In building a business, one should create a what we call “Best Marketing strategy” wherein you have your prospects that would be converted into customers or clients this strategy is a Butterfly Marketing System. Like a birth of a butterfly, marketing has its cycle that needs to be processed properly to ensure ite effectivity.

The Butterfly Marketing System:

EGG = PROSECTS is the top most of the cycle. They are the main factor of your business where you could convert into sales and that could benefit from your products and services. And segmentation comes in to help you identify your target prospects

CATERPILLAR = QUALIFIED PROSPECTS they are your target prospects that showed interest in your products and services this is the stage where you have the full opportunity to give thhem more knowledge about your product since they have already showed interest so you could move to the next level or cycle

PUPAL = SAMPLERS this one of the most important cycle after you have presented your products and services to your qualified prospects you should give them samples or free services that could prove your presentations and could help you covert them into customers.

BUTTERFLY = The most important stage as a marketing technique, offer them something that they couldn’t resist. This could help you capture their hearts and through this, you can easily convert them into customers and the more customers means sales.

If you have already captured your customers, give them importance for without them, your business wouldn’t be possible. You have to work out how you could always retain your customers.

That is the power of a Butterfly Marketing.

Source: Butterfly Marketing

What are cultural brands?

Cultural brands are brands that are picked up by the the current popular culture, and sometimes affect and change popular culture. These are brands that have conviction shown on them and follow through with their principles. Cultural brands naturally stand for something, and are embedded in a person’s way of life. They have a way of influencing people and are a hot topic among them.

Examples of cultural brands are Nike, Sony, Adidas, and Apple. Just by hearing these brands, one can already ascertain their influences on the pop culture. Nike and its “Just Do It” slogan gives a push to the people to be all they wanna be without hesitation. Adidas gives quality to coolness and coolness to quality. Sony and Apple both inspire people to improve their daily lives with technological advancements.

In online marketing, for the cultural brands to maintain their hold, and for other brands to be more successful, the brands should be able to give that “effective, engaging, effective experience.” The brands need to become a part of a person’s daily life. It needs to provoke conversations, and let people feel the need for them.

The difference between cultural brands and the others is that non-cultural brands have to rely more on advertising and marketing whereas the cultural brands rarely do. Cultural brands don’t need to.

So what happens when your brand isn’t a cultural brand? Can your product become one? The answer is yes. But to be a cultural brand, it takes a different route than the traditional marketing. Cultural brands became what they are through their behavior. It was how they represented themselves, from its product design to the marketing process.

How do you create a cultural brand out of your brand? It starts with opening up your point of view to the public. This point of view becomes the passion and conviction that you will embed in your brand. It should be able to move people, giving them an experience of your point of view, and influencing them in their decisions. Its presence and conviction is, after all, what made them apart from other brands.

1. General Electric - Country: U.S., Overall score: 8.24, Rank among Electronics: 1

2. Toyota Motor - Country: Japan, Overall score: 7.18, Rank among Motor Vehicles: 2

3. Procter & Gamble - Country: U.S., Overall score: 8.36, Rank among Household and Personal Products : 1

4. Johnson & Johnson - Country: U.S., Overall score: 7.53, Rank among Pharmaceuticals: 2

5. Apple - Country: U.S., Overall score: 7.45, Rank among Computers: 2

6. Berkshire Hathaway - Country: U.S., Overall score: 8.28, Rank among Insurance: Property and Casualty: 1

7. FedEx - Country: U.S., Overall score: 8.41, Rank among Delivery : 1

8. Microsoft - Country: U.S., Overall score: 7.03, Rank among Computers: 3

9. BMW - Country: Germany, Overall score: 7.38, Rank among Motor Vehicles: 1

10 PepsiCo - Country: U.S., Overall score: 7.62, Rank among Consumer Food Products: 2

Source: Fortune

This video will help you how to be aware of the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs commit. Through this, you’ll be able to discover each mistakes commited and what needs to be done to attain success.

Looking back on the previous year, a lot of business opportunities had succeed. And this year, there are some best opportunities that we foresee to get in on some of the fastest growing markets by meeting the needs of particular niches.
Here are The top business opportunities for 2008:

1. Eco-products
Products such as Metal water bottles,Cloth grocery bags, Clothing made of fair trade cotton. products that are environment friendly. This products could give a lot of benefits to the consumers as well. This could be a good choice of business.

2. Niche travel
A tour market in the industry of travel. And its growth on a particular niches within the travel market could be rich in business opportunities. Like those popular cruises also a full-service bus tours are another expanding niche.

3. Solar installation specialists
Most people are very particular when it comes to energy saving therefore they would be willing to invest in this solar energy sources for homes and businesses. Installing solar panels and solar-run appliances could be a lucrative business opportunity.

4. Senior care
This is a huge market now caring for seniors that is growing this year. Statistics Canada says that the number of individuals aged 65 to 74 will almost double, from 2.3 million to about 4.5 million over the next two decades.You can open your own senior care home through providing in-home care or home services such as preparing meals, housekeeping or running errands. Senior care franchises are another option for getting in on this business opportunity.

5. Mobility products
Another great business opportunity and thus could prosper more online are those products that help people do what they wanted to do comfortably. Also, products that help people reach, grasp things or get up from chairs - all simple tasks that can become increasingly difficult. Clothing especially designed to be easier to put on and fasten is another area of products you might want to explore. And people’s hobbies like gardening.

6. Green consulting
A lot of people have always been interested to protect the environment. But there are also others who still needs to be educated about protecting the environment.Therefore, it would be best to put up this green consulting business to share your ideas to others.

7. Organic food
People are always aware about what they eat. We tend to think of produce when we think of organic food but the market for organic meat is growing apace. People want to know where their meat is coming from and how those animals have been fed and treated.

8. Xeriscaping
Conservation of our natural resources makes xeriscaping a good business to put up. It best for those who enjoy getting into gardening or landscaping. It gives you the chance to flex your green thumb at the same time this could be very helpful to our planet through creating attractive landscapes and planting trees as well.

9. Import Consulting
This is one of the larger market since it comprises importing products to the other countries thus this could help you create a good relationship to and also reach out to other countries. our clients would be seeking knowledge about and relationships within the particular countries they were importing from. While the three countries Canada imports the most from are (in order) the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom, there’s a growing interest in importing from countries such as China. To make the most of this business opportunity, it would be wise to become or partner with a licensed customs broker.

10. Home renovation
One of the top on list. Most people would always want to renovation within their homes. That’s why this kind of business is fun and interesting. Since its new year, near beginning, most families do have plans of improving their homes.

Source: About.com

To help you put that into action, Freyvogel offers ten ways you can start strengthening your business relationships in the upcoming year.

1. Be familiar with your co-worker as much as you can,especially the one you work with Then, act on that knowledge. Also, You need to know about your customers, vendors and employees too so that when their needs change, you can be there to provide them with what they need to stay happy with your business.

2. Treat your vendors like honorary employees. It’s important to build good relationships with the people who who service you or your company regularly. This means anyone from the package delivery guy who stops by every day to the materials supplier who keeps your warehouse stocked to the designer who keeps your website updated.

3. Research on everyone’s birthday. Greeting somebody on their special day, already means a lot.

4. Create strong ties among your among your employees and your business. Encourage a sense of ownership ain them.. As if they own a stock in the business since they are the one facing your customers everyday. Inspiring your employees to love your business as much as you do will strengthen your company’s foundation and your business will be that much more likely to survive setbacks and grow to great heights.

5. Have one-on-one conversations with your customers to find out what you can do better. Most of the time unsatisfied customers don’t approach you with a detailed list of the things they’d like for you to improve on. They just leave you for one of your better-equipped competitors. Therefore, you must set aside some time to ask them what they need from you.

6. Be aware of your monthly loan payment. Be sure your start-up loan payments are on time, no matter what. Always have enough money in your account to make your monthly loan payments when they’re due. It’s also a good idea to set up a separate emergency account and make sure you put something in it every month — someday you’ll be glad you did. You don’t want to gain a reputation with your bank as someone who doesn’t make loan payments on time. Staying close to your bankers can also help you secure your finances. Set up a safety system with them to ensure that all of your deposits are going through in a timely manner.

7. Communicate with your mentors frequently. Think about those people who gave you valuable advice when you were starting a business, or that person you call immediately when you need advice. Build a close relationship with her so that she is willing to go that extra mile to help you build your business.

8. Learn to appreciate a job well done. Everyone likes to be commended for a great job, especially your employees. Try implementing an employee of the month scheme and say “Thanks for the great job!”, never miss an opportunity to give your employees the recognition they deserve. And when a client compliments an employee’s work, never steal the credit indeed, be sure to pass the glowing review along to the rightful owner! And let everyone in the company know. It’s good for morale to know that recognition might be coming their way some time in the future.

9. Learn to reach out with the people you count on. It is very important for you to be flexible when those around you run into problems and need to change their schedules since this could affect your business. Maybe one of your vendors needs to make a delivery earlier or later than normal or maybe an employee has to leave to take care of a family problem.

10. Provide everything that your employees need to do their jobs. Nothing frustrates a high-performing employee more than having to struggle to do his job because he doesn’t have the right computer program or because he must make do with faulty equipment.
Above all, It is always important that no matter how determined, hardworking, and talented you may be, you can’t be a successful entrepreneur all by yourself. It takes a village to run a company. Never forgetting that fact is critical to your success. And learn to value the services being offered to you by your employees and give importance to your customers.

Source: AllBusiness

He’s interest in life after high school was politics. But this all has changed when on his sophomore he was falsely accused of shoplifting got kicked out of a Worcester convenience store. Two years after he earned MBA & took a job working for a chain in Boston called the Original Cookie Co.That was when he found his second interest that led him to putting up Au Bon Pain, an East Coast bakery chain that grew from three stores into a $200 million a year company. Many thought Shaich was crazy when, in 1999, he sold Au Bon Pain to concentrate on developing Panera (Charts), its small bakery division. But today Panera is the country’s 17th largest food-service company, boasting some 1,115 U.S. locations and annual revenue of $1.9 billion.

The Company Ethos water was founded by Peter Thum a 23.6-ounce bottle festooned with a map of the world. He always dreamed of providing clean drinking water to third world countries by selling expensive bottled water in the West. His idea was simple: For every bottle sold, Ethos would donate part of the profit to clean-water initiatives in developing countries such as Honduras and Kenya. After three years of bootstrapping a concept that repelled most investors, Thum sold Ethos to Starbucks for $7.7 million in 2005. Already Ethos’s per bottle donations have increased by 263%. By 2010, Ethos plans to give at least $10 million by 2010 to nonprofits that fund safe-water projects.

He spent 13 years of working at his parent’s spice shop in milwaukee. Instead of taking over his family’s business, he came into putting up his own spice company securing first orders from hand made mail order catalog. Now, its revenue ranges tens of millions of dollars. With 270 employees, 600,000 mail-order customers, and 32 retail stores (up from five in 2001, with four more opening by the end of this year), Penzey, 44, has built a fast-growing, innovative company in what was regarded as a sleepy niche of the food industry.

Long before holstered cellphones appeared on handymen’s belts, an interesting gadget has captured everyone’s heart the Leatherman Pocket Survival Tool. Within three months of its first listing in a mail-order catalog, the multifunctional gizmo became essential for thousands of hikers, hunters, and knife enthusiasts. Since then, Leatherman tools have blasted into space with NASA astronauts, severed umbilical cords on newborns, and extracted shrapnel from American troops in Iraq. As founder Tim Leatherman tells it, the idea behind his company grew out of a routine car breakdown. With his wife,they spent most of 1975 touring Europe and Asia in a used Fiat. Its hoses leaked and the wiring failed constantly, and Leatherman’s generic pocketknife lacked the means to fix them. Inspiration struck: Why not add pliers to a pocketknife? By the time the couple returned to the U.S., Leatherman had sketched out a design. A few weeks later he was using his brother-in-law’s machining tools to construct the first prototype. Now, they have 350-employee and sells about 2.5 million units a year of 36 models in 80 countries, from Germany to Mongolia. By December the company plans to introduce five new products.

For Bobby Rahal, the 500 has become a personal tradition he competed 20 races and won both as a driver, in 1986, and as an owner, in 2004, when his team, which he co-owns with talk-show host David Letterman, took the checkered flag. Last year Rahal Letterman entered rookie driver Danica Patrick, who became the first woman to lead the race and finished fourth. But,The team suffered a tragedy in March when Rahal’s No. 3 driver, Paul Dana, was killed in a crash during practice. “a black day for them.” Many racing fans may not realize that Rahal, 53, is an entrepreneur as well. He owns six car dealerships in Harrisburg, Pa., and the Pittsburgh area, representing 11 import brands. A lot of drivers have their names on dealerships, but Rahal, who opened his first outlet in 1989 while he was still racing, gets his hands dirty in every aspect of the business.

Source: Fortune Small Business

For the past 25 years has been a continues growth of US economy powered by innovative companies which led by these top influential business leaders:

1. Bill Gates, Microsoft
Co-Founded Microsoft then he had top business tactics for PC operating systems and gives away his $56 billion fortune.

2. Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman
He has controlled over the longest economic expansion in U.S. History. And His words became famous over global markets and out of the office.

3. Steve Jobs, Apple
He Co-founded Apple and was out forced in a boardroom coup last 1985. Also he bought pixar the animation company. He then returned to Apple in 1997.

4. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google founders
Both of them graduated at Stanford University and founded Google in 1998. They have grown so fast that they dominate online searches and advertising. -

5. Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines
chairman of the growing low-cost airline Southwest’s service nationwide over the past 25 years then he made a fun loving corporate culture that has changed the flying experience for a lot of people on top of saving them billions on fares.

Source: USA Today

In the year 2008, the seven major issues of Information Technology will certainly be changing. It’s to be expected in this day and age where everything is evolving rapidly and changes are constant. Let’s take a look at the 7 IT trends in 2008.

1. Strategy

Developments in operations and promotions will definitely be a critical move next year. In reaching out to the customers, businesses and companies have been both creative and competitive. A lot of strategies came up, evolving in both effectiveness and efficiency.

From the early 1990s, businesses became customer-oriented in their strategies to boost their image and sales. The next step would be in identifying and producing not only what the customer wants in the present but what the customer will want. Companies are trying to think ahead as a strategy. This may well be the turning point regarding strategies in 2008.

2. Security

Information security has been one of the major concerns when the world turned to the Web and technology. Hackers and Identity theft have been troubling. As of the present, there is still no way to be 100% free of these issues. Companies try to stay vigilant against the hackers and always inform employees of security threats. In 2008, security will still be on top of the lists of major organizations and more risk and security management programs are probably going to turn up.

3. IT Management

Information technology is already side by side with businesses that IT management will also be a focus of many companies and organizations. And as consumers become more driven by the Web as time goes by, the line between a business and technology management will become on par. Outsourcing and IT experts are now part of the big names, and there’s no sign of a decrease in the future.

4. Technology

No one can attest that the technology we have now is satisfactory for all. There are still many ideas out there that can make IT easier and simpler. And since, the customer is the focus of the businesses, technology that are beneficial to the customers, and which will enable businesses to reach out more to them, is definitely in the making.

5. Local Content

Local marketing and local searched are certainly on the rise. In 2008, many companies will be seen focusing more on the local market as the locals look for more approachable and accessible product and service providers.

6. IT Human Resources

Every business wants quality IT staff and workers. As businesses expand in 2008, there will be a huge demand for more IT workers. The problem is, there might be a shortage of talented workers, and recruiting and retaining them might be troublesome.

7. IT Education

Education is vital to information technology, especially sine the Web and technology are constantly evolving, and at a fast pace too. Massive investments in training are becoming vital to businesses. This is especially true to companies whose area rests on ecommerce and the online community.

There are a lot of popular and best loved advertising icons of the 20th century that has marked their names to consumers like Tony, Betty and Ronald etc..others may not beloved but has a high impact on the advertising world.

These top 10 ad icons of the 20th century that are being recognized of their images that has a marked into most consumers’ mind through its possessed criteria effectiveness, longevity, recognizability and cultural impact.

1. The Marlboro Man
Product:Marlboro cigarettes Date Introduced:1955 Creator:Leo Burnett Co.

- The most powerful and in some quarters, most hated — brand image of the century, the Marlboro Man stands worldwide as the ultimate American cowboy and masculine trademark, helping establish Marlboro as the best-selling cigarette in the world.

2. Ronald MCDonald
Product: McDonald’s restaurants
Date Introduced: 1963 Creator: McDonald’s franchisee Oscar Goldstein and his local ad agency

- McDonald’s Corp. advertising executive Roy Bergold can testify to the reach and recognition of Ronald McDonald. The clown’s astounding powers have certainly worked their magic for McDonald’s since he was introduced in 1963. The spokes figure helped make McDonald’s the most dominant fast-food chain on the planet. He also exemplifies one of the most important qualities of an effective commercial character: He doesn’t sell for McDonald’s, he is McDonald’s.

3. The Green Giant
Product:Green Giant Vegetables Date Introduced:1928 Creator:Minnesota Valley Canning Corp.

- Minnesota Valley Canning Co. developed the Giant as a product trademark, but in his earliest days he was stooped and scowling, wore a scruffy bearskin and looked more like the Incredible Hulk than the grand old gardener he is today.

4. Betty Crocker
Product: Food products including cake mixes, frostings, microwave popcorn and biscuit mixes
Date Introduced: 1921 Creator: Washburn Crosby Co., a forerunner of General Mills

- Betty was created in 1921 after a promotion for Gold Medal flour flooded Washburn Crosby Co. with questions about baking. To answer customers in a more personal manner, the company created a fictitious kitchen expert, pulling the name “Crocker” from a recently retired director of the company and adding the first name “Betty” because it sounded friendly.

5. The Energizer Bunny
Product: Eveready Energizer batteries
Date Introduced:October 1989 Creator:Chiat/Day

- Marketing experts call it the “ultimate product demo” because it does such an effective job of showcasing the product’s unique selling proposition long-lived batteries in an inventive, fresh way. “The Bunny has become the ultimate symbol of longevity, perseverance and determination,” says Mark Larsen, communications category manager for Energizer. During the past decade, everyone from politicians to sport stars used the Energizer Bunny to describe their staying power.

6. The Pillsbury Doughboy
Product:Assorted Pillsbury foods, including refrigerated dough, bakery mixes and rolls
Date Introduced:1965 Creator:Leo Burnett Co

- Burnett creative director Rudy Perz was sitting at his kitchen table in the mid-1960s when he dreamed up the idea of a plump, dough figure that would pop out of a tube of refrigerated rolls. Since then, Pillsbury has used Poppin’ Fresh in more than 600 commercials for more than 50 of its products.

7. Aunt Jemima
Product:Aunt Jemima pancake mixes and syrup
Date Introduced:1893 Creator:Chris Rutt/Davis Milling Co.

- Aunt Jemima trademark is one of them. Few commercial icons deserve to be called “cultural touchstones” of significant political and social change. This image of the smiling black woman first appeared on thousands of boxes of pancake mix in the early 1890s, throughout the 20th century, Aunt Jemima’s trademark mirrored America’s changing perceptions of African-American women. The idea was first conceived by newspaperman and entrepreneur Chris Rutt, according to the Afro-American Almanac.

8. The Michelin Man
Product: Michelin tires
Date Introduced:1898 Creator:Idea conceived by Edouard Michelin; artist’s rendition created by O’Galop; DDB Needham Worldwide handled later executions

- Andre Michelin commissioned the creation of this jolly, rotund figure after his brother, Edouard, observed that a display of stacked tires resembled a human form. The artist’s sketches of a bloated man made of tires was exactly what the brothers had in mind.

9. Tony The Tiger
Product:Kellogg’s Sugar Frosted Flakes (later Frosted Flakes)
Date Introduced:1951 Creator:Leo Burnett Co.

- Only one famous feline (sorry, Morris) can rightfully claim he’s the cat’s meow of commercials: Tony the Tiger. Adland’s premier promotional pussycat was born in 1951, when Burnett was hired to create a campaign for Kellogg’s new cereal, Sugar Frosted Flakes. Tony was originally one of four animated critters created to sell the cereal, but he quickly edged out Katy the Kangaroo, Newt the Gnu and Elmo the Elephant to become the sole star of the cereal maker’s ad efforts.

10. Elsie
Product:Borden dairy products
Date Introduced:1939 (first general magazine ad) Creator:Stuart Peabody, Borden’s director of advertising

- Elsie started out as one of four cows (Mrs. Blossom, Bessie and Clara were her sidekicks) that appeared in a 1936 cartoon series featured in medical journals — just four friendly bovines chatting together in a pasture. The ads were a big hit and doctors ordered reprints for their offices.

Source: Adage.com