to you once you launch or start an online home based business as the great business model and product.

4. “Freedom” and “security” is the main reason people turn to and why they should start an online home based business. It will give you much deserved freedom from the world, but you will need to have the necessary support from like minded online entrepreneurs. You should determine prior to signing up that there is a community of online home based business owners that you can also draw from, whether it be for additional techniques you can implement, or to help prove to you that you too can be as successful as they are.

With all the opportunities online these days, it’s becoming less and less an issue of why should you start an online home business, but when. However, it is essential that you follow the above steps when researching any online home based business opportunity so not to fall victim to so many non-legitimate programs pitched across the internet these days. Take the above 4 steps very seriously, and take your online home based business opportunity seriously would be the key ingredients to succeed in this industry.

What Are The Focus Areas in Small Business IT For 2008?

2008 will be here before you know it, are you ready with what the market will throw at you in a couple of months. With 2008 just around the corner, now is a good time to start the discussion of what needs to be the focus areas in 2008 for the small business IT professional and small business specialist.In 2007 we experienced a tremendous amount of innovation in the small business technology world. Innovation included releases of a new desktop operating system, new productivity suites of applications and enhanced methods to share information and communicate with each other. 2008 will be no different! The excitement around new versions of the Windows Server operating system that will scale from the smallest of business requirements right through to the largest of enterprises offerings. Plus we will see new innovation with how business manage, share and secure corporate data and how applications are written that deliver solutions to today’s global economy.However, I personally do not feel that our focus be totally on the ones and zeros around all of this new technology. Small business owners, managers and users today do not care about what the technology specifications are, they have business needs that must be addressed and they need to be running all the time. Downtime, breakdowns and complicated solutions are not an option in today’s one world market.Where will today’s IT professional or small business specialist be focusing their efforts for the upcoming year in order to grow their business sustainably in 2008? Here are some ideas to kick start the planning processes for 2008:Focus on people – Small Business does business with those who they trust and can establish a relationship with. It is not about the speeds and feeds any longer, small business owners don’t care about how fast something runs or how much memory is in a laptop. Meeting business needs is no longer expectable by throwing technology at a problem, it is now about exceed expectations and having their technology investments work. The systems or software most of the time is transparent to the end user.The importance of data – Having their data accessible and secured is very important to small business. Data has to be managed and controlled and combined with ease of access. Complicated file shares and network systems are no longer acceptable to the end users. Data must be accessible to enhance collaboration and sharing throughout any organization. Small Business IT firms that understand and promote the importance of data, who can offer their clients services like the SharePoint Starter Site and Exchange mail services through their mail clients, mobile telephones and web access will win in the end.Securing Small Business – As the world shrinks in size when it comes to business, emerging threats continue to show their ugly face and threaten commerce. Securing small business will continue a challenge for the small business specialist. It must be a main focus for many of us in the IT community. Luckily, we haven’t seen a major virus outbreak for a while; however, the threats are still out there. Educating small business against the threats from social engineering, corporate espionage and also the “threat from within” must be a major focal point in 2008. As social networking gains momentum, small business needs to understand the importance of ensuring information flow is secure without jeopardizing productivity. Small Business IT Professionals that offer their clients a managed firewall service that controls SPAM, virus, spyware and other threats will have a competitive advantage of those who offer transactional firewalling solutions.Business Process – How small business does business will be an important trend for the small business IT professional to understand in 2008. If a small business consulting firm can master how small business does business and how information flows within their clients will end up ahead in 2008. Business Intelligence services that once purely an enterprise play will start to move into the small business space. Those who master this will come out of 2008 with a definite advantage.IT as a Service – Managed Services is all the buzz in the SMB community it has been for a number of years, however, in 2008 the focus on “as a service” will grow, firms that can offer software or hardware as a service will have a competitive advantage over those who do not, and those that can bundle their complete IT solutions as a service will win in the end. It will no longer matter how it is structured from a billing perspective, (annual, monthly, weekly or hourly) the service component is the important key and this is what small business is after.The Complete Solution – SMB consultants that can deliver the complete solution will win in 2008. This is nothing new, small business wants a solutions partner that can offer the complete end to end offering. From systems, software, solutions and service, today’s small business client needs to be “under” one umbrella. Partnering will continue to be an advantage in the marketplace. Partnering to extend geographic service, specialty services and complete services must be on the top of your list to achieve in the early part of 2008. Those firms that can extend their service offering to other partners will have a strong advantage over those who just stick to their own small silo.Marketing – The small business consulting firm that can market all of this effectively will hold the trump card over those that do not see the importance of marketing. There has been a lack of focus on the importance of marketing with small business partners over the past few years, while those that continued to actively market have grown faster and have separated themselves from the masses. Small Business partners must have a resource dedicated to marketing in 2008. This can be outsourced or hired in-house. One word of advice to the owners of small business firms, you are responsible for the strategic marketing direction, never outsource that component. If you are not comfortable with marketing, seek the advice of someone who can help you. There are a number of great marketing coaches and consultants that can assist you.Strength in Peers – Teaming up with peers will continue its strong momentum in 2008. Once again, no IT firm can know everything nor do everything. This is where having a strong peer group relationship is vital to the success of your business. Information and idea sharing, technical specialties, and relationships are keys to success in the IT business. TechSelect and Heartland Technology Groups offer peer group services to firms that specialize in small business and are open to sharing information, best practices and resources with each other. Our involvement in the Heartland Peer Groups has been a key to the success of my business and offers us a competitive advantage over firms that have not engaged in this business practice.”I think the marketing continues to present great opportunities for partners who execute, deliver great service, and provide true solutions to clients…and that’s where we’re focusing for 2008,” states Erik Thorsell, President of Minneapolis’ Success Computer Consulting. “Managed services support for network infrastructure is important, but that doesn’t get our business owner-clients excited…solutions do! If we can provide technology that solves business problems, makes work better, faster or cheaper, then we all win!”2008 will be an exciting year in the small business space across the globe, boundaries will continue to disappear in our global economy, peer relations will strengthen, and collaboration will continue to become more and more important to small business, however, it needs to happen in a secure fashion so that small business can maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace that they service.