To start up the right way here, I want to specify that I am not saying that I have always written perfect articles, but I can’t thank EzineArticles enough for their decision on not to accept spin-written, regurgitated, empty content, you name it… articles anymore.I guess this is a good time for article marketers to understand that they will not go very far with short, regurgitated and pure sales page articles that they are sometimes displaying. As a matter of fact, if those marketers really understood what article marketing is all about they would have never have written such articles in the first place.As an internet marketer why are you writing articles?As an internet marketer, affiliate marketer or article marketer, which ever name you want to be called, you should write articles to have people recognizing you as an expert, as a source of good value that they can refer to and even refer others. This is not only the best way, but lastingly the ONLY way to build real targeted traffic to your site.Have you ever thought about the readers?Readers are not stupid, and they can tell when they are reading an empty spam article that is only meant to sell them. As a matter of fact, such articles might be a warning sign for them that the product and the person selling it cannot be trusted. As an internet marketer, this is the last impression you want to give to your potential customers.Do you know how your articles get picked by publishers?The kind of articles that EzineArticles will be rejecting from now on, are not the kind or articles that will ever get picked up by publishers anyway. So, here is another reason why you should not write thin, non-original reused content articles. The kind of articles that publishers are looking for to publish on their sites are original, informative, or educational articles that their readers will take advantage from and come back to for more. When your articles are picked up by publishers it increases your potential of the article views tremendously as well as backlinks. As an affiliate marketer, you should always want to write well enough to have your articles picked up by publishers.Want to make article marketing fun and exhilarating?Look for ideas and tips within your niche that could improve the knowledge of your readers. Write educational articles that answer common questions that a large amount of people have. When people see the value of your articles they will come back for more. As they do, they will certainly check your product out and even send you referrals. This will happen only if you write original, rich and educational articles.
Commercial Real Estate – Valuing The Cash Flow
Many investors don’t understand the power of commercial real estate. I too had reservations until I understood the power and safety commercial real estate can provide. Commercial real estate is similar to trucks. Trucks come in all sizes and all shapes – a Ford Ranger to an 18 wheeler. Commercial properties come in all sizes and shapes – a standalone building that houses a small restaurant to the Empire State Building. People read in the newspapers that commercial property prices are crashing. People notice the strip malls have a lot of vacancies and it scares them away. Let’s take a look at the power of commercial real estate and a quick note about market cycles. Commercial real estate is a business and is priced based on current cash flows. For simplicity sake, commercial property pricing is based on 10 x annual cash flow, not including debt service (loan). So a property that yields $10,000 in cash flow is worth $100,000. Regardless of the type of property, if you increase rents by 1% ($100) the value goes up a $1000. Decrease expenses by $100 and the value goes up $1000. So what? Let’s look at a simple apartment example.A small apartment complex (10 units) has an annual cash flow of $50,000 and is for sale for $500,000. It has a lot of long-term tenants paying below market rents. You put down 20% or $100,000 (there are ways to make it someone else’s money). We’ll assume it is a positive cash flow property even with the debt service (loan payments). First a storage area is made into a laundry facility that provides $5000 on annual basis. You just increased the value $50,000. Next rents are raised the first year to market rents. Raising rents $50 per unit increases cash flow $6000. You just increased the value $60,000. That means you have doubled your original $100,000 in the first year and you get to keep the $11,000 cash flow. There are many more ways to increase the cash flow including: separate utilities and have tenants pay utilities, decrease vacancy, work out a deal with dish network and get paid, reduce maintenance costs, and more. Just by raising the rent $10 a year increases cash flow $1200 a year and increases the value $12,000. In three to five years you’ll have cash flows of $70,000 to $100,000 (less debt service which remains constant) and you can sell the property for $700,000 to $1,000,000. Now you see the power of commercial real estate.Just like single family homes, not every property is a good deal. First you look for commercial properties in areas that have improving rents, increasing employment, and areas where the entire area is going through gentrification. Next you look for properties that have a value proposition – rents too low, poor management, ability to install laundry or some other measure to increase cash flow. You would be surprised how many buildings are poorly managed or have below market rents.I’ve used an apartment as the example; however this same model works for office buildings, mobile home parks, strip malls and more. All types of real estate (all types of investment) go through cycles. When the economy is booming for example, the vacancy in office buildings goes down significantly (prices go up). Of course the opposite is true during an economic downturn. During economic downturns more people move to apartments, mobile homes and need storage facilities. By observing these cycles one can move in and out of various positions to minimize risk and increase portfolio value.
Successful Film Marketing Strategies
“It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it”.
– Roger EbertUnlike any other art, Films have a much greater impact on human’s mental consciousness. It holds the capability to impose an emotional instability in human minds. This is why it is said that movie making is more about observing and imagining. Now in this century, Filmmaking is not just about the script, screenplay and all. It comprises of lot many other factors. In Fact, a successful film promotion is merely about the Film marketing strategies related to that.So, what is film marketing?Many of us believe that the success of a film is all about how well it run in theaters.Well, I would say, Film marketing is all about driving the desired audience unto the theaters. Sometimes called film junket or press junket, Film marketing consists of various elements such as press releases, advertising, interviews, media involvements and most prominently Social Medias nowadays.It’s no longer about Television, Print, and OutdoorThis is more like an enlightenment for every filmmaker these days. Back then, an efficient Film marketing strategy was all about the television, prints and all. But now it has changed, because, in order to reach the audience you need to find them at first. Today, it’s all about the internet.You need to find more people, you better go online, as simple as that.Film Marketing strategies went digitalWell, it’s not a big surprise factor that film industries have adopted Digital Marketing techniques as a part of well structured Film Marketing Strategies. In fact, movie studios are moving beyond the typical techniques such as teasers, trailers and lot more by conducting Google hangouts with the crew, live streaming music launches, contests and so on.And the most interesting fact is that the spend on Film marketing Digital strategies has risen enormously these years.I believe there are three major stages in a successful film marketing strategy, introducing, interacting and involving. Digital Media has involvement in all these three stages, great involvement indeed.Search engine optimization for an effective film marketing strategiesSearch engine optimization as an overall term for all the works and efforts we are investing on to the promotion of any services/products are not negligible. Unlike any other Digital marketing campaigns, Film marketing deserves more conviction as well as perception, even in its promotional campaigns.There are so many factors involved in this ranging from keywords to social media.How Social media influence the way movies are marketed?As a part of Digital marketing strategy, Social media has become one of the ‘behind the change’ reason, as films can gain a huge amount of buzz through it. It means, there is no longer need to rely on official reviews and adverts to know about the latest releases. Here is a quick review of few film marketing strategies in relation to social media.Leaked images- Even though this seems to be an outdated technique, it still works. This kind of techniques is used probably for the promotion of superhero movies. The theory behind this tactic is that the movie producers will generate some excitement, years before the release of their films through leaked images. As the images would not reveal much more about the movie and characters, yet will definitely create a huge amount of online publicity and chatter.Visual micro content- This is more like an emotional way of marketing, I would say. A movie called ‘If I stay’ recently implement this film marketing idea very successfully. The initial step towards this kind of campaign is always targeting the right social media platforms. And then generating visual micro content suitable for the platform. Sharing the banners, posting the behind the scenes pictures are also effective.Content marketing campaign- Content is always effective and it’s definite that it will bring some results to you. Once again it is more related to social media channels. Even if a film marketing strategy is all about the kind of film to which we are dealing with, content is always helpful. One can also try local news stations, discussion boards and more along with Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and so.Video marketing- Very familiar, much effective, this is how one could interpret the role of video marketing Film marketing strategies. No matter what, we are ready to take chances on some products that we have not seen or tested properly, this is why the trailers are significant. It gives an initial impression and it’s a proven success. And I recommend seeing your trailer video initially through your official website, which obviously allows the audience to make more interaction through your social media mediums.Social competitions and quizzes- It will become a huge disaster if you believe that the introduction part is enough.The fact is that you will miss the entire party. Interaction is very significant especially when coming to Film marketing. It may not be the most innovative thing you can do to improve the engagement but it can very effective at times.Persona marketing- Your film will certainly have some interesting character that the audience could connect with in one way or another.Lot many Film marketing campaigns have already played on the audience’s emotions for particular fictional characters by developing a persona around those characters on social media. A Perfect example for this is the Ted character in the Twitter. With almost 7 lakh followers, Ted began posting some funny comments which in fact brought some unexpected results.Alternate reality games- A slightly more complicated and deep Film marketing strategy is Alternate reality games (ARGs). This develops a fictional world that the users in the real world may interact with by using online communities. ARGs is a wonderful way to get your movie audiences involved and thereby creating ‘brand loyalty.Make use of memes and other UGC Forms- This is more like a mutual beneficial Film marketing strategy. Memes are offering a great marketing opportunity, in such a way that your audience will create some highly shareable content that conclusively benefits your Film promotional strategies. The benefit of using memes is that they are easily customizable as well as quick to produce. Yet another possible strategy is to use caption contests, fan art or any other effective user-generated content tactics.Google AdWords for the more targeted outcome- Each day, millions and millions of movie related searches are made in Google. I would say, the quickest way to reach those people is always Google AdWords.Even if it is not much of a cost effective way, it definitely is an option for those who care about reaching more targeted audiences.Final thoughtsHow powerful the visual media is or How much impact it can impose on humanity? The answer to his question is always about how well it reach the people. And Film marketing or Movie promotion is the beacon that leads to this destination.Cheers
Team eetti