Small businesses are the heart of every country. Almost every one of us has a tendency to buy your car from the same car dealer as your parents or your friends even if it a local retailer you know of or to shop at the same neighborhood store every week. Consequently, most of the jobs in our economy come from these small business owners. However, there are some cases wherein many of these business owners fail within their first year of business. The major reason for this is the lack of proper advertising and marketing strategies.It is quite obvious that small business owners do not have a budget to launch a large scale advertising campaign. However, internet is a cheap and effective method of advertising since it can reach to a huge audience and thus can help in increasing your business to a large extent. Just like advertising in newspapers of your region to attract local consumers, even in internet you have to find out the websites and search engines that are mostly used by the people in your locality and region. This can be a bit time consuming but there are some websites that are aimed at a particular geographical area. Thus if you aim at such websites your work is greatly reduced.Just like newspaper, there are classifies ads even on the internet. These are one of the cheapest ways to advertise online. For effective small business online advertising, you have to be a good copywriter in order to create effective and attractive ads that will be noticed by the users. Another very effective method is to send personal emails.You can rent email lists from various companies and select the recipients according the geographical area and other demographics. However, you need to supply an attractive headline which will cause the recipient to open your mail and read your advertisement.There are different ways in which online advertisements are paid. There are some banner ads that are put up in popular blogs and other websites. These ads are paid for each time they are clicked and viewed. Clicking on the banner will lead the user to the website of the product. Sometimes depending on the keyword these advertisements are placed on websites that are related to the keyword. For instance if you are florist and are advertising for your shop you can place your ad in websites that are related to flowers and buying flowers. However, there are some advertisements that are paid for each time they are simply put up online.Unlike big and established companies, small business owners are mostly new to the area of online advertising. There are some companies that are specialized in small business online advertising. You can take help from these services in the beginning in order to understand the advertising and marketing strategies in online market.They might even help you in drafting your advertisements in an attractive way that will definitely attract online users. It is necessary to create advertisements that have bright colors and graphics which can be easily seen among all the other ads.
What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime
What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.
As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.
That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.
Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.
Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.
Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.
Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.
That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.
Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.
Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.
My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.
Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.
And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.
All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:
• Farm eggs
• Fresh vegetables
• Cow’s milk
• Freshly baked bread
• Coal for our open fires
Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.
Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.
Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.
Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.
My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.
The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.
Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.
Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.
People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.
In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.
Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.
• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.
• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.
• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.
On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.
Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.
We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.
Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.
My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.
Direct TV Offers An Incredible Array Of Channels
Over the past years, increasing numbers of cable subscribers have decided to switch to satellite TV. With rising costs and limited programming available through cable, these people have made the right choice. Directv is the leading satellite TV provider with more than 14 million subscribers and provides many options in equipment and programming all at an affordable price. While cable TV transmits its signals through limited bandwidth cables, satellite television uses geosynchronous satellites that broadcast the signals to individual satellite dishes. Because these signals are transmitted through virtually unlimited electromagnetic waves, satellite TV is able to offer many more options than a cable subscriber is used to. This becomes apparent when you look at all the benefits that come with Direct TV.
For starters, Direct TV offers an incredible array of channels with programming that appeals to everybody. The basic package includes over 155 channels with favorites such as Disney, Comedy Central, USA, and ESPN. With 30 extra channels, the Total Choice Plus package provides an incredible assortment of XM commercial-free music stations and more family favorites like Discovery Home, The Golf Channel, and Nicktoons. For people who love movies and sports, Total Choice Premier is the ultimate home entertainment package. With stations such as HBO, Starz, Sundance and Cinemax, the whole family will find the movies they’ve been waiting to watch, and 30 sports channels will keep the sports fanatic up-to-date on all the latest games. And if more programming is wanted, Direct TV offers options such as Pay Per View, adult channels and seasonal sports subscriptions. Sports fans will love such options as the seasonal subscription to the NFL Sunday Ticket, which is broadcast only through Direct TV . And, if you are worried that you have to give up local channels with satellite TV, Directv is able to offer locals for almost every area in America.
With all the great programming, high quality picture and sound is of utmost importance, and Direct TV delivers in this capacity too. With 100% digital picture and CD quality sound, whatever is being viewed will come across crystal clear. And for people who have already invested in high definition equipment, a special HD Package is an option. HDTV increases the resolution and sound quality of your television tremendously, making it seem as if you were in an actual cinema. Upgrade to a Free Direct TV HDTV receiver and get 4 months of free Directv HD programming.
Along with an incredible array of programming with great picture and sound quality, Direct TV offers benefits such as the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). This amazing device is electronically interfaced with the satellite system and can record one station while another is being watched, pause live TV, or even rewind and replay live TV. It even allows interactive services such as horoscopes, weather or lottery results and a “find by” feature makes it easy to locate a program by title, actor, keyword or channel. In addition, a Parental Control feature makes it easy for parents to limit their children’s viewing with the ability to block channels or shows, or set time limits for watching.
Direct TV even offers Internet service, making it easy to combine all of your telecommunications needs into one monthly bill.
For its great features, large array of programming, and commitment to customer satisfaction, Directv stands out above Dish Network, Comcast, CableVision, Charter Communications other cable television providers for excellence in providing great home entertainment. Start now. Switch to the best quality home entertainment in .