Marketing Planning Consultancy Report for Fairview International

During the late nineteen nineties, a thorough strategic review of the British Junior Chamber of Commerce was conducted. It is a kind of parties and charity events Junior Rotary   that has a distinctly retro feel to it, one of the reasons why it had lost 80% of its members (or customers and market share) over the previous twenty years. Its members were usually in their 30’s, so it was no longer junior at all! Radical approach was taken by the officers of the said group while others simply rearranged the chairs on the deck of the Titanic as the ship continued to go down. One of the features of this organization was international twinning where the members visit friends in a foreign chamber bi-annually and vice-versa. It was proposed that the organization become a travel company primarily to see bands like Robbie Williams, Coldplay and James Blunt play in other countries. Low cost flights were becoming popular and if you could stay at your twin organization members home (and they yours) you then had a very low cost international travel model with a purpose ‘the big gig’. This delivered to a young person’s sense of ‘having a good time’ having traveled far to rock festivals in my youth. But this was revolution for this retro organization whereas the more conservative members of the organization proposed an evolutionary model that was accepted. Perhaps predictably it continues to decline and I and others remain convinced that my prescription was an effective one! The aims of the organization have been defined in the widest possible terms in effect ‘offer a service to young people containing real features and benefits that they would instantly perceive to have value and relevance in return for a fee’. It is surely obvious that any service offer has to change with the times. Welfare state spending may reduce the need for charity or terrorism the appeal of travel, never mind that, new young adult generations will always look to find new ways to irritate older people. Digital Technology has revolutionized this landscape (Generation X, 2000). In this short piece of work, I, as the consultant, challenge Fairview to look at their product offering in the broadest possible terms too. When they use the term gaming, it should simply mean fee generating play. For instance, I think many young men (and women) in the United Kingdom would like to play for the English soccer team. It should be perfectly possible to design and offer a paid for interactive Information Technology game where you join a team, play well and are transferred while you play against other teams with team members located all over the country on your mobile phone, timing runs, tackling, and making passes and shots in real time on the screen. It is this soccer offering where the United Kingdom has the best product in the world I have focused on, as United Kingdom consumers pay to receive live soccer currently. It is both then the dominant market segment for gaming potential as well as the easiest to charge a fee for. This then should be the aim for Fairview. To understand what young people want and harness the technology to deliver a new concept that will sweep the market. This is all some distance from the traditional ‘bookie’s’.   Fairview uses the name ‘chain’ to describe this market entry. Chain is the right term, but not as in the old ‘a chain of bookie’s ‘but by building customer databases linked by profitable repeat fee based gaming interests for rapid team game building. This is as near to a mission statement as my proposal needs. Proposal While on the one side the United Kingdom seems a perfect place to offer gaming services as a wealthy secular modern society with no overt proscriptions, the reality is that this protestant country has some of the same forces at play as the puritan founders of the United States of America that influences proscriptions against gaming there. Millions of British used to admit to only gambling once a year on ‘The National’ the Grand National Steeplechase. Bookie’s were scruffy smoke filled pits of dysfunctional people all too often Catholic immigrants from Ireland. Relatively well educated, if you asked the British why they didn’t gamble they’d say ‘it’s a mugs game’ and ‘get rich quick schemes’ only work for the amoral founders of the idea. They would prefer to ‘gamble’ if that is the appropriate term on the stock market where legitimate gains could be made by using the thirds party services of good corporate management to ensure a comfortable retirement. If you look for further evidence of this, it is well known that no Casino will open in the United Kingdom, unless there are large numbers of potential ethnic Chinese gamers living nearby. They will not get rich on United Kingdom consumers, indeed may not even break even (The Independents Britain’s new cultural entrepreneurs, 1999). .But times change, and just as the stock market now offers a diverse range of derivative instruments, so does gaming. The popularity of the English Premier League has lead to the spread betting phenomenon. If the top teams usually win, the margin of victory is far less certain and this also has lead to greater volatility and margins of gains and losses or in other word exciting risky behavior. The United States legislation against on line gaming was an initial set back as the United Kingdom based organizations were generating   lot of business in for instance interactive Poker games (People before structures, 2000). B.   But clearly there now offers the same kind of opportunity for Fairview that stem cell researchers enjoy in the United Kingdom’s less judgmental society in other ways, so familiar to the Americans, but what exactly is it?. Technology has changed consumer markets especially for young people fundamentally. Living in a poor third world town in a poor third world country there are dozens of internet shops catering for young males who want to play on line. The cell phone here predominates and conversations have to be broken mid sentence to give the phone its precedence. These are new networks just waiting to be more completely, competently and commercially exploited. In the United Kingdom, most homes have internet cable bundled with telephony too and children dominate their use. For those who think that the internet is a marvelous utility for expanding the mind with information, the reality is that it is pornography that dominates commercial transactions on the web. People are quite happy to sign up to a site that suits their sexual taste and this has hastened the demise of the printed word if pornographic magazines were more likely to venerate the picture rather than the accompanying narrative. This all simply demonstrates that people will pay a fee to use IT if you give them what they really want, in this instance, sex! To refer back to my opening, I realized that the Junior Chamber had other problems too in gaining new young members. People often didn’t want to move around to get together any more, given the twin threats of urbanization traffic clog and personal security threats. At their office was the ideal tool to ‘blog’ instead. Tools like Microsoft Messenger meant that you could now have an interactive real time conversation. Add a web cam and this is the modern equivalent of the ‘whist drive’ or poker games my parent’s generation but enjoyed without the need for a meeting place. Property in the rich and crowded island that is the United Kingdom is notoriously expensive to buy or rent. How very convenient! The question then to ask is, given this new digital societies’ range of extensive interactive tools, what will the young people move onto once they tire of their mostly violent and speedy games? Gaming defined as a competition where you place a stake and back your skill has to be the obvious move once these kids are working and have more money in their pocket. The opportunity is obvious. But will Fairview be sufficiently visionary to spend marketing resources on creating this market? To do this, their initial key goals will include setting up the soft infrastructure. They will have to work with key influencers (for instance game designers) and agents (like MySpace) and the Premier Football League as well as build a formidable technical offering, but they will be pushing against an open door in terms of consumer desires. They must design a proprietary brand and a tightly drawn patent to protect themselves at least at the outset for competition, unless they are not prepared to spend enough marketing funds on this to ‘go it alone’ and would rather share the burden with competitors in the hope that there is enough business to keep everyone happy. Observe the English soccer on Star Sports in Asia. It will be noticed that they urge customer to use their cell phones to make score predictions and so of course can build up a data base of cell phone numbers that send the predictions in. Many of these Asian English soccer fans have never been to a real English game. They are a perfect target to form virtual soccer team similarly with the virtual manager games. In a sense Star Sports and its competitors are ‘ahead of the game’ but they don’t recognize what they’ve got yet nor how best they can leverage it. When the term ‘clicks and mortar’ was first coined in the nineteen nineties it seemed pretentious, but in fact it was ‘right on the money’. It seemed that consumers wouldn’t buy some things unless they’d seen them first. The feel of something is important. It transpired that Amazon were very good at selling Information Technology, books and records all not particularly visual or tactile and we would buy holidays and flights on the net for the same reasons, but when for instance it came to clothes, a regional superstore may be needed to view the goods closer at hand. Since that time memory has got cheaper and virtual reality less virtual, and this has become a little less of an obstacle. What about the social environment though?. People will be free to play these games in public arenas with adjacent fellow players. It just need not be that way. Of course, younger people have sometimes never even thought about this although malls around the world seem to still be full of them. There is evidence too that many people gravitate towards social situations such as ‘the bookie’s’ provides. Where then in the product offering should we place these components? It seems to me that an internet gaming company should product test a real life regular forum for their customers. An organization was set up by Tony Blair, the former United Kingdom Prime minister’s advisor on future policy trends called DEMOS. It was a centre left policy think tank. Most of the action was in far away London but once a year they would hold an event in the north in Liverpool. It is this kind of customer sensitivity that internet offerings have to master, designed as they all too often are by tech ‘geeks’ who are rarely ‘people persons’. An annual conference of soccer gamers could be highly viable and entertaining for them off season. In one article by Demos, they put the spotlight on Generation X the first internet generation to reach adulthood. This was in some ways a fundamentally different generation. They were found to be the first generation that had synthesized their social needs inside their heads and home, whereas previous young adults would head off down ‘the pub.’ The bedroom of the average young person in the United Kingdom is now an entertainment and communication zone, a little like the bridge of Star Trek! The recent purchases of social networks like that of MySpace by Google tells us something about their utility for attractive targeting both by advertisers and the future tech offerings that Google is rumored to be announcing soon in the cellular communication area. So far I have mostly referred to the internet, but clearly relatively few people can receive this via 3G right now and these services are expensive (but there is an opportunity there for Fairview too). It is clear that in the technical mix a formidable proactive customer services 2G offering should be launched as well, as we all know that these 2 and 3 G phones are no longer just phones but in some way an extension of the identity of the individual. Where this would all lead in terms of software development I don’t have the expertise to predict, but Fairview would surely need their own in house team of software developers. Opportunities for as ubiquitous a product as interactive soccer would clearly show themselves rapidly in both mainland Europe and South America where soccer is king, and later, globally! The beauty of technology of course is that this can be all run from just one location. Adjacent opportunities will be available too for the skill and experience built by the Information Technology department to be applied elsewhere. There are many customer services functions in the United Kingdom where good staff could be poached for a more interesting job This leads to the subject of Brand. Clearly few can tell the Americans anything about brand building. In consumer markets, brand is king and so internet and 2G advertising with product offers would be essential. I repeat that endorsements by top soccer players of the interactive paid for soccer gaming would too be essential if that were part of the offer. It should too watch how Google addresses the market in its next move as that organization seems to have a good feel for the youth/it/ commercial landscape The action and execution plan would be carried out most effectively by well trained and motivated new young people to Fairview that have bought into this concept as they will sell/merchandise it with real enthusiasm at retail software purchase points. This will be a sales force with all the traditional activity goals, daily targeting etc. A key account manager will set up the contacts with the key partners MySpace, YouTube, etc. and Star Sports and the Premier League to set up the delivery networks, but it will be the marketers that will likely make the most impact by leaflets in the appropriate magazines, advertising boards at soccer grounds, cell phone text message advertising etc. A pre offer tease roadside board adverting campaign could be useful but as this will be a tech offering a key initial task would be to build a potential fee gamers data base by garnering cell phone responses to advertising. The mining of this cell phone response consumer data base should be a key task of an in house customer services team with specific goals to be achieved. Conclusion It can be concluded from the evidence above is that there is a real opportunity to move things on commercially in the tech gaming space and thereby move away from the traditional bricks and mortar gaming concept. This is of course already well under way, but the surface is only being scratched in terms of potential as large sections of the community don’t game (gamble) at all as the offer has yet to be put in the right way. This is the right way and indeed many of the tools look already to be in place, if greater use of 3G would be a slight advantage. Much of the above proposal is already out there like United States interactive basketball and I’m sure that Fairview know this, but they could crucially deepen the level of interactivity with a virtual FA Cup played by thousands around the world with a trophy handed to the winners before the real FA Cup Semi Final and real players ‘guesting’ on line in teams. This ‘hype’ or real celebrity based excitement, a mix of reality TV and virtual reality could gain many millions of subscribers paying per game regularly ‘on line,’ or even women (or men) aspiring to dinner with David Beckham, indeed make such a sea change in the commercializing of ITC that this becomes a legendary ‘breaking of the mould’ enterprise, the ‘final straw’ that opened the door for a fee based gaming enterprise to ‘clean up’. It simply remains then to be seen whether they will have both the vision and resources to turn this into such a lucrative reality that one day soon it will be as playing a pivotal role in redesigning post modern civil society as well!. References Generation X   – Demos   UK 2000 Handbook. 2007. http://www.rjca.org.uk/docs/Handbook_A.pdf People before structures – Demos UK 2000 The Independents Britain’s new cultural entrepreneurs – Demos UK 1999                     

Provide Displays in Schools Essay

The school’s setting on displays show that displays are allowed on the walls in the classrooms, corridors, in the school hall and sometimes in the offices. By having displays up around the school it gives the children a sense of achievement and the children will feel valued. Also by having displays up on the walls in the school, it makes the school look brighter, and more cheerful. The policy on displays includes that the display should create awareness and give information. It should give information on what ever subject it has been based on. The display should have a clear title and name tags of who ever made the display, which shows the achievement of the child or class. Other pupils should learn from these displays and gain knowledge or experience. The children should always have an input with the displays, including colour, pattern and design of the display because this will get them working together and they will gain experience. A teacher or teaching assistant will decide where to put the display, and make sure that it is an appropriate place to put it, to make sure it is safe. The health and safety of the staff, pupils and visitors should be taken into consideration of the location of the display, just in case things stick out of this display because it may cause harm to someone. You should laminate the paper before sticking it on and blue tack should be used instead of pins because it is a lot safer and cleaner. The staff must be aware of the object on the display that could cause harm to someone. Someone should take regular inspection of the display just in case something has broken and is hanging off or has fallen to the floor, causing a health risk. It’s important to have displays in the school because it shows a sense of pride and appreciation of the children work, because nothing shows you like and appreciate someone’s work than hanging it so everyone can see it. The children will feel their work is thought of and valued. Also by having displays on the wall, they don’t go unnoticed which means when a display has had it’s time and needs to be updated, you can’t ignore it. It also means that you have to look after the display so it keeps a good example on the school and makes the people who made it look good. Displays can decorative and make a classroom look a lot more interesting and brighter. This can directly impact a pupil into a having a positive state of mind, helping a pupil try harder and complete work and learn, all from the motivation of a display. In general when you pass something everyday you tend to notice the details about it, so when you pass a big colourful display in the corridor you will gain more knowledge about it everyday. I think this benefits a child’s learning in the school. The risk assessment of the display is always important because you need to think of a lot of different things to ensure the staff, pupil and visitors safety. The first thing you need to think of is; where is the display? Is it in a suitable area where it will not damage or injure anyone? Another question you need to ask yourself is; what is on the display? You need to ensure that there is nothing on the display that is sharp, could burn or injure. It shouldn’t be able to dislodge, shouldn’t belong to anyone but you, it can’t be poisonous and it should not rot. You need to asses how things are fixed to the display because they should not be able to dislodge. You also need to think of who will interact with the display, for example a small child could be very interested in the display, but there could be heavy object attached to it. Therefore you will need to ensure the child’s safety by either not including this heavy object on the display, or putting it high enough and stable enough out of the child’s reach.

Population Growth and Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Population Growth and Control - Essay Example In other words, it is a ratio: population over resources. If a given environment has a population of 10, but there is food and drinking water enough for only 9 people, then that environment is overpopulated, while if the population is 100 individuals but there are food and water enough for 200, then it is not overpopulated. Over population can result from increases in births, a decline in mortality rates, which is linked to increases in life expectancy, or from an unsustainable use and depletion of resources. Advances in technology can reduce the threat of overpopulation by making new resources available, or by increasing the productivity of existing resources. Resources to be taken into account when estimating if an ecological niche is overpopulated include clean water and air, food, shelter, warmth, or other issues related to survival. In the case of human beings, there are others such as arable land and, for all but tribes with primitive lifestyles, lesser resources such as unemployment, money or other economic resources, education, fuel, electricity, healthcare, proper sewage treatment and waste management, and transportation. In the context of human societies, overpopulation occurs when the population density is so great as to actually cause an impaired quality of life, environmental degradation, or a long-term shortage of essential goods and services. Overpopulation is not merely an imbalance between the numbers of individuals compared to the resources they need to survive, or a ratio of population over resources. This is because such an imbalance may be caused by any other number of factors such as bad governance, war, injustice and exploitation, etc. When other such factors come into play in a certain locale, and population density cannot be shown to be the major cause, overpopulation cannot be conclusively said to occur. The world's human population is currently growing by more than 75 million people per year. This is down from a peak numerical growth of about 88 million per year in the late 1980s. About half the world lives in nations with sub-replacement fertility, and population growth in those countries is due to immigration. Thomas Malthus (1798) argued that if left unrestricted, human populations would continue to grow until they would become too large to be supported by the food grown on available agricultural land. He proposed that, while resources tend to grow linearly, population grows exponentially. At that point, the population would be restrained through mass famine and starvation. Malthus (1798) also argued for population control, through "moral restraint", to avoid this happening. As the population exceeds the amount of available resources, it decreases, since the lack of resources causes mortality to increase. This process keeps the population in check and

Famous Leader - Margaret Thatcher EX-Prime Minister of Great Britain Essay

Famous Leader - Margaret Thatcher EX-Prime Minister of Great Britain - Essay Example People often described Thatcher using terms such as decisive, determined, iron willed and confident. These terms typify Thatcher’s inherent leadership traits, thereby, affirming the trait theory of leadership. â€Å"Trait theory of leadership differentiates a leader from a non-leader by concentrating on the individual’s inherent characteristics and qualities† (Northouse, 2012, p. 65). Thatcher further demonstrated numerous behaviors that distinguished her from other leaders. These behaviors included a desire to lead, integrity, intelligence, job related knowledge and self confidence. Although the trait theory of leadership is a viable approach to people’s leadership attributes, the approach has certain limitations, for instance, there are no collective traits, which envisage leadership under all situations. Traits essentially foretell people’s behaviors, particularly in the context of adverse situations rather than constructive situations. Such limi tations have pushed researchers to advocate the consideration of alternative leadership theories. This paper will examine Margaret Thatcher’s leadership traits, skills and behaviors in the context of the traits theory of leadership. ... Effective leaders also have the capacity to appreciate how they can attain their objectives. Leadership traits or qualities differentiate leaders from followers. Thatcher had the aforementioned characteristics, which differentiated her as an effective leader. Some of Thatcher’s most notable leadership traits include courage and resolution, self-confidence and decisiveness. Thatcher’s courage was evidenced by her throwing herself into politics; a male dominated field in which women were not welcomed. Thatcher showed courage and resolution through her single-minded passion to fight off her opposition. Notably, Thatcher had the drive to confront her enemies. Thatcher also demonstrated exceptional conviction and confidence, which enabled her to remain in power. In the course of Thatcher’s premiership, Britain’s unemployment rates rose rapidly. However, Thatcher’s conviction allowed her to offer persuasive arguments, for instance, that a tightly-bound ec onomy would offer future benefits. The mammoth patriotic enthusiasm that followed Thatcher facilitated her persuasive tendencies. Thatcher’s conviction further exemplified her decisiveness. She did not follow multitudes but rather made her own decisions and stuck to her choices. This decisiveness is primarily notable in Thatcher’s successful repulsion of Falkland Islands by Argentina. Thatcher’s decisiveness is also evident from her introduction of an internal market to the nation’s health care sector. Thatcher was a notable champion of capitalism and free markets. Leadership Skills Thatcher had many leadership skills through which she engaged with her followers. Notably, she had transformative skills as she always engaged her followers in processes of

What is ethis Can ethics be taught Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is ethis Can ethics be taught - Term Paper Example For example, in some fundamental societies, killing of people who say something against the religion is accepted as a sacred act. According to newspaper reports, Indian capital New Delhi faced a severe terrorist attack in which more than 10 innocent people were killed. The terrorist who accepted responsibility for this attack was a fundamental Islamic terrorist organization. For them, what they did in Delhi is ethical. But for others, it cannot be considered as ethical. So it is not necessary that religions or the society may always teach moral activities. From the above discussion, it is clear that ethics cannot be taught; but it should be learned through logical analysis and synthesis of experiences in the past. â€Å"When most people think of ethics (or morals), they think of rules for distinguishing between right and wrong† (Resnik, 2010). My personal code of ethics is formulated in line with the above argument. In fact my personal ethics has nothing to do with my religious beliefs. I have no hesitation in accepting the good teachings of other religions. For example, according to Christian and Muslim belief, killing of animals for food is not a sin. However, Buddhism and Hinduism consider all types of killing as sin. I have no hesitation in accepting the arguments of Buddhism and Hinduism as far as killing of animals is concerned. For me, any activity which may not cause any kind of discomfort to others can be considered as ethical. When I was working in the production department of an organization, a sales executive who is working for another company approached me with a major job. Even though his organization has all the facilities to complete that job, he told me that he doesn’t want to complete that job with the help of his own organization. His intention was to make more money out of this job. Since my organization has lack of works at that time, his offer put me in a dilemma. According to my

Military Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Military Technology - Essay Example The internet and phones connect us to people who are thousands of miles away from us and have bonded people together as well as widening our view on staffs and made information even more accessible to persons. Evolution of technology has made life easier by saving lives via technological medical advances. Newer technological advances might lead to newer scientific discoveries. For instance, the developed DNA sequencing and copying technologies has led us into important breakthroughs in several areas of biology, specifically in reconstruction of evolutionary relationships amongst organisms. One might think the society is relying too much on it but that might be a good staff since that's the way our lives seems to be improving now thanks to technology (Hardy, 2002). Our everyday lives are spent surrounded by technology and technology not just being Xboxes and TVs. We heavily depend on cars, trains, and planes for transportation. The society also rely greatly on advancements in weaponry so us to keep the country safe. We spin around technology and it has enhanced our lives greatly. I think our everyday life would be miserable without evolution of technology. ... Moreover if you don’t own a recent one then it`s same as not owning one at all. With the evolution of technology, we are discovering new, and life altering ways to enhance research into many diverse fields which we use every single day. One of the most essential forms of research which with the aid of technology has assisted individuals worldwide is medical research. Devoid of the evolution of technology that the society has now, most of the treatments the society has for diseases, injuries and infections would have not been invented if the technology society has today did not exist. Human life spans would significantly be reduced, and they would not recover from diseases, injuries or infection the way they are able to now. Less harmful infections and injuries would be more serious and might not heal as they do. Diseases too would be way more deadly than they are currently (Jaeger & Bowman, 2005). A good example of how society is dependent on the current technology to assist p eople as well as make huge improvements on illnesses is evidenced in reliance on artificial limbs to make life easier. The continued funding of NASA( National Aeronautics and Space Administration), together with its combined innovations in shock-absorption and robotics materials are inspiring and allowing the private sector to generate new and better solutions to animal and human prostheses. Advancements for instance Environmental Robots Inc.’s improvement of artificial muscle systems that has actuation capabilities and robotic sensing for use in extravehicular activities and space robotic of NASA are being adapted to generate a very functionally dynamic artificial limbs. Technology also make our lives easier and that of society through improving the transport sector.

Niklas Luhmanns theory of the Mass Media System Essay

Niklas Luhmanns theory of the Mass Media System - Essay Example It reveals the twofold reality of the media between its own internal system and the reality it provides for the society externally. According to Luhmann, the mass media is made up of recursive, self-referencing communication programs whose functions are not directed by external values of knowledge, truthfulness or objectivity, political directives or specific social interests. Instead, Luhmann agrees that the functioning of the mass media is directed by the internal code information/non-information which allows the system to choose its information/news from its own environment. The mass media then communicates this information depending on its own reflective criteria (Luhmann 36). The basis for Luhmann’s theoretical construct was public suspicion of the mass media. According to Luhmann, we get to know about our society and the world in general through the mass media. This also includes our knowledge on nature. However, we are not in a position to trust this information because of the many things that we know about the mass media. This creates a contradiction which basically forms the unique modern and productive features of the mass media. First, the mass media can be compared with other social systems like science, law, business and politics which form operationally closed systems. Secondly, the cognition of mass media is self-referencing and closed. This is a feature that is only found in systems. This means that they have not distinguished the reality which they communicate daily reports, news and advertising as expected from the image they present. Instead, they create it. Although the created reality arises selectively, it is socially relevant and maintains its validity as long us we understand how it is developed, produced and consumed. The usual way of dealing with the contradiction in the mass media is to suspect that there is some form of manipulation in the

Stress in the Workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stress in the Workplace - Research Paper Example They have achieved it on the cost of their personal and social life. The urge to remain employed has caused the employees to endorse the culture of work-life imbalance. The whole effort of the employees is concentrated at increasing the productivity. Since the time is limited, employees have no option but to sacrifice their private life for the work. This is the reason why employees do not find time to spend with the family. While on one hand, this is distorting the employees’ relations with their families, on the other hand, it is also affecting their performance as continued work without breaks and rest declines an individual’s mental and physical efficiency. In addition to that, the ones who have managed to remain employed have been assigned the job responsibilities of the employees that have been terminated, which has essentially increased the work load for the remaining employees manifolds. Since the effects of economic recession are not limited to the workplace, t he employees have to deal with the inflation and increased rates of things of everyday use. There is so much to purchase in a very limited salary, that an employee always runs short of money. Consequences of Stress Stress in the workplace is one of the most important causes of increase in employees’ depression and anxiety. Some employees have been stressed to the point that they have attempted suicide. â€Å"[Employees] come to work and tell a manager or colleague that they are thinking of harming themselves. They are texting, calling, instant-messaging. Or they’ll disclose they’ve made an attempt. Some have even tried to kill themselves at work† (LeBlanc cited in Mirza, 2012). Stress in the workplace has distorted the employees’ relations with the family members, particularly with the spouses. Employees are not able to meet the financial demands of the family, which not only makes them feel derogated in their own eyes, but also makes the family me mbers unhappy with them. Particularly the housewives are not aware of the magnitude of stress the husbands go through, and thus expect them to be spending to much. The increasing tension between many couples because of the workplace-caused stress has led them to the point of divorce. â€Å"The challenges [of mental illness] are enormous to society because of the high cost for both individuals and employees. People suffering from mental health disorders are also having trouble finding and holding onto jobs† (Singh cited in Skrzypinski, 2012). This also has many negative implications for the employers. Productivity of the distressed employees declines which incurs additional costs to the employers. This is termed as â€Å"presenteeism†; a phenomenon wherein employees are present at work but too preoccupied, distressed, and/or lost to display optimal productivity. Ways to Deal with Employees’ Stress Stress among employees in the workplace imparts a need for the man agers to be very prudent and responsible in their interaction and dealing with the employees. Managers can do a lot to regulate the stress in the employees as managers assume top positions in the hierarchy of the organization structure and are thus a source of hope and inspiration for the employees. There are certain measures that a manager needs to take when approaching a worried employee. Rather than asking the

Film Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Film Reflection - Essay Example It tries to explore the complex character of indigenous relationships, cultures and modern realities specifically the relationship between the fathers and sons in Native America. It is the story of one young Native man called Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) who stays with his mother Arlene (Tantoo Cardinal) in Idaho on the Coer d’Alene Indian Reservation and he has always abhorred his father and is trying to forgive him. After Victor finds out in the beginning of the film that Arnold his father is dead, he and Thomas his childhood friend set on a journey to pick his father’s ashes. During their journey, the two friends struggle with the constraints of forgiveness even as Victor begins to heal. It starts in the reservation in 1998 and there is a flashback to the 4th of July 1976 when there was a celebration of the â€Å"white man’s Independence Day†. It included holding the largest house party. As Thomas narrates over the image of a burning house. Arnold Joseph (Gary Farmer) accidentally sets fire to his neighbor’s house. The fire was uncontrollable and it ended up killing the couple who lived there but their baby was rescued by Joseph from the inferno after Thomas the baby was thrown out of the second story window from the burning house. The lucky rescued baby; Thomas (Evan Adams) is raised together with Victor who are almost of the same age by his grandmother. The grandmother offered her appreciation to Victor for saving Thomas and she told him he had done a good thing, but Arnold replied amidst tears that he did not mean to save Thomas. This tension which is the result of Arnold’s admission that he never intended to do good sets the tone for the entire film. Joseph shaves his hair in mourning but keeps drinking in desperation due to the inferno and its results. When Victor at 12 years old sees how his parents drunk, he got

Will China Become a Superpower in the Future Essay

Will China Become a Superpower in the Future - Essay Example This essay discusses the People's Republic of China, called China in day to day parlance, that has become synonymous with the term ‘emerging superpower’ today. Whenever the world talks about China, reference is made to the country’s future global prowess. Riding high on near-double digit economic growth for the last more than three decades, China has turned from a closed, impecunious economy into a self-assured and flourishing global trading partner. China’s performance on various parameters strengthens the belief that the country indeed has the potential to become a superpower. China is the second biggest economy of the world, next only to the United States. The researcher of this essay focuses on the analysis of China’s success and a million dollar question, that looms large. Will China be able to tread the distance and be able to shed the ‘emerging superpower’ tag and actually become a ‘superpower’? It is mentioned that w hile there are parameters on which China has scored wonderfully well to be termed as a hot contender for becoming a superpower, there are many challenges in the way, such as the rate of urbanization, safe drinking water, it's citizens and the villages. These challenges are truly daunting and are prevalent in the economic, social, demographic and political environment of the country. The researcher then states a conclusion of the aforesaid discussion, that is China is not, and will not be a Superpower. At best, it will be an influential power on the world stage.

ESL classroom modification Essay Example for Free

ESL classroom modification Essay English as a second language students need modification and accommodation in the mainstream in order to be successful, because they pose problems to the teacher as most of them are not up to the academic level of other students. Research has shown that many teachers have not had training on how to successfully teach these students in the classroom. This article synthesizes what we as educators believe are the most important principles that teachers should support English as second language student to perform better in their academic field Modifications are individualized strategies posed on student for their success. They are appropriate when a student have learning difficulties in classroom. Implementing modifications that are parts of the student’s education plan are required by law. Modifications are necessary to any student that is not being successful with the regular method of instruction. They are important since not all students learn alike this help students be successful in their academic field. Research shows that social language is developed by students known as Basic inter personal communication skills (BICS) through informal and formal interaction with peers. The skills acquired are distinctive since they are not used in academic field. Academic language termed as Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) can take up to five to eight year to master (Cummins, 1984), Cummins notes in his classic work that (BICS) is typically acquired over a period of one to two years. Student who are yet to develop (CALP) in English, teachers need to be careful in choosing task that provide relevant information of cognitive complexity and contextual support. For student to complete activities that are cognitively complex they need to posses CALP to complete them. English language learners may lack the language skills to comprehend explanations of complex concepts and to express their thoughts yet they may have cognitive capacity to grasp material in such situation teachers may make comprehension of instruction through the use of contextual support such as gestures, hands-on learning, visuals, and other non-verbal accompaniment of instruction. The more instruction is contextualized, the better chance the English language learner has to develop understanding of complex concepts and the language used to explain them (Cummins, 1984). How can a teacher ensure that ESL students experience the same level of comprehension as the native English speaking students? The answer involves most of the teachers time but result are well worth it. Since the first aspect of language is aural or listening, read aloud session held after school could help for the beginning ESL students. The teacher can employ more students involvement and leadership by supervising a reading group in which the more advanced ESL student read to the beginning student. This method helps the beginner to feel more comfortable with the text as well as encourage advanced students to work on oral communication skills. However, one does not want to segregate students; the teacher should therefore stress the basic the basic learning strategies of making prediction, taking notes, inferring word meaning, and asking questions as they read. The simple strategies provide focus for reading and engage the learner in active reading (spangenberg-Urbschat 95). Fair assessment is one of the biggest questions concerning incorporation of ESL students in to regular English class. Should ESL student be held to the same grading standard as the native English speakers? Solution is yes, but methods of assessment should be different. With modification ESL students should demonstrate understanding of text, grammar skills and vocabulary. Standardized tastes do not show how well ESL students have comprehended the information and also overwhelm them. Assessment of all choice of student should be portfolio assessment as it tracks students improvement through sample quizzes, projects, reading log and journals. Providing equal education for the ESL student did not always mean those students were getting fair education. The courts found that Chine students involved in the suit were being excluded from educational opportunities since even though they were provided with the same instructional and materials as the native English student, they could not take the advantages since they lack adequate English language skills. Since ESL learners cannot take equal advantage of those opportunities, it is therefore not fair nor equal to them to use the same instructional strategies as the native English student. A model portfolio that has implications features for the ESL classroom can be used as a systematic tool in instructional planning and student evaluation. The potential for determining the depth and breadth of a students capabilities can be seen through analysis and comprehensive data collection. A comprehensive, focuses on both the processes and products of learning; uses both formal and informal assessment; seeks to understand student language development in the affective domains, cognitive, metacognitive, and linguistic; stress both formal and academic language development. Contains teacher, student, and objective input. The teacher should take some strategies on how to handle newcomers and emergent student. For the newcomers create climate of acceptance, use manipulative visuals, realia, props and games, use cooperative learning group, display print to support oral language , the teacher should also set model activities for the students to boost their understanding. Use of bilingual students as peer helpers is necessary he/she should adjust his rate of speech to enhance comprehension. In addition, he should ask yes/no questions to test if they can recall what they have been taught, ask them to draw/show/point various parts that have been taught during the lesson. He should test the new comers more on area dealing with vocabulary and terminologies. The teacher should simplify the language and not the content, moreover, the teacher should design the lesson in such a way as to motivate student to talk. As the teacher watch student improve, he should start asking them questions that require one or two words response for example who? What? When? Which one? How many. His lessons should expand on the vocabulary. Sensitizing mainstream students to the newcomer challenges is one of the suggestion for supporting ESL newcomers. The teacher should prepare native English students for the arrival of the newcomers. The teacher should brainstorm them on how they would feel if their parent took them to another country to study. student may demonstrate physical ailment or display a wide variety of unusual behavior such as aggression, depression, tantrums, tendency to withdraw, crying and sleeplessness. The teacher should therefore be aware of the culture shock and know how to handle such situations. The teacher should create frequent opportunities for their success in the classroom, give a lot of encouragement and praise on what the student can do and be careful not to call on them to perform what is above their level of competence. In this way the teacher create a nurturing environment for the student the teacher should establish a regular routine for the newcomers by giving them help in organizing space, time and material. he can achieve this by giving the a copy of daily schedule have them keep it at the front of their ESL notebook or tape it to their desk. From the beginning engage newcomers in language learning. the teacher can achieve this for example rote learning whereby students learn sight words, chants, poems, songs, list and spelling words through rote learning. Include them in class authority so that they can also see they are important members in the group, areas of expertise include math, computers, origami or art work. At first, student may not talk at all therefore the teacher needs to recruit volunteers to work with newcomers. It is critical to provide student with aural input in plenty in order to familiarize themselves with the English language. Students using headphones should be isolated from the rest of the class; this is a word of caution about the use of tapes and tape recorders. Appropriate reading materials for the ESL learners should at least include the following; story plots that are action based little text on each page, text that contains repetitive and predictable phrases, high-frequency vocabulary and useful words, text that employ simple sentenced structure, and numerous illustration that help clarify the text. when the teacher is reading to the ESL beginners he should make sure language is comprehensible therefore he should use reading strategies to increase students’ comprehension for example using expressive tone, reading sentence at a slow-to-normal pace. Literate and preliterate newcomers who speak a language that does not use Roman alphabet need direct instruction in letter recognition and formation as well as the phonetic beginners. The teacher teach phonetics in context the teacher can introduce and reinforce letter recognition beginning and ending sounds, rhyming words, blending silent words, homonyms etc through the use of authentic literature . since phonetic worksheets present new vocabulary out of context, they are generally useful to the newcomers. There are ten things the mainstream teacher can do to improve instruction for the ESL students. To begin with, the teacher should add gestures, point directly to objects, or draw pictures when appropriate, enunciate clearly, but do not raise his voice. Secondly, write legibly, clear, and in print . thirdly, he should try to avoid slang words and idioms; in addition, he should present new information in the context of known information and present information in a variety of ways. He should announce the lesson’s activities and objective, and list instructions step-by-step. Moreover, he should always emphasize key vocabulary words and provide frequent summations of the salient points of a lesson. The teacher should also recognize student success frequently and overtly, individual praises in some cultures are considered inappropriate and therefore embarrassing or confusing to the student. The teacher should use clear and consistent signals for classroom e should therefore develop and maintain routine. Finally If a student does not understand information you are delivering to them, try rephrasing or paraphrasing in shorter sentences and simpler syntax have students demonstrate their learning in order to show comprehension instead of asking them Do you understand? in this manner the teacher will check their understanding through repeating information and reviewing it frequently. The teachers need to know various teaching strategies when dealing with ESL student. Cooperative is one of the strategies. Robert E. Slavin (1995) has shown cooperative learning can be effective for students at all academic levels and learning styles. This method give all student frequent opportunities to speak this boost spirit of cooperation and friendship amongst students, student benefit from observing learning strategies used by their peers through shared learning activities. Language experience approach also known as Dictated stories is another strategy. Student’s words are used to create a text that will be used as a material for reading lesson. In this method students learn how their language is encoded as they watch it written down. It help student bring their personal experience in to classroom most important to culturally diverse student. Total physical response (TPR) is another strategy it. in reading comprehension the teacher should reduce the quantity of student reading at a time to be able to attend to individual level he should also modify materials to student’s decoding level, in addition, he should have students paraphrase verbally what has been read in the lesson . He should also eliminate visual distraction on page this is to enhance concentration span of students use of personal experience is important since it enhance understanding for example the teacher can encourage student to give their own experience after giving the his own to give them clue on what is meant in the lesson Conclusion Teachers are now responsible for education of student that they were not originally trained on the old adage of ‘good teaching will work for everyone is too simplistic to address the very real challenges that these teachers face. Teachers should take heart and work fully on their profession. Remember that when we are deliberate and informed about the learning that is taking place teaching becomes most powerful. This is usually true when we are teaching a student a completely different language their growth t are validated in the effort they put forth in your class and in life. ESL student can bring a wealth of information resources and culture with them yet they need our help in order to contribute to our classroom and society. By understanding some of the basic concepts that English as a second language specialists have known for years, content area teachers can tap into the resources that LEP students bring with them, making the transition to the mainstream classroom not only easier for the ESL student but also the content area teacher as well. Reference 1. Cummins, J. (1984).Bilingualism and special education: Issues in assessment and pedagogy. San Diego, CA: College-Hill. 2. Classroom modification http://www. spavinawok. net/CLASSROOM%20MODIFICATIONS. pdf. 3. Krashen, S. Terrell, T. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. Oxford: Pergamon Press. 4. Short, D. J. (1993). Assessing integrated language and content instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 27, (4), 627-656. 5. Teacher Discussion Forums: forums. eslcafe. com/teacher/viewtopic. php? t=448 44k Cached Similar pages

Law of Supply and Demand | Entry Barriers

Law of Supply and Demand | Entry Barriers The Economic Environment and Anatomy of Business Law of Supply and Demand Headline: Nexus 6 sold out: Google Play Store will have more in stock every Wednesday URL: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/19568/20141105/nexus-6-in-stock-every-wednesday-and-within-minutes-google-phablet-completely-sold-out-again.htm The first economic phenomenon that we are going to look at is the law of supply and demand. In its raw form it states that if the demand for certain product is higher than its availability (supply) then the price for that product goes up and if the vice versa is present then it decreases (Baye, 2010). A current example of this is the lightning fast selling of Google’s latest flagship smartphone Nexus 6. Upon its release in the Google Play Online store, the first shipment was sold out within minutes. After that, when the second shipment arrived, the same situation repeated. This is a clear indicator that the demand of Nexus 6 was way higher than the actual supply. The reasons for such a high demand can be attributed to several factors. Firstly, Google’s Nexus 6 came with the new Android operating system version 5.0 (Code name Lollipop), being the only phone on the market that supports it. Secondly, the price of Nexus 6 was (and currently is) relatively lower than its competitor‘s – it is cheaper than Apple’s IPhone 6, 6Plus and Sony’s Xperia Z3 (Luke Johnson, 7 November, 2014), and approximately same priced as Samsung’s Galaxy S5. This gives an extra layer of appeal to buyers and combined with its high quality, the reason behind the extremely high demand of the Google’s smart phone is justified. The graph below illustrates an example of the current supply and demand of Google’s Nexus 6: We mark the current price level of Nexus 6 with P1, the current quantity that Google can supply with Qs and the current quantity that is demanded with Qd. P* and Q* are our equilibrium price and equilibrium quantity respectively. Setting a lower price for the smartphone compared to the competitor’s and offering the exclusivity of the new Android operating system, has made the demand for the product extremely high. On one hand, this is good indicator, however, in this case Google could not provide an adequate amount of supply to the market. Those two factors led the company to an excess of demand. Assuming, the basic principles of the law of supply and demand are functioning, the rivalry between customers, who want to buy the modern smartphone, will push the price up to the equilibrium point. That point represents the place, where the demand from customers and the supply from Google, meet and form an equilibrium (supplied quantity is equal to the demanded one or our equilibrium price and quantity, conforms). Naturally, another scenario may occur – the demand for Nexus 6 might eventually drop as a result of oversaturation of the market with smartphones from the same class, adoption of the Android 5.0 OS by rival firms (it is predicted that this will happen by the end of 2014 (James Rogerson, Matthew Hanson, October 2014) due to the fact that the Android OS is open-source) or a drop in prices of competitor’s phone offers. In case this happens, the equilibrium point will be achieved at a significantly lower price compared to the first scenario. To summarize, in the base of every modern economy stands the law of supply and demand and it dictates its basic behavior. Companies such as Google and its Nexus 6 smartphone, visualize the stated law perfectly with its clear excess of demand. Entry Barriers Headline: Latest OS share data shows Windows still dominating in PCs URL: http://www.zdnet.com/latest-os-share-data-shows-windows-still-dominating-in-pcs-7000013351/ The second economic mechanism that we are going to focus on is that of entry briers. Entry barriers or barriers of entry by definition are blockades set on a specific market that make it difficult for new firms to enter. The reason of their formation can be due to government laws and regulations (this creates governmental monopolies), to a large company that is taking advantage of economies of scale, to brand loyalty, geographical barriers (the mining industry), high switching costs, sunk costs, high cost for research and development or to patents (Sullivan, A; Steven, M. S., 2003, p.153).. An excellent example for entry barriers is the market of desktop operating systems, which currently is occupied by Microsoft. Since its founding in 1975 the company has walked a long way from a simple garage firm to a global computer giant that, at the present moment, has a monopolistic position on the desktop OS market with more the 90% of it belonging to the Windows operating system (OS) (â€Å"Desktop Operating System Market Share†, 2014). With the recent announcement of the newest member of the Windows family – Windows 10, Microsoft aims to strengthen even more its position and along with that to keep the status quo. Hence, any other company, which wants to enter the market and successfully compete with Microsoft, needs to make a huge investment. Several reasons lie behind that: there is a significant market loyalty to the Windows OS, the know-how for making an OS with such proportions is concentrated within the company and the brand itself is highly recognizable. A ll those factors are barriers for the other companies to enter the market and in order to compete efficiently, they have to apply a lot of effort to popularize their new brand. Moreover, Microsoft has many patents in the software sector, which restrict major part of the information accesses for the rival firms. Furthermore, the switching costs (the cost for switching from one product to another) for a company, which uses the Windows OS, are significantly high. They consist of expenses for buying the new OS, integrating it and teaching its employees to use it and generally such migration will not be undertaken/ launched lightly or even at all. Entry barriers do not always have a positive effect on the market due to the fact they stimulates the creation of a monopolies in a specific sector, which may lead to unreasonably high prices and low quality. This stems from the lack of competitors able to challenge both price and quality of the products offered to the public. With Microsoft, this is not the case, but the probability is always there. To summarize, the barriers of entry are an efficient way for a firm to restrict access to a market segment and generate maximum profit.Microsoft’s monopolistic position in the sector of desktop operating systems is largely attributed to the various imposed entry barriers, which have assured their future dominant position on the market. Economies of Scale and Economics of a Scope Headline: Facebook Has Spent $22 Billion on Acquisitions. URL: http://mashable.com/2014/05/30/facebook-acquisitions/ Thirdly, we are going to look at the following economic concepts economies of a scale and economics of a scope. Economies of a scale is a way for a company to reduce the average cost of its products by distributing the fixed costs onto a larger amount of production (Baye, 2010, p. 185 186). Normally, this is done by increasing the size of the company (growing horizontally – expanding in the current market segment). Economies of a scope, on the other hand, is achieved by expanding the company in other market sectors, where its current know-how can help to produce goods at a relatively lower prices then it normally would do (Baye, 2010, p. 187). Facebook is a company that applies simultaneously both economies of a scale and scope. Since its founding in 2004, the company has spent roughly 22 billion dollars for the goal of acquiring other businesses that range from small companies focused on web or mobile development, through startups that have an astonishing growth rate (WhatsApp), to innovators that are promising to bring a whole new experience to their users (Oculus Rift). Buying small and medium sized companies that can be directly integrated into the development process of Facebook, is clear example of economies of a scale. By doing that, the company is reducing its fixed costs by spreading them onto a larger amount of users. Another benefit from this is the company’s employees specialization into a specific field (social media) and along with that they become more efficient, which increases the general productivity and reduce costs. Another aspect of Facebook’s policy is that of acquiring companies in sectors related to social media. A good example of that is the Oculus Rift deal that happened in the beginning of 2014. Through buying the company, Facebook can combine the virtual reality technology provided form Oculus Rift with its know-how of brining real life social experience, online and the result will be a totally new way that we experience the web. This implies that the Social Media giant will be able to reduce its total cost in the view that it already has experience in the field of software development and social media. Developing applications for the new virtual reality platform or developing the platform itself will be less expensive than for other companies that do not have such experience. Avoidlessly, economies of scale and scope come at a price. Larger firms often experience problems such as miscommunication between its separate parts, difficulties in coordination and their owners loose part of the control over the company due to the necessity to delegate part of their responsibilities to managers, hence they may not always make the most adequate decisions for the best of the company. In conclusion, by using economies of a scale and scope companies such as Facebook can significantly reduce their total costs, optimize productivity and increase production power. Price discrimination Headline: GitHub announces free developer tools for students URL: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/10/07/github-announces-free-developer-tools-students/ The last economic concept that we are going to look at is price discrimination. In its core, price discrimination is a type of pricing strategy, in which the same or largely similar products are sold at different prices depending on various factors. There are several degrees of price differentiation first, second and third, in addition to that, diverse combinations among them can be formed. Typical for the first degree is that a monopolistic company charges the absolute maximum price (reservation price) for its goods or services (perfect price discrimination). The second degree is closely related to quantity demand the larger it is, the lower the prices are (it does not depend on customer’s personality). Conversely, third degree price discrimination can be based on a specific market group (students, teachers, workers etc.), on geographical location or even more in some cases on a specific customer, but not on quantity (Cabral, 2014). A good example of price discrimination, is the recent release of free developer packages from GitHub for people belonging to educational sector students, teachers, administrative staff and researchers, which include waiving of subscription taxes for a private GitHub account and free educational software (third degree discrimination). By taking this step, GitHub attracts more people form the target sector. For instance, students overall have more restricted incomes, making them more price sensitive to changes and the demand they form, relatively elastic (from the graphic bellow: changes in price from P1 to P2 are met with significantly greater change in demanded quantity – Q1 to Q2). In other words, small price changes can have a great impact on the total demand of a certain item. Similarly, GitHub offers the same packages for teachers – which allows them to better educate their students and hence produce a better qualified future workers for the market, benefiting the economy as a whole. Despite the fact that those packages are now free, in long term they can bring more clients and create customer loyalty, which will result positively on the company’s revenue. Moreover, this price discrimination tactic has a beneficial influence on the whole software development sector due to the fact it provides free access to private accounts and free development tools. This contributes to students to develop their ideas, which can eventually grow in startups a effect on the economy. However, attempts for reselling the software provided within the free packages can occur and in order to prevent this the company has taken measures. For students to request such an account, they need to provide their unique university email or school ID as a proof. Teachers and researchers on the other hand need to present a â€Å"proof of affiliation†* in order to install the software on their computers. Providing proof of affiliation is a way of verifying the involvement the academic status. Such packages are allowed per person/ an email account and in addition to that most of the software is licensed under conditions that permit its usage only for academic purposes and any other attempts are punishable by international law. Undoubtedly, ways around such rules exist but generally speaking the company is relatively safe against reselling of their products. To conclude, price discrimination is an efficient way for companies to specifically tailor their products for a particular group of customers. Being one of those companies, GitHub combines the benefits from that, with the opportunity to stimulate the academic process around the world. References: BAYE, M. R. (2009) Managerial economics and business strategy – 7th edition, New York, McGraw-Hill/Irwin CABRAL, L. M. B. (March 10, 2014) Introduction to Industrial Organization – 2th edition, Price Discrimination Sullivan, A; Steven, M. S. (2003). Economics: Principles in action, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-063085-3. Desktop Operating System Market Share (October 2014) (online). Available from:  http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10qpcustomd=0 (Last Accessed 14/11/2014) James Rogerson, Matthew Hanson (13 November, 2014) (online). Android Lollipop 5.0 update: when can I get it? Available from:  http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/android-l-5-0-release-date-when-can-i-get-it1257804 (Last Accessed 15/11/2014) Luke Johnson (7 November, 2014) (online). Nexus 6 release date, rumors, news, specs and price round-up. Available from:  http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/nexus-6-release-date-rumours-news-specs-and-price (Last Accessed 15/11/2014) Social Work: Assessment, Plan, Implementation and Evaluation Social Work: Assessment, Plan, Implementation and Evaluation What is a social work assessment, plan and evaluation? The aim of social work is to protect individuals from harm, and to empower them and improve their lives. Social workers form a human link between the many programs employed to serve the public good and those who are in need. They form the ‘eyes and ears’ of public efforts to combat social ills, so to speak, and they are the practical human element of common sense in their application. It is in this role where new ideas are created and innovative solutions are identified, where existing practices are judged for effectiveness, and, most importantly, where the faceless bureaucracy of government takes human form. In order to accomplish this a critical process of assessment, planning, and evaluation has evolved in the field of social work which allows social workers to effectively achieve their goals. Moreover, it is has found a wide range of applications, from the student-supervisor relationship to practitioners in the field. The process of assessment is aimed first at identifying problems or ‘taking stock’ of a particular situation. Identifying the problems in a situation provides the fundamental raison d’à ªtre for the development and employment of a solution. Past identifying whether there is actually a problem (which is often suspected or reasonably understood before an assessment is undertaken), social work assessment has more to do with determining the particular nature of the problem and its degree. Understanding what kind of problem is being faced, and just how bad it really is, is key to forming a coherent plan to affect a real solution. This requires strong observation and critical analysis skills on the part of the social worker, but it also requires an intimate and experiential knowledge of the field in which the assessment is being undertaken. Once the nature and degree of a problem is understood, different options may emerge each as a possible solution. Each possible solution will have its own strengths and weaknesses, its own advantages and drawbacks. And while the process of assessment may be viewed as excessively tedious at times, it is critical to never underestimate its importance. A study on the need for an assessment model in primary medical care facilities for the elderly noted that: â€Å"When psychosocial needs go unmet through misdiagnosis, lack of detection, lack of treatment and follow up, elderly patients are at risk of further health problems that can lead to physical deterioration, reduced independence, and eventually to the need for more intensive and expensive services. â€Å" (Berkman et al., 1999) The failure of proper assessment not only prevents positive solutions, but also results in negative impacts. Assessment forms a critical foundation for the effectiveness of all other social work efforts. As such, the identification of different solutions requires policy knowhow and creativity on the part of the social worker. Meeting the demands of this important aspect of assessment, in conjunction with the skills of problem identification and critical analysis, will ensure sound and proper assessments which enable the identification of proper solutions. Assessment is a critical component at the basis of all kinds of social work, from medical care and patient treatment to domestic violence and child poverty. All outcomes depend upon an assessment model built upon sound observation and critical analysis combined with creative and informed policy thought. Solid assessment will provide the social worker with a range of options for addressing a particular problem. The selection of an appropriate solution involves properly understanding the nature of the problem, as well as the various impacts of each option at different levels. The skills required to identify the right solution to a problem involve more than simple program literacy or policy analysis. They involve the fundamental ability to not only understand policies, but to weigh them concurrently against previously identified goals. Because many factors involved in determining the impacts of a possible solution are subjective (i.e. individuals, public and private groups, changing laws etc), achieving this is not a matter of simple analysis but of an intuitive understanding of these subjective factors. Too often, someone unfamiliar with, or removed from, these subjective variables enacts a calculated decision based upon what is understood to be sound analysis. The history of social work is filled with this kind of serial miscalculation. Take, for example, a 2005 study on battered women. It found that: â€Å"Safety planning will be most effective if it occurs within a contextualized assessmentprocess that illuminates the deeper struggles and multiple harms that women balance when making decisions about continuing or ending relationships.† (Lindhorst et al., 2005) While a â€Å"contextualized assessment process† is the main focus of the essay, it is the effectiveness of the plan or policy that is identified as the major issue affected by its absence. Assuming the burdens of sound assessment are properly met elsewhere, the ‘contextualization of the process’, or the root of its understanding in the subjective variables which specifically define it, will determine its success. Real planning and policy implementation in response to sound assessment must always be rooted in the day to day reality of the issue it is dealing with. Too much abstraction or beaurocratization of this process distances it from reality, and only serves the employment of solutions which leave critical needs and major goals unmet. Ensuring that this understanding is present, along with the required critical analysis skills and policy knowledge on the part of the social worker, will ensure the right person is making these decisions. A bad decision based upon the best assessment is still an unacceptable outcome. It is never evident, however, that the right plan or policy was chosen or the right assessment undertaken without some kind of evaluation. Success and failure is seldom absolute. More often it exists in degrees. And while success may be met in a number of respects, it may be absent in a number of others. The process of evaluation is designed to measure these degrees. The changes that have taken place since a particular plan or policy was implemented are a major indicator of their effectiveness. Too often, however, not enough attention is paid to whether or not these changes are actually the result of the plans or policies in question. It is the process of evaluation’s primary task to determine the facts of policy impacts and exactly what policies are responsible for certain changes. Furthermore, the process of evaluation is usually synonymous with some kind of accountability. When looking at programs from a financial point of view, this accountability is welcome. Indeed, it is rightly viewed as necessary to their responsible administration. This evaluation is, to a large degree, black and white. Either the numbers add up or they don’t. Either an idea has fundamentally succeeded or it has failed, or else it needs some tweaking. From a personnel perspective, however, â€Å"the words ‘accountability,’ ‘supervision’ and ‘evaluation’ are frightening. They imply having ones feet held to the fire for failure. These processes exist in a paradigm of fear and dread. Educators blame others and blame the circumstances for their lack of effectiveness rather than taking personal responsibility. This phenomenon in human dynamics should not be seen as unique to teachers and administrators in education. It exists everywhere. We all have a tough time taking and giving criticism. We all have that very common fear of failure.† (Mcgrath, 2000) The human dynamic is here identified as a force resistant to the very kind of accountability the process of evaluation is meant to bring about. The study, â€Å"The Human Dynamics of Personnel Evaluation† (Mcgrath, 2000) talks about the judgmental nature and pressure of accountability which needs to be taken into account in the evaluation process. The evaluation process is often viewed as a simple matter of calculation, or arithmetic. We had the goals the reasoning goes, we had the assessment and the plan, and we had what happened – just add it all up. But it’s just not that simple. The human dynamic is woven between virtually every fibre in the assessment and policy process. Viewing accountability through a fiscal lens, or a purely factual lens of objective causes and effects, miscalculates one of the largest and most influential factors in determining the usefulness of social work evaluation: people. Making the evaluation process effective must involve, as with the two other processes discussed in this essay, more than just analysis. It must involve a psychology of responsibility that individuals are confronted with in the process at all levels. It must involve a confrontation of the fear of failure present in the heart of every sincere effort. Perhaps the great compassion which drives the field of social work forward, demanding the investment of nothing less than life itself from thousands of people, is also its greatest weakness. I believe, however, that it is the unawareness of this vulnerability which makes it a liability – nothing the fullness of character and a mature temperament cannot address. Bibliography Berkman et al. (1999) â€Å"Standardized Screening of Elderly Patients’ Needs for Social Work Assessment in Primary Care: Use of the SF-36† Health and Social Work. Vol. 24 Boutin-Foster et al. (2005) â€Å"Social Work Admission Assessment Tool for Identifying Patients in Need of Comprehensive Social Work Evaluation† Health and Social Work. Vol. 30 Burgess, H., Taylor, O., (2004) Effective Learning and Teaching in Social Policy and Social Work. London: RoutledgeFalmer Garcia, J., Floyd, C., (2002) â€Å"Addressing Evaluative Standards Related to Program Assessment: How Do We Respond?† Journal of Social Work Education. Vol. 38 Ginsburg, E., (1990) Effective Interventions: Applying Learning Theory to School Social Work. New York: Greenwood Press Gitterman, A., (2001) Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations. New York: Columbia University Press Lindhorst et al. (2005) â€Å"Contextualized Assessmennt of Battered Women: Strategic Safety Planning to Cope with Multiple Harms† Journal of Social Work Education. Vol. 41 Mcgrath, M., (2000) â€Å"The Human Dynamics of Personnel Evaluation† School Administrator. Vol. 57 Pardeck, J., (2002) Family Health Social Work Practice. London: Auburn House Siebert, D., Siebert, C., Spaulding-Givens, J., (2006) â€Å"Teaching Social Work Skills Primarily Online: An Evaluation† Journal of Social Work Education. Vol. 42

Purpose and importance of advertising

Purpose and importance of advertising Defining Advertising is the non-personal communication of giving information usually paid for which usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media. Now, I would like to lets take this statement apart and see what it should be. Advertising is bringing a product and service to the attention of potential and current customers. Advertising is focused on one particular product or service. Thus, an advertising plan for one product might be very different than that for another product. Advertising is typically done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, etc. The first assumption that was queried related to purchasing itself, in terms of what advertising would achieve if it was effective. This assumption was advertising achieved the conversion. In the sense of converting loyal user of the other brand to loyal users of the brand advertised. We pointed out that this pattern, although it could on occasion be found in actual purchasing sequences, was actually quite rare. It also happen in this case: I have always bought brand B, but now I have the advertising for brand A has persuaded me that it is better in fulfill my requirement under the advertisement, so in future I will buy brand A The advertisement pointed out that strengthen of the product which mean its communicating with the people. First, what is non-personal advertising? There are two basic ways to sell anything: personally and non-personally. Personal selling requires the seller and the buyer to get together. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. The first advantage is time: the seller has time to discuss in detail everything about the product. The buyer has time to ask questions, get answers, and examine evidence for or against purchase. Next, the seller can easily locate potential buyers. If you enter a store, you probably have an interest in something that store sells. Street vendors and door-to-door sellers can simply shout at possibilities, like McDonaldsretailer shop who call out, I say there, I would like to order food?, or knock at the door and start their spiel with an attention grabber. From there on they fit their message to the individual customer, taking all the time a customer is willing to give them. Disadvantages do exist. Personal selling is, naturally enough, expensive, since it is labor-intensive and deals with only one buyer at a time. Just imagine trying to sell chewing gum or guitar picks one-on-one; it would cost a dollar a stick or pick. In addition, its advantage of time is also a disadvantage. Personal selling is time-consuming. Selling a stereo or a car can take days, and major computer and airplane sales can take years. Nonetheless, although personal selling results in more rejections than sales, and can be nerve-racking, frustrating and ego destroying for the salesperson, when the salesperson is good it is more directed and successful than advertising. From the above, it appears that personal selling is much better than advertising, which is non-personal. This is true. Advertising has none of the advantages of personal selling: there is very little time in which to present the sales message, there is no way to know just who the customer is or how them is responding to the message, the message cannot be changed in mid-course to suit the customers reactions. Then why bother with advertising? Because its advantages exactly replace the disadvantages of personal selling and can emulate some of the advantages. First lets look at the latter. First, advertising has, comparatively speaking, all the time in the world. Unlike personal selling, the sales message and its presentation does not have to be created on the spot with the customer watching. It can be created in as many ways as the writer can conceive, be rewritten, tested, modified, injected with every trick and appeal known to affect consumers. (Some of the latter is the content of this book.) Second, although advertisers may not see the individual customer, nor be able to modify the sales message according to that individuals reactions at the time, it does have research about customers. The research can identify potential customers, find what message elements might influence them, and figure out how best to get that message to them. Although the research is meaningless when applied to any particular individual, it is effective when applied to large groups of customers. Third, and perhaps of most importance, advertising can be far cheaper per potential customer than personal selling. Personal selling is extremely labor-intensive, dealing with one customer at a time. Advertising deals with hundreds, thousands, or millions of customers at a time, reducing the cost per customer to mere pennies. In fact, advertising costs are determined in part using a formula to determine, not cost per potential customer, but cost per thousand potential customers. Thus, it appears that advertising is a good idea as a sales tool. For small ticket items, such as chewing gum and guitar picks, advertising is cost effective to do the entire selling job. For large ticket items, such as cars and computers, advertising can do a large part of the selling job, and personal selling is used to complete and close the sale. Advertising is non-personal, but effective. Facebook advertising method C:UsersYonGDesktopdddd.png The red arrow showing the Facebook advertisement People treat Facebook as an authentic part of their lives, so you can be sure you are connecting with real people with real interest in your products. Facebook Ads provided CM Photographic the ability to target their exact demographic 24-30 year old women whose relationship status on Facebook indicated that they were engaged. Over 12 months, CM Photographic generated nearly $40,000 in revenue directly from a $600 advertising investment on Facebook. Of the Facebook users who were directed to CM Photographic website from the ads, 60% became qualified leads and actively expressed interest in more information. http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/zD/r/2xon6QBONrZ.jpg I have found [Facebook Ads] SO effective. My business wouldnt be anywhere close to where it is today if it werent for Facebook, and the ads campaign. Chris Meyer, President From the information given, Facebook Ads makes it easy and cost-effective to quickly set up and manage your campaign. G5 found success setting up a series of Facebook Ad campaigns targeted to college students at 21 campuses prior to Summer break for StorQuestself-service storage facilities. Real-time suggested bids for our auction-based system provided guidance that enabled G5 to hone ad effectiveness based on their various targeting filters (age, college level and location). The results from StorQuests Facebook ad campaign were one of their highest performing online advertising efforts: Over 50% increase in total rentals versus prior year at the same store. 10% conversion rate from visits originating from Facebook Ads. On par with Google AdWords on a cost-per-lead and cost-per-customer basis. $1.25 CPC delivered $10.25 cost-per-lead. When you have a broader presence on Facebook with Facebook Pages or Facebook Events plus ads for instance, you can turn your advertising message into a trusted referral by including content from a users friends who are already affiliated with your products. ANA took this approach by creating a Facebook Page to acquire interested users for on-going messaging opportunities and developing a compelling advertising campaign. ANA used a creative grouping of keywords to target advertising to users specifically interested in traveling and Japanese culture and developed ad creative that resonated with their audience. Average campaigns for ANA result in CTR of 8 12%. Facebook Ads resulted in a 25% CTR. Conversions resulted in positive ROI which is unique for ANA considering their product is not an impulse purchase for most people and Japan is not traditionally seen as a leisure destination. If the company is running a Facebook Ad Campaign, they can choose to target Social Actions in their campaigns. With this feature enabled, those people who fan the Page may see the Ad listed among their News Feeds. Companies can also use the Facebook messaging system to communicate with their fans. The advantages and disadvantages of Facebook advertising method Advantages of Facebook advertising method Facebook Advertising. The popularity of facebook has become the top social network while its advertising is truly a goldmine for advertiser to use it as the facebook player owned over 39 billion page views a month and 400 million active users, its really a huge traffic source for firm to advertise their goods and service ,just like the way of there is a market ,supply will occurs when there is demand. The huge profit of Facebook advertising to internet marketing specialists and online advertisers is the social networking websites massive user base. In February 2010, Facebooks is celebrate of having 400 million active users from all around the world and the figure is still growing quickly. According to figure shows that the average Facebook user spends around 55 minutes a day on this social networking website.this is a positive symptom for the firm to advertise their goods on facebook as there are higher possibilities to let user to notice their ads. Highly Targeted Online Marketing Campaigns, Facebook advertising offers social media traffic instead of using typical tradisional search traffic. The new type or searching had leads to a different demographic targeting options, along with searching by unique keyword system. Facebooks advertising platform operate in a certain area or products that are designed for a specific age range. The facebook advertising media ,makes nine different ways to target audiences which are Location, Age, Gender, Keywords , Education, Workplace, Relationship Status, Relationship, Interests, Languages. All these are important to firm as they get to know which kind of consumer they are targeting . Customer Reach 400 million customers (100 million mobile users) cannot be ignored. Yes, there are more Google searches that are being done and one could argue that Google Ad words can reach more but with usage time on social media channels continuing to soar, the customer reach for Facebook advertising is monumental and needs to be utilized. Increased Targeting Because of its ability to dissect and segment customer information, Facebook has the ability to offer increased targeting for their advertisers. If you would like to only target women, ages 25-35 with a college education who live in Glendale, California, then you can do that. Similary when someone changes status (married, single, engaged) they move into new markets, making them more attractive to target. CPM or PPC Option Most ad networks only offer one or the other. Facebook allows you to determine whether you are more focused on exposure and awareness (CPM) or focused on conversion and providing more information (PPC). You must understanding your audience first, but it is nice to know that the option is there. Successful with Local Clients With the ability to target locally very precise, companies and services that are looking for local or regional clients can reap benefits from the Facebook advertising system. Disadvantages of Facebook advertising method Low Conversion Rates for eCommerce People are using Facebook to talk with their friends and socialize and rarely are thinking about buying something when they log into their Facebook account. This creates issues when companies are focusing on click through rate and high (>2.5-5%) conversion rates. Weird, Irrevelant Ads One thing that Facebook has continued to try and crack down on is advertising campaigns that make their way into the system that are irrevelant and are, at times, off putting to users of the system. Free giveways, rewards programs and humor sites have continued to flood the system, giving the ads less relevance when the consumer is viewing them. High PPC Cost for Niche Markets Marketers and bloggers have complained that PPC costs for niche markets, that would normally provide a low cost, are similar to pricing for general terms and demographic targeting. Facebook will need to continue to optimize their pricing model to make sure niche markets like chicago wedding photographers can afford to use this engine to attract traffic to their site. Costs-per-click tend to be higher than other companies for popular niches. Not as versatile as Google, for instance, with no suggestion of keywords. You really need to know your market to make conversions. These users are not on Facebook to buy. There are there to socialize. On the other hand, when someone types in size 8, Calvin Klein, white skinny body jeans into a search engine, she wants to buy. Someone on Facebook talking about or interested in designer jeans is not necessarily interested in your ad to sell them jeans. Facebook is more private in the sense that people keep to themselves, and trust their group or clique. You have to bother people while they are doing something they enjoy, like looking at Grandmas photos or exchanging recipes with girlfriends. This is called interruption marketing and is not always seen in a positive light. FB is not a direct sales venue. You need to understand how a sales funnel works to build trust to get leads rather than sales on the spur of t he moment. Can consume resources and waste a lot of money. With Adwords, it is possible to test ads by showing two similar ads to everyone. This is apparently not effective on Facebook because you are not targeting whole countries. And many internet marketers say it is too costly to experiment. Users complain that ads are not relevant to their interests so they have no reason to even go further. Improvement for facebook advertising method IQ Tests Ads IQ tests are by far the most popular advertisement scams on Facebook. While browsing the Facebook social network, youre sure to have come across ads that display the fake IQ test results of your friends or celebrities. In a pure case of I know they arent smarter than me most Facebook users are baited into falling for the IQ test advertisement scam. These ads are made to fit well into the design of Facebook, but once clicked; this scam will redirect you to another website where all of the scamming will begin. Ironically, by clicking the link of this advertisement scam, youve already failed the real IQ test. These ads will have you answer a list of seemingly legitimate questions, but in the end, they sink their teeth in for the real scam. In order to see the results of your IQ test, youll have to sign over your first born child submit your cell phone number and will be charged as much as $20 a month. Nice going smarty pants. Dating Ads Facebook is plagued with thousands of ads with scantily clad, well endowed, and playfully slutty women that happen to be single, and by sheer coincidence live in your hometown. Dating advertisement scams usually say things like Lonely, 18 (21), and single, Im bored, half naked, and looking to get completely naked tonight or other messages that should immediately trigger your brain with a scam alert; if all the blood in your body hadnt escaped from your brain to gather in another area. These ads are nothing but dating site scams and youll be out of cash just to receive teases on another site. To publish to people who have liked your Web page, Open Graph tags must be added to the Web page. The required Open Graph tags for publishing can be found. Once added, you can publish via our interface by clicking on the admin page link to the right of the Like button.( link only visible to the admins defined via Open Graph tags on the Web page). The best pratices for publishing is we found that involving emoational topics, passinate debates, and imprortant storts event have the activity of other stories. Status updates which ask simple question or encourage a user to like the story which haven given and stories publisher in the early morning or later evening have higher engagement. Banner advertising method C:UsersYonGDesktopasdasdasdad.png The Arrow showing the banner advertising method http://www.heybannerbanner.com/client_folders/CAGERAGE/CAGERAGE1b_300x250.gif A banner ad is an image shown on a webpage for advertising purposes. Along with animation, contemporary ad banners often use simple forms of interaction as a lure, taking advantage of plug-ins such as Flash and Shockwave to create banner-based games. As you can see, advertisers came to the conclusion that banner ads were not as effective as full-page magazine ads or 30-second TV commercials. At the same time, there was an incredible glut of advertising space, thousands of sites had a million or more page impressions available per month, and companies like DoubleClick began collecting these sites into massive pools of banner-ad inventory. The economic principle of supply and demand works the same way on the Web as it does everywhere else, so the rates paid for banner advertising began to plummet. Undoubtedly you know what banner ads are; youve seen innumerable ones as youve surfed across countless websites. You may have already clicked on a number of them. Banner ads take different shapes and sizes, and many forms and styles, but they share a common goal: attracting visitors! Banner ads usually contain graphics, sometimes they are entirely text and others they use graphics and text. The main idea of a banner ad is to present an interesting idea to the surfer and have them click on it for more information, leading them to the advertisers site. Banner ads come in many sizes, the most popular, is a full banner (468 x 60), but all styles are used. Some people claim you should stay away from using full banner ads as they are already so common that most surfers avoid them. Obviously placing banners that advertise your site on other websites costs money. There are several ways of paying for this type of advertising. You may pay per click on the banner; per thousand clicks; per sales to visitors directed to you, or another form. How much banner ads work for you will depend on a variety of things? Where you place the ads, how relevant the sites hosting the ad are to your site; what your ads look like, how appealing they are; how clear they are about what you are advertising, etc. Placing the ads on sites related to yours is vitally important, i.e. people surfing for watches will probably not be interested in an ad for parachutes. Your ads should be attractive, preferably animated, clear and to the point. They should be advertising a specific product or service, not just the name of your site. People who click on the ad should be able to find the product or service in question with relative ease. Ideally, the ad should lead directly to it. The advantages and disadvantages of Banner advertising method Advantages of using Banner advertising method Get a structured and well thought out campaign advantages of hiring a banner advertising agency to conduct your campaign is the fact that your campaign will be in the hands of the professionals and therefore it will be conducted in a sensible and professional manner. This structured campaign will also lead to better results. You will also save a lot of time when you hire a company such as this. This is because you will not have to spend any time figuring out the ground work. Professionally designed banners and email marketing agencies have professionals that work on the job. Therefore you can be assured that if you outsource your campaign to them you will have banners that are professional looking and catchy promoting your products. You must remember that a banner will be of no use if it cannot grab the attention of the people on that page. Getting your banner advertisement designed by the professionals give you a clear cut advantage as the professionals know exactly what works and what doesnt. Being in the right place at the right time another very big advantage that you have when you hire an online advertising agency to help with your banner advertising is the fact that they know exactly where to place you banner to ensure that you get the desired results. Banners such as these can only be placed on websites that have content similar to what the banner is promoting. Therefore instead of you doing all the research to figure out where you banner can be placed, the agency will do it for you. That way you get to focus on other aspects of your business Low cost is the main thing. Even if the Internet ads can be displayed as very comprehensive compared to other media, it is definitely much cheaper than most. Internet Ad Packages are offered as low as $ 10.00 for a period of one month, or by a set amount of hits, depending on the advertiser you go with. Disadvantages of using banner advertising method Online banner advertising provides a method of getting click through to the advertisers site. The biggest of the online advertising disadvantages, is cost. Banner ads are also being frowned upon because it affects website speed and traffic. Like any other graphics, banner ads take time to load. This and the idea that they create clutter can discourage some visitors. Another of the online advertising disadvantages is that bigger ads catch attention. But not every advertiser can afford bigger ads and oftentimes, the banner exchanges only accept a standard ad size. Finally, some search engines never have or are no longer accepting banner ad placements, relying instead on targeted ads and paid listings. To them, the most important of the online advertising disadvantages is interference with the user experience. For example, Google, the number one search engine, offers a user-friendly interface that relies on contextual advertising. Basically, they put text ads on non-search pages that fit based on content. Using online banner images can really come in handy. Especially if you do not have your own website. You can normally just copy and paste the codes in and have your banner up and running. They are great for websites to. But there are some times when your banner may stop working. If this happens to you then here are a few troubleshooting problems that may solve the issue. The biggest reason why most online banner images stop working is because people make chances to the codes they were given. They chance where the banner links to or rewrite what is in the alt section. Doing this can get your banner codes deleted from their service without warning. This will leave you will a image with a small red x in the middle. You must not chance the code at all to keep the image working. A simple solution to this is to download the image to your PC and then upload it to your web hosting service. Then you can link your ad to any place you want without fear of it being cancelled. Unfortunately some free site services do not give you this option so you will have to use the codes as they are given to you. You can always create your own link underneath the banner for people to click to if that helps. Another one of those troubleshooting problems can be quite simple. You may not have copied all of the code you were given. Just missing one character can prevent your online banner image from working. Double check to make sure that you got all of the code. Sometimes a banner can get blocked by other java scripts on your site. Your troubleshooting problems could start with you removing other codes off your site one by one to see which one is blocking it. When you find the right one you will then have to decide which one stays or goes. Since not all codes can work on the same page at the same time it will be a little bit of a challenge to find the code that your online banners image does work with. Unless you have lots of different codes it shouldnt take you long to find. It could be a easy as the banner site that you used have either went offline or experiencing technical difficulties. Check to see if they still exist and if they do contact them with your problem. There are times when you can run into issues of your online banner images working on the web from other computers but not from yours. This is one of those troubleshooting problems that can be confusing. There could be several reasons why this may occur. You may just need to update your java software to the latest version. There could be spyware that is blocking the code from coming up so scan your PC with the protection you are using and with an online service you trust. If you decide to rent the help of a professional, a freelancer or a company for the production of your site and /or advertising for your product or service, of course it costs more than if you did it yourself. For more information logon to www.tried-tested-marketing-strategies.com .While the costs can advance an initial disadvantage, the results in the long term may in fact be very beneficial if you have the right people to work with. Improvement of using banner advertising method Using banner advertising effectively and to create a banner ads isnt all that difficult, you just need to know what to do right? For those of you who dont know this marketing method: its a paid marketing method to promote your business or product by means of placing a banner advertisement on other websites. This could either be a banner exchange, or you simply pay another website to have your banner placed. It is a very powerful and effective method if you know how to design a good banner ad. Lets take a closer look. Using Banner Advertising Effectively 3 Golden Rules For Effective Banner Ads Golden rule 1. Whats the benefit for your customers? Effective banner ads will always communicate the main benefit(s) to your prospective clients. If your product makes people loose weight for instance, then its obvious to make your headline something like: Loose 10 Pounds In Just One Week! Banner ads will have to include the benefit of your product or service in the main headline. Communicating benefits to people gets your attention. Effectively implementing banner advertising generates a much higher click through rate. Golden Rule 2. Graphics are not as effective as text! When using banners for advertising, you also want the headline of the banner ad to stand out. Make the headline (thus the benefit of your product or business) in big bolded letters. I always use the Arial font for my effective banner ads. This font is easy to read from computer screens. Using banner advertising effectively means that you also need to include another 2-3 lines of text to the banner. Perhaps you can mention some extra benefits or additional info about the service, product or business. Check out the site you are going to banner advertise. Golden Rule 3. Include instructions for your prospects. Tell them what to do next!A lack of communication in banner ads will make your campaign fail. If you want to start using banner advertising effectively, a banner ad MUST include a Call-2-Action. Instruct your audience what to do. Include text that tell people what to do such as Show Me Now, Visit Us Now or Show Me The Biz. It will make the click through rate go up and so will the conversions to sales, generating more profits for you. Of course there are many more golden rules to follow for effective banner ads, but the above 3 are the most important for using banner advertising effectively. Using the method of advertising with banners and creating banner ads that are effective is just one method of marketing to advertise your business and to drive traffic to your website. Let me show you where you can see all the other 50 or so proven and powerful marketing methods, strategies tips and tricks to market virtually any product or business online. Pop-up advertising method A pop-up ad is an ad that pops up in its own window when you go to a page. It obscures the Web page that you are trying to read, so you have to close the window or move it out of the way. Pop-under ads are similar, but place themselves under the content you are trying to read and are therefore less intrusive. http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/web-advertising-popup-ad.gif http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/web-advertising-popup-ad2.gif A typical site with two pop-up ads that appear on top of the home page A pop-up ad is a pop-up window used for advertising. When the program is initiated by some user action, such as a mouse click or a mouse over , a window containing an offer for some product or service appears in the foreground of the visual interface. Like all pop-ups, a pop-up ad is smaller than the background interface windows that fill the user interface are called replacement interfaces and usually resembles a small browser window with only the close, minimize, and maximize options at the top. A variation on the pop-up ad, the pop-under , is a window that loads behind the Web page that youre viewing, only to appear when you leave that Web site. Pop-up and pop-under ads annoy many users because they clutter up the desktop and take time to close. However, they are much more effective than banner ads. Whereas a banner ad might get two to five clicks per 1,000 impressions, a pop-up ad might average 30 clicks. Therefore, advertisers are willing to pay more for pop-up and pop-under ads. Typically, a pop-up ad will pay the Web site four to 10 times more than a banner ad. That is why you see so many pop-up ads on the Web today. Pop-up windows come in many different shapes and sizes, typically in a scaled-down browser window with only the Close, Minimize and Maximize commands. There is a strong resentment by some Web surfers towards pop-up ads. Marketers often do not realize the ill-will generated by pop-ups because it is easier to click the close button than send an email to complain. What can often be seen is an above-average click-through rate, although some of this can come from false positives, unintentional clicks when the pop-up gets in the way of the desired target. Advertisers can get a better picture of the effectiveness of pop-up advertising by paying attention to conversion rates and return on investment (ROI). Pop-up ads are not popular with the average Web surfer, and there are several products that disable them, such as Pop-up Stopper, Pop-up Killer, and Pop-up Annihilator. One thing to look for in such a program is the ability to differentiate between user-initiated pop-up windows and others, because many other applications (such as Webcast s, for example) make use of pop-up windows. If a pop-up stopper utility cant tell the difference between a pop-up window that the user has requested and an unsought pop-up ad, the program may cause more problems for the user than it solves. The advantages and disadvantages of pop-up advertising method Advantages of using pop-up advertising method they offer the example of Web giants like Yahoo! and Google Inc. who also offer their users pop-up ads. The site owners cite this precedent as justification for using pop-up ad