English Corpus

If you are looking for a new-to-market, innovative and useful product within your home, the Autobin is it! The Autobin is a revolutionary automatic opening bin. It has a built in infrared sensor on the lid, so when you place you hand near the lid of the bin, it opens, and shuts again after about 8 seconds, allowing you to drop your rubbish into the bin without the need to touch it at all. However, if you need more time, say if your peeling eggs or emptying leftovers into the bin, you can override the automatic feature by pressing the open or close button on the front panel.

If used in its automatic setting, the touchless Autobin is incredibly hygienic, and helps to prevent the spread of germs within the family household, hospitals, public toilets, offices, airports, care homes, or wherever you need a bin. Hospitals around China and Singapore are using the Autobin to help prevent the spread of the SARS virus and other superbugs.

The Autobin is also great for both elderly and disabled, and children just love the function of the Autobin. It encourages children to put their rubbish into the bin, and it injects a bit of fun into an otherwise boring chore for them.

The Stainless Steel Autobin ranges are very stylish and hygienic. They have a special coating inside the bin that prevents rusting, and they are very easy to clean inside and out. The Autobin runs on 4 x D batteries, which are usually supplied with the bin and can last between 6 and 12 months dependant on use. I have had my Autobin for over 12 months now and I haven’t replaced the batteries yet. I really would recommend the Autobin to anyone.

Veronica Pacey is the director of http://www.fashion-electronics.co.uk She was a successful senior buyer for a UK telecommunications company, procuring components and subcontractor services for over ten years before starting her own company.

Comments Off

“Cindy, where’s that story? I need it yesterday!”

“Coming right up, boss. I’ll have it to you soon,” Cindy shouted back.

“Yesterday isn’t soon enough!”

Cindy clicked on her screen. “You have mail.” She looked at the messages. “Three news releases,” she murmured. “I don’t have time for this now.” [delete] [delete] [delete]

Stop! Was that your news release Cindy just deleted? Too bad you sent it to her at the wrong time. You may have heard that “timing is everything” and that is even more true in a newsroom. But how do you know when is the best time to send a news release?

Media relations is an art more than a science, so there is no single rule. If there was, everyone would be a media star. Here are a few guidelines to help you zoom ahead of your competition for the media’s attention:

Each type of media and each type of journalist is different. Here are just a few of the variables:

National or local media

TV, newspaper, radio or magazine

News reporter, features reporter or columnist

Consumer magazine or trade journal

Daily, weekly or monthly publication

Print or electronic

Each company or organization is different, as is its news. Here are just a few of the variables:

Local, national or international operations

Pre-scheduled news release, or last-minute reaction to today’s news.

Product announcement, policy announcement, financial announcement

Bearing in mind the wide range of news you might announce and the wide range of media targets, 9:30 to 11:00 a.m. tends to be the best time of day to release news. You want to give the assignment editor time to send them out to cover your news. If you hope to get into the noon news, you don’t want to go too late, because you run into TV deadlines. Early afternoon is a second-best time, but if you get much past 2:30, you will catch Cindy’s [delete] button at most daily newspapers and television stations.

I have been asked about the best day of the week to send out a news release. There isn’t one. I have seen plenty of debates on this. From personal experience, the only difference I ever noticed is when I could pick a slow news day. For instance, if in your city the daily newspaper can be reached on Sunday and not too much tends to happen that day in your subject area, you may find it easier to get into Monday’s newspaper than if you try later in the week. But on average, there is not much difference.

Best time of month, year, etc? Again, there is no single best time. There is one golden rule. Do not send out a release when the world is wrapped up in some all-consuming event like the death of Princess Diana or the attack on the World Trade Center. Remember how much TV airtime and newspaper print space were devoted to those events? The media and its audiences had other things on their minds than your news. You can’t control events, but you can control the timing of your release (most of the time).

How far in advance should you send out your release? Some book reviewers usually need several months. Others don’t want to see your release until the book is on the store shelves. Many consumer magazines have a six-month editorial preview. Features editors often run several weeks ahead of time, but sometimes squeeze things in on short notice. News departments want only breaking news. Yesterday’s news is … well, yesterday’s news. Your release is already forgotten.

Does all this sound confusing. It is. The bottom line in any marketing is to know your target market and give it what it wants. Same with the media. The guidelines above give a very abbreviated list of what you need to consider. If you are still unsure, a media coach might be a good investment. But be forewarned - find someone with enough experience and success to coach you in the right direction.

About The Author

After a decade and a half as one of Canada’s top consumer advocates, often conducting over 600 media interviews each year, David Leonhardt is sharing his knowledge with others. Pick up a copy of his special report “Get In The News!” at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/PR.html Home page is http://www.TheHappyGuy.com

amabaie@phastnet.com

Comments Off

Your kids have played together. Both husbands coordinated and erected that wooden fence between your properties and installed a gate between the two yards. This neighbor has been your dearest friend. You have shared raising your children, she gave that great flowering bush out front, and you even shared your family recipes with her. Now they are moving. It is like a part of your family is moving across the country.

You have both said you will stay in touch with each other. You’ll write and she’ll write. There will be the occasional phone calls back and forth. You want to give her a gift that will have some special meaning of your life together or will continue the closeness you have. Your neighbor also has her hands busy with packing. You want to give her something that will help. So, what do you do you give to your dearest neighbor?

I have a few suggestions. Maybe some of these will be just right.

-If you are better at talking than writing, then stay in touch with phone calls. Purchase a long distance calling card to keep in touch. Find a card with a picture of the plant she gave you, or two houses side by side, or other symbol of your friendship.

-Your neighbor will need to notify everyone of her address change. Pick up a Mail address change packet at the post office and fill out her old and new addresses for her.

-Get a new address book and have all the neighbors add their info it.

-Go through your old photos and put together a picture book of all the times you’ve shared together.

-As a remembrance of your long lasting friendship, get a plant or small tree for your neighbor to plant in her new yard.

-Find or write a poem of your friendship, type or do calligraphy on to stationery and frame it to be hung in her new home.

-Find a door mat with their last name inscribed on it.

-If your neighbor has a dog, get a new dog tag with his name and new address and phone number.

-Get a pretty box of stationery, stamp each envelope and write your address on each.

-If it’s going to be a long trip in the car to their new town, put together a picnic basket with all the goodies that the family likes.

-When they arrive, your neighbors are going to have their hands full with unpacking. Put together a basket of canned meats, cheese, and crackers that will help on a tired night.

-Get gift coupons from national pizza parlors, fast take out places. This will help for the trip and those nights of unpacking.

Adriana Copaceanu provides people with creative gift ideas that don’t blow the bank. Gift Baskets for Baby, Birthdays, or Christmas, are just some gift ideas you’ll find at her site. Want regular reminders on gift-giving? Sign up for her free monthly newsletter
Gift News You Can Use

Comments Off

Most folks who professionally manage Pay-Per-Click campaigns know the fundamentals of how to achieve an optimum CTR:

1) Place the keyword(s) in the ad title.
2) If possible, place the keyword(s) again in the body of the ad.

3) Create multiple variations of each ad and rigorously test until you arrive at your optimum ad choice/choices.

But, what if you’ve done that already and your results are still less than they should be? Do you just give up and accept substandard results?

I have a mutual fund PPC client (AdWords onlyContextual Ads Enabled). I keep him at or near “top bidder” status for each of his campaigns. The CTR for keywords in his particular “niche” was excellent, but he also wanted to get PPC traffic from people doing more generalized mutual fund searches. Despite following PPC Best Practices, his more “generalized” campaign CTR was less than I believed it should be.

In our last meeting, he happened to mention that the company got a very positive write-up in Fortune Magazine. A few days later, it dawned on me that “name dropping” the Fortune Article could lead to a much higher CTR series of ads. So, I created some…

The former ads were:

“Keyword” Mutual Fund

Learn More About (Client Name’s)

“Keyword” Mutual Fund
www.clientname.com

The new ads are:

“Keyword” Mutual Fund

(Client Name) - “Keyword” Fund Featured

In February Issue of Fortune Magazine

www.clientname.com

The rise in CTR was immediate and outstanding. Two weeks after the ads launched, I formally presented the results to the client. For the client’s “International Mutual Fund” Campaign, the new ads had a CTR of 1.2% compared to .4% for the old ads. For the client’s “Global Mutual Fund Campaign”, the new ads had a CTR of .4% compared to .1% for the old ads. For the client’s “Environmental Mutual Fund” Campaign, the new ads had a CTR of 3.9% compared to .9% for the old ads. The client was extremely impressed with the exponential increase in traffic…and his CPC even went down slightly during this time period.

The lesson to be learned is this: By legitimately creating a nexus between your company and an industry “authority” (like Fortune) and writing that authority into your PPC ads, you have the potential for a very noticeable CTR increase.

If you professionally manage PPC campaigns, ask your clients about any noticeable recent PR/media attention they might have received. Perhaps, they’ve already made mention of it on their website. Not every bit of PR can turn into a high-performing PPC ad, but if the PR came from a source well known and respected by the client’s prospect base, it behooves you to test a PPC ad based upon that exposure.

If you manage your own campaign, you can establish credibility with your audience by creating ads that legitimately link your business to an industry authority. If 10 firms are trying to sell the same widgets through PPC, prospects are more likely to click on your ad if you mention that your widgets were featured in “Widget Magazine (the Widget Authority Source for the Widget Industry)”. You will distinguish yourself from your competitors and reap the benefits of doing so.

Cube Management provides sales acceleration services to emerging growth and mid-market companies in the technology, manufacturing, healthcare and business service sectors. The experts at Cube Management work across the entire spectrum of marketing, sales and business development to provide customized solutions that drive revenue and profit growth. Cube Management combines Strategy, Process & People to produce winning results.

Comments Off