Your corporate brand is more than just your logo or your graphic style and colors. Your brand is also the emotion raised when someone thinks about your company.

When you see the Golden Arches and the familiar red M, your mind recognizes more than simply the McDonald's logo. It also conjures up lunches with family and friends, the smell of hot French fries, and the cool of a double-thick vanilla shake on a warm summer day.

This emotional element may be the most important aspect of your company's brand identity. In the minds of your customers, it is your company's ability to live up to the brand's promise, in your products and services, in your advertising and promotion, in the voice of your receptionist, in the attitude of your sales people, and in the look of your Website.

People interact with your brand every day. Every touch point has to reflect a consistent message, however you define your brand value.

Why Rich Internet Applications?

Rich Internet Applications, or RIAs, enhance your brand image in two ways. First, a cleverly designed RIA can entice people to your brand. It sells your product benefits. It speaks to the brand promise in an entertaining way that a stagnant Web page cannot.

Second, it builds brand value. The RIA can make your customers' interaction with your brand a more valuable and pleasant encounter.

“If a company seeks to differentiate itself based upon its advanced technology, they have to go beyond a basic paged-based Website,” says Anthony Franco of EffectiveUI of Denver. “If the brand promises that they're highly innovative, the experience for the customer has to match that - visually, emotionally, and functionally.”

Think of a good RIA as having left brain/right brain attributes. The left brain represents utility, functionality, navigation, and usefulness. The right brain represents emotion, the compelling, immersive, and interactive experience. Both must deliver on the brand promise.

Discovery Network

When Discovery Network decided to make data from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) available on their Website, they asked EffectiveUI to find a way to deliver the information while living up to the brand's “knowledge” promise.

“We needed to compile massive amounts of very complicated and sophisticated data from NASA and NOAA visualizations and bring it all down to a level that the average person could understand and interact with,” says EffectiveUI's Franco. “We needed to make it both meaningful and fun.”

The result [Website URL here] helps Discovery Network extend their brand image as a knowledge leader and technology innovator. The site had 160,000+ unique visitors in the first three months and is on track to garner more than 1.5 millions users within the first year. It was featured on the cover of the May 2008 issue of PC World as part of the Best Free Stuff: 101 Web Services and Downloads.

The Earth Live Website from Discovery Networks is a good example of brand extension. Their site underscores their mission of being a knowledge leader.

Not Just For Customers

The RIA is not just suited to customer applications. Brand value can also be affected when the RIA is used internally.

Case in point: United Cargo Airlines.

United Cargo delivers same-day packages on United Airlines flights. Their small package delivery (SPD) service ships urgent parcels such as transplant organs, flowers, fresh foods, and anything else that needs to arrive in a few hours.

While their on-time delivery was laudable, and customer satisfaction remained high, management felt it could be higher. Internally, the company recognized the need for a better way to track packages in airport terminals throughout their route system.

Under the former system, a customer service representative had to access multiple pages from the company's internal Internet site in order to upload the package information, then go to another site to make sure everything was TSA compliant, and visit another site to verify all the billing and tracking information. Meanwhile, consumers had to sit and wait while the service rep navigated his way through the morass.

No longer.

Earlier this year, United Cargo implemented a new RIA on their internal Website. Now, instead of staring at a series of green screens all day, the rep interacts with a visually compelling environment that significantly reduces the number of steps required to access critical package delivery information.

Best of all, the RIA is intuitive enough that it can be learned quickly. United Cargo enjoys decreased employee training time and the attendant costs. This savings from increased efficiency can be passed along to the customer. Customers save money.

The RIA also decreased employee frustration. It's easy, and it's fun. It reduces the amount of time they needed to help their customers, and they have more fun doing it. So, the customer's experience when dealing with the brand is further enriched.

By streamlining the internal process of tracking SPD's, United Cargo improved the external customer service. Customers save money and have a good brand experience. That increases brand value.

How to Improve the Online Experience

Forrester [www.forester.com] polled enterprise executives and found “improving online experience” as their top priority in 2008. Smart executives recognize that RIAs can significantly increase the value of their brand. Properly executed, they improve the user experience and allow companies to differentiate themselves from competitors who are not using the technology.

But RIAs are not for the faint of heart.

Some smaller firms may lack the talent. A website developed by a graphic designer won't have the functionality needed to create the RIA. And a Website developed by the IT department, while being fully functional, may look like an IT department built it.

Many companies have the talent but lack the experience to render the best design, one that follows the overall corporate strategy. One that is easily usable, intuitive and engaging. One that has an adequate undercarriage to support the functionality required. And killer graphics.

Beyond the technical expertise and design talent, you'll need miles and miles of user-experience research, stacks of strategy sessions, and a hearty helping of creative nerds to pull it off.

“Typically, a company will hire an outside agency that helps them build on their first few projects,” says Franco of EffectiveUI. “The agency takes the lead on the first project and then slowly migrates the how-to's to the internal team.”

An agency can help the client's IT team articulate the business value of the RIA, how to translate the IT expense from brand value to dollars and cents. The agency becomes an augmentation to the IT department, providing the expertise and guiding the process.

“Enlisting the RIA specialists like EffectiveUI can bring an important collaborative element to the [design and development] process to be sure key issues are considered before anything gets built and the cost of modifying an application skyrockets.”

-Ron Rogowski, Senior Analyst, Forrester Research

Everyone has experienced a bad Website from time to time. And we all know the frustration of the experience. We all know the joy of a good site, too. One that helps us find what we're looking for, educates, entertains, and dazzles us in the process.

But how does that translate into value? A good RIA can help.

There are three tips that are guaranteed to work, and will get your prepped for online success.

1. Only choose one Affiliate Network: Don't spread your profits over multiple networks. Choose one method for marketing your products: Some methods take more time than other to show results.
2. Get Active: Ok, a bit cliche, but the importance of this step is off the charts.

And now to reiterate those points with a bit more description.

1. When you first start affiliate marketing you will be tempted to join more than one affiliate marketing network, thinking that the more you join, the more you can promote, and the more money you can make. The truth is, that will be your downfall, and is the difference between a successful affiliate marketer, and a poor one.

Pick only one network, and choose which products you promote very carefully. Try to pick a topic that you know about, because affiliate marketing is similar to marketing anything else. The more information you know about a product, the more info you have to give when promoting your product.

2. Choose one method to promote your product, and stick with it until you see results. When you scatter your promotional methods around you will never know which method is working the best. So, you will be forcing your self to do more work for less results.

Some of these methods would include Pay Per Click Advertising, article marketing, and of course some of the black hat techniques like email spamming (not recommended haha).

3. Don't give up on your goals, the first three months will be the most work, and you'll have to analyze your sales and where they are coming from. After the first three months you'll need to continue marketing, but you'll know what you're doing, and things will be easier. All you have to do in the beginning is get past the obstacles that every beginner will face. A simple google search for your specific problems should help you work them out in great speed.

The greatest advantage of affiliate networks is how efficient it is for the business owner. You don't have to share your link with a huge amount of people unless you make money through your affiliate's promotional techniques. If you don't get any sales through your affiliate, you don't have to pay them anything, which means it's never possible for you to actually lose money. If you were to give out a pretty large commission to your affiliates; say 25%, that means you'd only be getting about 70-75% of the money. The point is, you make a profit while also promoting your product for future expansion. The same people could come back for more, or tell their friends about your product without going through an affiliate gateway, which would mean that you would get 100% of the next sale somewhere down the line.

There are loads of strategies for getting your product exposed to all of the affiliate marketers out there. The key to success isn't to simply promote using the single most effective method. In order to optimize profits, every single method of promotion should be used as frequently as possible. Send your links to friends, setup your website for good SEO, maybe invest in a pay-per-click ad campaign like google adwords. You will reach more people with each new strategy you try. Then, you can take the strategies that worked, and use them over and over again.

Okay, lets start with the description of your product and it's title. First, the title, make this both informative telling the customer about what the product is but also make it interesting, you are one of many listings that are trying to sell the same thing. The description is where you have the most creative license, here you have to fully describe your product, it's features and anything that the customer may want to know. You also have to put the product in its best light, think about it's many befits of buying it and try to get that message across. If you can think of any reasons not to buy it include these as well. Make sure you dismiss the argument by showing a counter argument! It's a very powerful technique.

Now the picture, we have all seen those photos where it is just taken off the Internet and the product is in perfect condition, so we know how annoying it is to see them. Don't use them, instead you have to take suitable pictures of your item. If you continually sell on EBay your own camera is a must. You will want a to take a few photos of the item. You will need a general shot showing the entire object also some close-ups, these will give the feeling to the customer that you are not trying to hide anything. When you take it you want to have a contrasting colour as the background, for example lay some white sheets of paper down against a black object. You should take the photo in natural light, avoid glare and don't use the camera's flash feature as the photo will probably end up overexposed otherwise.

Finally advertising, you can chooses to pay for advertising yourself if you need to have a lot of bids, but just having your items on EBay will mean it will get a lot of exposure.

A final tip, if you are trying to sell an expensive item I would recommend that you get the item professionally inspected and sell it at an auction house and not online. If you do sell on EBay have professional photos of your item taken and get the description written for you.

Copywriting is simply defined as 'salesmanship in print'. It is the art of putting the entire sales process into writing and inducing the reader to take prompt action, either to buy your product or surrender their contact information. In online marketing, effective copywriting is used in many communication platforms such as emails, websites, blogs, splash pages, thank you letters. But the most vital use of copywriting resides in its potential to create powerpacked sales letters!

A sales letter (also known as 'pitch page') is a complete sales presentation placed on a webpage, PDF, or document. It's main purpose is to sell a product directly through that webpage! You might think that this is too ambitious, and that people seldom buy from webpages. But in the real world, hundreds of thousands worth of dollars and products are sold via the internet every single month! The sales letter has fully automated everything, and coupled with a powerful online shopping cart or payment gateway, online sellers can really take home giant incomes and customers can get their ordered products safely! To see a perfect example of an effective sales letter in the dating niche.

But wait, writing an effective sales letter is not as easy as it sounds! An internet marketer should have superior knowledge about choice of marketing words and phrases. He must understand psychological triggers that cause people to buy. He (or she) must find a way to keep a reader (and consequently a potential customer) interested. And finally, an online seller must be able to smoothly guide a prospect towards the 'close' and induce the reader to buy now.

First tip, any aspiring copywriter must know how to write an effective headline. The main headline should immediately confront the reader and cause him to STOP whatever he is doing. This is a tough challenge, but to be able to do this effectively, the copywriter must write a major product benefit that will satisfy the needs and wants of the reader. It is proven that longer headlines succeed more when it comes to getting the attention of readers. For example, in a hygiene website selling breath products, a certain headline goes like this: "How To Cure Bad Breath In Less Than 3 Days... & Have Strong Healthy Teeth & A Sparkling White Smile For The Rest Of Your Life". You might laugh, but this particular headline was taken from a real life breath product which sold like crazy online!

Next, the online seller must insert his personality, establish his authority and expertise, and gain trust from the reader. All this 'self marketing' is done for a single purpose, and that is, to answer the reader's question, "Why Should I Listen To You"? Statistics show that sales for any website drops by as much as 40% to 90% when the seller has not successfully branded himself. That's why the first few paragraphs of the sales letter should be aimed at the online seller telling more about himself and establishing his authority on the subject he's talking about. For example, a person selling his music courses online should'nt just start off selling and pitching the products immediately. He should first concentrate his first few phrases in telling the reader about his musical background, how many years he 'has been playing music", or possibly the amount of people he has personally mentored to become great musicians.

Third tip, the online seller must increase the perceived value of the product or service he is offering! To do this he must highlight all the features and benefits of the products he is selling, then appeal to the emotions of the buyer. Increasing the perceived value of an online product can be done in many ways. First, the online seller must make the product look "scarce", showing that it has high demand but limited supply. Second, he can make the offer "time sensitive", by stating and making clear to the reader that the product will be available for only a certain period of time. Third, he can add free bonuses and additional goodies for those who order now. Fourth, he can give "early bird discounts" for the first few people who avails of the offer. All these are proven sales techniques which has been used since the beginnings of civilization, during the days of barter and trade. Fortunately, they still apply today!

NOTE: This article contains links that point to sample sales letters. I do not own the links and websites mentioned, neither do I have selfish interests in posting them. They are just included here for illustrative purposes.

Promotional events have an attention-getting, often urgent quality that can break through buyer's inertia. They tell prospects of a chance to get something special that they won't have again.

Here are a six effective promotions you can use next year to increase your sales.

The Anniversary Promotion

Naturally, this takes place just once a year. The anniversary of your founding provides a reason to have a celebration. It doesn't have to be your 10-year, 25-year or 50-year anniversary either. For example, you could celebrate your 7th year in business with a "Buy seven, get one free!" sale on some item. For a 17th anniversary celebration, you could role back prices to the good old days 17 years ago when a dollar was worth a dollar.

Turn your anniversary into a festive occasion - balloons, streamers, bright-colored signs - one sure to draw in regular customers and passers-by alike.

The Contest

Here's an opportunity to get the whole community, or your whole industry, involved. People like to compete for prizes.

Offer an award to the winner of a Why-I-like-my-(your product here)-in-25-words-or-less contest. Or hold an art contest for kids (17 and under, no professionals). Judges can be drawn from the local high school or community college. (Be sure to reward judges with a token gift.)

Maybe all you need is a "count-the-jellybeans-in-the-jar" contest with the winner getting free merchandise.

Contests make your business the center of attention. Be sure to alert your local newspaper and you may even generate some free publicity.

The Sweepstakes

These can be lots of fun, but they can also be tricky. Each state has its own set of rules governing sweepstakes. In most states, “no purchase necessary” is the norm. However, the entrant can be required to come to your business to sign up. Then, on a given date, simply draw a name and telephone number out of a jar.

To save money, you can offer prizes donated by other businesses. Negotiate with merchants to contribute the prizes for free, or at a substantial discount, in exchange for publicity featuring their name and their logo in your flyers and advertising.

Coupons

Coupons are ideal for a variety of promotions. They are especially effective when introducing a new product. If you are a retailer or distributor, manufacturers may be willing to pay your advertising expense if you feature their products. Contact the manufacturer and find out if "co-op advertising dollars" are available.

If you are a retail store in a mall or shopping center, advertise in the free circular the mall distributes. Put a coupon in the ad. Use the coupon as a discount on some popular merchandise and draw prospects into your store where you can then sell them other higher-margin items.

The Product Demonstration

Many products may lend themselves to product demonstrations. How about a seminar on the "aesthetic art" of using your product? Or a "how to" seminar demonstrating your services?

Demonstrations work best when scheduled well in advance, with plenty of publicity and advertising. Nothing's worse than holding a demonstration and no one shows up.

The level of professionalism of the demonstrator often determines the success or failure of this promotional method. The more well-known and respected the demonstrator, the more successful your promotion.

Product Giveaways

Nothing draws customers like the word FREE. Give away a popular (but inexpensive) item with any purchase.

Giveaways work best when used to stimulate sales of other items. They serve to get people into your place of business. Once there, it's up to you (and your point-of-sale materials) to sell them.

Here's an opportunity for a manufacturer tie-in. Ask a manufacturer to share in the cost of the giveaway in exchange for using their name in your publicity and advertising.

The advantages of holding promotions all year long are many. Plan your promotion calendar in advance and reap the benefits of a prosperous business and a better bottom line all year long.

The mortgage broker will excitedly tell you about the Gov taking Fannie and Freddie and how it’s helping, which I do not disagree with. Some realtors will tell you it’s a buyers market, which I do not agree with.

What my goal is here is to just give you some basics to watch out for before you go making the big buy.

For starters, get an agent! That stands whether you are buying or selling! I never knew the hassles of doing it on my own until I tried. Real estate professionals have the knowledge and more importantly the time (this is their job) to make sure everything is in order. The paperwork and appointments are too much for anyone holding a full time job to deal with.

Also consider your options. The number of homes for sale right now goes to show that it is no ones market. We are almost balanced. And with the strictness of lenders giving a mortgage takes more than just a little research.

Last, BE SURE! If you are doubting your agent ask them questions. If you’re a doubting your lender, look around before signing. If you are unsure of the house, keep looking. I am not saying to over analyze and make things difficult. Before you even look at homes, you should know what you can borrow as well as what you can pay every month. Then, call your realtor, pick out your house, sign your papers, and move in. It really can go that smoothly if you take the time in the beginning.

So Good luck!

It never hurt to smile.

When approaching a prospective client, keep a genuine smile on your face. A smile on a face always generate positivity. It also make the client feel at ease and welcome; open to deal with you. A smile always makes a good start.

Present yourself genuinely.

It doesn't hurt if you share a bit of "top view" information about yourself. It may not necessarily be about you, but could also be a general topic or of current life situation, so long as you don't get into a heated debate. This is usually a good way to build a good rapport between you. If it so happen that you have something in common, then better expect the greater possibility in closing that business deal and for future references, too.

Build trust.

It's easier to gain the trust of your client after you've build a good rapport. Trusting someone, and in this case, trusting someone with your hard-earned money is much like taking a big risk. Assuring your client that you'll take care of them and the best of their interests, and doesn't look at them as a sitting or standing dollar, rest assured that you'll surely nail it. Just make sure though, that you're going to really execute it and not just plainly assure them without much of a good execution.

Accommodate well.

Tune in to the needs of your client. Sometimes, they would approach you and talk to you about their situation; not directly mentioning what they really need or want. This is where you come in and suggest genuinely on what products they're going to spend their money for. When I say "suggest genuinely", what I mean is do not offer them things that they don't need. This way, client would appreciate that you're not being greedy, but being a genuine sales agent, who looks after their best interest. I assure you, they'll be coming back for you, and the products you'll be offering. You didn't just nailed your current business deal with them, but also future deals that you'll be making together.

Continue and maintain the relationship.

If you're a good sales agent, you must be aware that your responsibility to your client doesn't end after he/she made her payment. It is still your responsibility to make sure that they're satisfied with their purchases. How? By making contact with them, if necessary, and asking about any problems or any other additional assistance they require regarding the product. This is what we call the support. You might say that it's not part of a sales agent job description and there's usually a special team who handles such, but I assure you that going an extra mile will surely make a very big difference.

First understand that all humans are very selfish. There's nothing wrong with that, it's everyones nature, get get get. What can your readers/costumers get from you? What kind of content they would like to get from you? Think about the "profile" of your deserved reader/costumer and then desing the conent for that person, just like Google does for everyone, they show the search results more and more based on our previous searches and clicks.

Secondly you must understand that humans don't spend too much time or attention with something that does not attracts them instantly. You only have one and only one chance to win them, otherwise he will switch to another place and there are endless places! So make sure you got what he wants or else no deal.

Third, humans don't like when they feel someone is taking advantage of them. If they land in a webpage with a lot of products and advertisements, you're toasted! They buy something because they feel it's good for them, not to please or enrich you.

Next you must understand that humans are always tired of low quality people and products and they are never satisfied enough with good people and products. Message here: If your conent or services or products aren't good, forget it man, you will never make it. On the other hand if what you have to offer is good, really good, then build non stop, only to sleep, because people will never get tired of you.

Target people and niches, don't build one big for all website or product. If you take a look on Google Reader for example, you can see that people organize their content by categories, so hey can read all the business articles, and then they can read all the society articles, but they never make it so at the same time. You should do the same with yout products. Business products here, relationships products there.

Finally understand that people always want more and more. Don't stop just because one of them told you they hate you or your products, probably the poor guy was in a very bad day...

Good luck mate!

Now, some of you may say, “That's easy. We're selling new homes.” Well, I will argue that we are not selling new homes at all. We are selling much more than that.

What do you think that the purchaser of a Harley Davidson motorcycle is buying? Not just transportation - there are less expensive motorcycles out there. Harley Davidson is an American icon, but they haven't always been.

In the early 1980's, Harley Davidson was in dire straits. Few people thought they had a chance of survival, and no one thought they would come to be known (for many) as the only bike to own.

How did Harley catapult to the forefront of the motorcycle market? Was it better manufacturing, better workmanship? No - all the motorcycle makers had access to the same materials and workmanship. In order to carve a niche in the market, Harley took great pains to identify the “typical” Harley owner, and to cater to their needs. This is where market research plays a very important role. Once HD identified their typical buyer, they began to examine the needs of their buyers and to meet and even exceed those needs.

People drive Harleys not as a means of getting from point A to point B. Harley owners enjoy their motorcycles as a hobby, or even a sport. HD buyers are buying a lifestyle, not just transportation. They are living the dream every time they get on their bikes. And Harley owners are some of the most vocal advocates in the country. They will always talk about their bikes and even try to convince others that “if it's not a Harley, it's not a bike”.

Let's face it - builders can all design a home with the same square footage, the same features, in a similar location and for a similar price. There's not much differentiation in the marketplace in regards to product. A house is a house is a house. No matter if ABC Builders builds it, or XYZ Builders builds it. Everyone has access to the same materials, the same labor, and the same land. Your prospects can buy a house from anybody.

When a prospect comes in to see your model, he is not exactly looking for a new home. He is looking for something much more abstract than sticks and bricks. You see, there can be many factors motivating people to go house shopping. They may be planning to start a family, downsizing their current home, looking for more storage space, wanting more modern features - you get the idea. In essence, everyone that walks into your sales center is looking for something very specific. They already have an idea of what their lives will be like with a new home. They can catch faint glimpses of Sunday morning breakfast at the kitchen table, or of afternoons spent playing with the kids in the back yard.

When someone buys a new home, they fully expect their lives to change. Think about that statement for a minute. Said a different way, buying a new home is a life-changing experience. Your life will never be the same. It will be better than it is now. You (the prospective home buyer) have the power to change your life for the better. And we (the salespeople) can help you make that happen.

Selling new homes is a lot like fulfilling dreams. Prospects come in with a dream, and we show them how to make it a reality. The trick is in keeping the dream alive throughout your visit with the prospect, and reminding them why they started looking in the first place. Through repeatedly referring back to their decision to move, you can refine the image of Sunday morning breakfast at the kitchen table, and put your home at the center of that image.

So now, the answer to the question. We are selling dreams and visions of a better life for our clients. That is truly what we are selling.

Please note that what you are selling will be different for every prospect that walks in your door. The same design can fulfill many different dreams for different families.

For instance, take a 4 bedroom, 2 bath split ranch home with approximately 2000 square feet and a basement. The Smith family may purchase that home with the dream of starting a family. The Jones family may purchase that home so that their elderly parents can move in with them. And the Adams family may purchase that home because they want to downsize after their children moved away for college. In each example, the dream is different, although the house is the same. So you see, you're not selling houses - you really are fulfilling dreams.

In order to discover what your prospects are looking for, and what they will ultimately buy, you must determine what their dream is. Then, you can sell them the dream.