The current times demand a diversified marketing approach that encompasses both traditional and digital advertising techniques. Though traditional media outlets such as television, newspapers and radio are still viable channels, businesses should allocate part of the marketing budget to online advertising. The challenge is striking the right balance between the two – conventional advertising and the more promising internet marketing.

Consumers continue to spend more time online. To keep in step with consumer trends, the marketing mix must also evolve and adapt to it. Business owners and executives should prepare the marketing budget based on their anticipation of the consumer trends over the next year.

Increasing importance of e-commerce in businesses

E-commerce is becoming an important channel for small and large businesses. Sometimes, there is a huge gap between the marketing budget and sales trends. This can happen in businesses that have always relied on traditional media channels and retail stores. These businesses still perceive e-commerce shopping cart solutions as a secondary sales channel rather than mainstream business model.

Many times, the most effective media  is not identified correctly by progressive marketers. The source that generates most revenue is not linked to the advertising media. Though traditional advertising techniques can be used to promote e-commerce websites of businesses, it makes more sense to advertise the site using online marketing including pay per click, search engine optimization, social media marketing etc.

The effectiveness of internet marketing is compelling due to the instant return on investment associated with the marketing spend. Recent surveys show that more than half of the businesses in U.S. are shifting marketing budgets from traditional advertising  to online.

Allocating the budget for digital advertising

The marketing executive should allocate adequate funds in the marketing budget to implement online advertising more aggressively. Before forming the marketing budget, executives should consider these figures:

1. Sales: Compare the sales from traditional and online advertising. From these figures, what can be predicted for the sales trend going into the future?
2. Profits: Compare the profit margin from the marketing mix. Should digital advertising be pushed more than traditional media?
3. Return on investment: Compare the ROI of online versus traditional media outlets. Which of the two will show a higher return on investment (ROI)?

The marketing budget and the recession

The recession has made the marketing budget more accountable. Marketing executives realize the low cost of running advertising campaigns using digital media. Audiences can also be targeted more effectively, as a result of which the conversion rates are better. The recession has played a crucial part in faster adoption of digital advertising by American companies. Contrary to traditional marketing techniques, internet advertising results are more measurable. Marketing executives can justify the costs of advertising with quantifiable results.

Internet advertising has many benefits to justify a larger percentage of the marketing budget than traditional media channels. Though traditional advertising is effective in some cases, online advertising is proving to be a more economical and effective strategy that matches the consumer trend towards digital media.

We’ll know Sunday night whether it is “Avatar” or “The Hurt Locker” or a dark horse that takes home the Oscar for Best Picture. Starting a small business can feel like starring in an Oscar winning movie. By pouring your heart into your own business, you can build your own skills while influencing your supporting cast and convincing critics of your performance. But to be a winner, you’ll have to overcome the challenges presented by the market, by offering the best possible product or service to the right customers. Of course, you won’t have the luxury of dissolving away to a montage during the toughest parts of your journey.

Entrepreneurs predict five strong oscar worthy nominations for the best small business idea in 2010, along with their inspiration from the silver screen:

1. Athletic Trainer

The demand for freelance athletic trainers has grown in many cities where former gym members need help with home workouts. Retired athletes perform well in this field, where professionals often earn over $42,000 annually. With help from a web site design firm, you can create a content rich website with workout videos, exercise tips and techniques, client testmonials and even allow for your clients to login and monitor the progress of their own workouts.

Inspiration from 1976 Oscar For Best Picture: Rocky

If a parade of sequels has dulled the impact of the original Rocky, revisit 1976’s Best Picture. Of course, you might not have to work your training clients as hard as Mickey pushes Rocky. You’ll just have to help them choose to be “climbers” instead of “tomatoes.”

2. Concierge Service

Overbooked executives often need help running errands and making reservations. Stressed-out parents crave assistance with child day care scheduling and social planning. Concierge services charge between $30-$50 per hour to help both of these market segments manage their time more effectively. Credit card processing services allows concierges to charge fees to clients automatically upon the completion of each task.

Inspiration from 1956 Oscar For Best Picture:  Around the World in Eighty Days

One of the splashiest films ever to win Best Picture, this 1956 adventure features literature’s most celebrated valet: Passepartout. You may never have to fight a bull or climb the ropes of a hot air balloon for your clients. But, like Passepartout does for Phineas Fogg, you’ll frequently save the day.

3. Freelance Writer

Despite pleas from peddlers of get-rich-quick formulas, few paying markets exist for travel reviews or daily musings. However, freelance copywriters can earn $48,000 or more per year by generating quality content for clients. Office Equipment leasing can help outfit growing writing services with computers, scanners, fax machines, and other tools of the trade.

Inspiration from 1998 Oscar For Best Picture: Shakespeare in Love

Life as a writer has always had its challenges, especially if you follow the fanciful story of 1998’s Best Picture. The film projects modern writers’ biggest frustrations–from writers’ block to quarrels with clients–onto Elizabethan England’s creative community.

4. Career Counsellor

Career counsellors help clients navigate challenging professional decisions. E-commerce solutions allow clients to purchase career planning services ranging from access to executive jobs, automated tip sheets to live coaching sessions. This way, career counsellers can earn $40,000 or more per year matching job candidates with productive new careers.

Inspiration from 1970 Oscar For Best Picture: Patton

In today’s economy, it takes a commanding presence and visionary insight to get the most from people. It’s no surprise that the first few moments of 1970’s Best Picture, Patton, have become a visual cue for powerful leadership in business. Just don’t slap any of your customers–the film will show you why this could be a career-limiting move.

5. Nursing Home

More Americans than ever require at least occasional on-site assistance from trained medical professionals. Nurses, EMTs, and other graduates of medical training courses can earn $15-$20 per hour by helping patients recuperate from home. Online marketing campaigns including search engine optimization and pay per click can help you grow your small business quickly as users search for home based halthcare professionals for their ageing parents on Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Inspiration from 1975 Oscar For Best Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Don’t take this particular suggestion as inspiration, exactly. Instead, review Louise Fletcher’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the vindictive Nurse Ratched as an example of how not to offer patient care. 1975’s Best Picture remains at the top of critics’ lists of all-time top films for its darkly humorous view of patient-practitioner relationships.

Finding The Best Supporting Actors and Actresses

Starting a business during a recession might sound crazy. However, many of America’s most successful companies actually launched as small businesses during economic downturns. As larger companies lay off experienced workers, you can use the current economic climate to attract skilled talent who can help you make an even bigger impact on your customers. By filling a high-demand niche in your community and by running a frugal organization, you can set up your new business to win its own oscar worthy awards.

Tax refund can be sufficient capital to start a business on a shoestring budget, especially with cost-saving techniques like e-commerce solutions, payroll outsourcing, web hosting and equipment leasing.

Capital is tight these days, but a check may already be on its way to you–your tax refund. For a number of reasons, this might be a good time to put that tax refund into starting a new business.

Modern business techniques make entrepreneurship more affordable than in the past. E-commerce solutions with credit card processing capabilities have lowered the barrier to starting a new business; web hosting and office equipment leasing can help minimize fixed costs; online marketing  such as search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click can reduce the ongoing cost of promoting a business. With the job market not looking very bright, your best option may be to create your own job.

The Economic Power of Tax Refunds

Even with these cost-saving techniques, are tax refunds really enough to make a dent in the cost of starting a new business? Consider that a total of $261 billion in tax refunds were paid out in 2008–that’s enough to be thought of as something of a small business stimulus package.

In 2009, with incomes and investment returns down over the past year, many people will be looking at a lower tax liability, and therefore a bigger refund. This cash can be used to start a new business, or pump a little extra life to one that is struggling to get off the ground.

Examples of Low-Cost Businesses: Daycare to Web Design

The following are examples of businesses that can be started at relatively low cost, promoted via e-commerce solutions, and might be especially timely for today’s economy:

1. Daycare. With many parents having to work longer hours to make ends meet, demand for daycare is a natural result. Thirty-five percent of daycare workers are self-employed, and most of these provide the service in their homes, so daycare is a natural for a low-cost start-up business. Licensing requirements vary from state-to-state, but in many cases, looking after small numbers of children does not require licensure.
2. Home repair. If you are handy with a set of tools, you can translate this talent into a paying business. In a soft economy, people are looking to put off new purchases by making their existing equipment last longer. From cars to lawn mowers, or from furnaces to swimming pools, anything you can do to substitute an affordable repair bill for an expensive replacement can be a win-win situation. If you have the skills and the tools, this can be a low-cost business you can promote with SEO techniques such as linking advertisements to articles about repairs to specific items.
3. Pet care. Sometimes, it isn’t children who need looking after as people pursue additional jobs, but rather their pets. From supervising and exercising pets during the workday to providing grooming services, helping people keep up with the responsibility of owning a pet can often be a welcome alternative to giving up the pet.
4. Computer maintenance and repair. With so many job losses, people who relied on workplace help desks for laptop support are now on their own and need a technical lifeline. Providing this type of support requires expertise but little in the way of overhead.
5. Gardening & landscaping. With an aging population, more and more people are finding it a challenge to look after their yards. If you are in good health and have something of a green thumb, this type of work can be good for your physical and mental health while also rewarding you financially.
6. Tax preparation. Since this article is based on the power of tax refunds, it makes sense to point out that tax preparation can be a low-overhead business. If you have accounting expertise, you can help other people squeeze a little more out of their government refunds.
7. Web design. Once you’ve mastered the art of setting up a business based on web and e-commerce solutions, you can use what you’ve learned to help others do the same thing. While job losses are painfully disruptive, one of their long-term benefits is that they do spark a new wave of business formations. Whether it is helping with general consulting on business formation, or tackling specific projects such as Web design you can position your small business to ride the general wave of new start-ups.

With all the news of government bailouts, many individuals have been left wondering where is their bailout from the government. A tax refund is no bailout–it’s money you have coming to you–but it can be an opportunity to make investments in a new or existing small business that could help you earn more in the future.

Getting laid off is never easy. Finding yourself suddenly unemployed rather than heading off to work in the morning is a big change in anyone’s life.

1. Don’t Panic. It’s going to be hard for the first day or two, but keep it under control. Now is the time for real, measured action, not an explosion of self pity and unchecked spending.
2. Tighten Your Belt. The perfect blend of keeping your mind off of things and preparing for this little hiccup, making up a new household budget lets you identify what can be cut and what has to stay.
3. Keep Your Chin Up. People often underestimate the psychological effect that being laid off has had on them. Stay focused on what’s to come. This is an opportunity for you to become your own boss, and negative thinking isn’t going to get your new business off the ground.
4. Assess Your Strengths. You need a business plan–now. The money you’ve got saved may be the capital you need to start your own business, not just a safety buffer. Figure out exactly what you’re going to do and who’s going to pay you for it.
5. Leverage Your Network. Obviously you can’t start going after your company’s clients, but chances are you’ve made some other contacts in your field. Get the word out that you’re starting up your own business; get on the web; and get your new business going.

Now that you’ve figured out what you’re going to do, it’s time to figure out how. The Web is most powerful tool at your disposal, for everything from business networking to internet marketing solutions that can get you earning money as quickly as possible.

You can think of ecommerce solutions as a fancy term for doing business on the Web. If you need help getting this set up, don’t hesitate to hire a web design firm to get things going. Credit card processing capabilities can take the sting out of waiting for those checks to roll in because your customers can pay you instantly. In a world where most start-ups fail because of uncollected bills, you can’t afford not to set up some sort of credit card processing or instant POS systems.

Attractive website design is a like having a storefront that makes people stop in their tracks and wander inside. You’ve got two options: hire someone or do it yourself. Doing it yourself could lead you to develop a new, highly marketable skill. It could also lead to wasted time, effort, and patience. Hiring web design firms to do it for you may be a safer bet.

In the likely event that you don’t have all of the office equipment you need to get going, seek out an office equipment leasing company. Instead of buying discounted or outdated supplies at high personal cost, you can lease any equipment you need to get started. Prices vary considerably in this industry, so be sure to check around with several equipment leasing companies before settling on one.

Whatever business you choose to start up, it’s vital that you stay motivated. Through internet marketing solutions such as pay per click and SEO, you can start to see results almost immediately. Make these tangible results the apple of your eye, but don’t settle for a trickle. The more work you put into pushing your new web site and company, the more customers you are likely to attract.

Once your initial web site is up, think of it as your jumping-off point. You can easily add features that allow more user-generated content, such as forums and blogs, which may  help with search engine optimization to bring even more people in.

Even if you have to dress in full business attire to get motivated, you need to act like a business. Set your hours, and stick to them. When you don’t have clients, your job is to get them. Increase your knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO) and learn how to get more traffic to your Web site. If you can hire SEO companies, even for a defined project or duration, you may be able to get a big jump in traffic more rapidly than you would on your own. When you do have clients, act professionally and give them the best you’ve got. They’ll pass your name on and you may soon find your business is growing.

Where some people see obstacles, others see opportunities. That’s certainly the case with starting a small business during a recession. While most people naturally focus on soft demand and the scarcity of capital, those with a contrarian eye see weakened competition, reasonable real estate costs, and a large pool of potential talent available.

One important factor is that the recession has not hit all parts of the country equally. Therefore, if you pick your spot correctly, you can still find a good place to start a small business.

Top Ten US Cities for Starting a New Business

There are many factors which make a particular city a good location for a new business, including general economic conditions, size and skill set of the employment pool, supply and demand, infrastructure (both physical and technological), and population growth.

Here are a list of 10 US cities where you can find many of these above favorable factors:

1. Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh benefits from an economy that is more skewed towards technology than manufacturing, so it has fewer industries suffering from long-term, non-cyclical declines. The IT base plus a strong presence of higher education helps to create a skilled pool of potential workers. Also, Raleigh is helped by the fact that some other North Carolina cities are also thriving, making businesses in Raleigh well situated to broaden out their markets. Outsource where possible.  Basic business support needs such as direct mail, call centers and telemarketing can all be readily outsourced to reduce your upfront investment and help you focus on the unique value proposition of your business.
2. Fort Collins, Colorado. Like North Carolina, Colorado benefits from having multiple areas which are maintaining economic growth despite the recession, which certainly helps a business gain momentum. Fort Collins in particular benefits from a combination of a relatively high median income level and a high level of educational attainment among its populace.
3. Houston, Texas. Already a major metropolitan area with over 5 million people, Houston still enjoys a below-average cost of living.
4. Lincoln, Nebraska. This is a good choice for a cost-conscious start-up, because Lincoln features both a low cost of living and a low cost of doing business.
5. Sacramento, California. Like most of California, Sacramento has seen dramatic price declines due to the real estate slump. However, while these create potential bargains, the city still benefits from a growing cultural and entertainment scene plus easy access to numerous outdoor recreational attractions.
6. Austin, Texas. Austin has enjoyed strong job growth, which is a fundamental sign of a thriving economy. A business contemplating e-commerce solutions may also be interested to know that Austin made Forbes magazine’s list of the 30 most-wired cities in the country. Use an attractive website design, internet  marketing and credit card processing solutions to lower promotional costs and increase sales via online channels. Internet marketing solutions like pay-per-click and SEO can be cost-effective ways to sell your products and services online.
7. Boise, Idaho. While still relatively small, Boise has enjoyed strong net migration, which suggests a growing pool of potential talent.
8. New York, New York. It’s not cheap, but it remains the world’s greatest city in the eyes of many, as evidenced by the fact that it still ranks near the top nationally in population growth. With businesses closing up shop and both retail and office space sitting idle, you should have plenty of leverage in rent negotiations.
9. Huntsville, Alabama. Huntsville is projected to have one of the fastest-growing job markets in the country, which should translate into a fast-growing retail base.
10. New Orleans, Louisiana. Last year, the U.S.Census Bureau named New Orleans the fastest-growing city in the United States. While this is largely a bounce-back from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans offers new business start-ups a chance to be part of that comeback story. The Small Business Administration’s Disaster Loan Program is providing low-interest, long-term loans administered directly through the federal government. Another quick way to raise cash is to forgo the credit market altogether and leverage future profit instead. Business cash advance also referred to as merchant cash advance offers businesses a “cash jumpstart” based on their credit card receipts. Available through credit card processing companies and independent business cash advance companies provide immediate access to operating funds between $2,500 and $250,000. In exchange, the merchant agrees to remit a portion of future credit card receivables to the merhant cash advance provider. The credit card processors handle the transaction, automatically deducting a fixed percentage of each month’s credit card revenue. Revenue-based “repayment” allows businesses to manage their cash flow, paying more in flush times and less when resources are tight.

Obviously, location isn’t the only factor that determines the success or failure of a new business venture, but it can make a big difference when the economic wind is at your back.

The biggest advantage and the biggest pitfall of the internet is its expansive reach. While it is easy to take your business online, it takes a lot more to establish it as a viable online sales channel. Competition on the internet is fierce. It takes less than a minute for consumers to click through your website and bounce to the next. Lets be clear there is no such thing as barriers to entry when it comes to the internet.

If you don’t have the necessary expertise on your payroll, it is wiser to hire a professional web design firm and hand them the job. Internet marketing companies understand the complexities of online marketing and can help you navigate the fierce competitive landscape. They make sure you get the relevant web traffic by placing online advertising campaigns in the right place at the righ time. Social media marketing, pay-per-click, SEO, and content syndication are some of the strategies marketers use to drive targeted audiences to your website.

Apart from driving traffic to your website, you need to make the website convert the visitors into sales. Web design firms can make your website attractive to visitors not just by using pretty graphics and colors but also by making it easy to use and increasing sales conversions. No customer will wait around for a website that takes forever to load. Nor will they take the time to hunt for their needs. The website should be easy to navigate and well organized and converting sales leads should never be more than a click away.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firms help get your website to rank high in organic search results on Google, Bing and Yahoo!. This is not a trivial task when you consider the thousands of websites that are competing fo the same real estate and audience.

If the price of hiring skilled professional seems too high, consider what you can lose with a mediocre website and average internet marketing – your customers, sales and reputation. What ambience, sales personnel and advertising do for your physical retail store is just what effective website design and internet marketing does for your online presence. If you do it right, the returns will make it worth every dollar you spend.

It’s obvious that the Super Bowl is good for bartenders and bookies, but a surprisingly wide range of other businesses also benefit from the annual Super Bowl event. Some of these examples might surprise you, and they should get you thinking about how your business might benefit from Super Bowl XLIV.

Even if it has nothing to do with football, just about any business can find a Super Bowl tie-in with a little creativity. It can be as simple as redecorating a store or revising your web design to play up the Super Bowl theme.  It may involve showing how your products can enhance a viewer’s enjoyment of the big game. Or, it may involve using search marketing to promote football-related items or memorabilia for either Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts who are now headed back to the NFL title game for the second time in four years and their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history or Drew Brees and the Saints who have helped revive the city of New Orleans that was devastated by hurricane Katrina four years ago.

The following are some examples of how businesses have found ways to benefit from previous Super Bowl events:

1. The Super Bowl of snacking. Super Bowl Sunday is the top day of the year for snack food consumption. One company alone ramps up production of potato and tortilla chips by 10 million pounds leading up to the game. In all, food and beverage sales jumped by $261 million leading up to the 2009 Super Bowl, compared to an average week. It doesn’t all have to be about snack foods, however. As an example of how business owners can broaden the football tie-in, caterers have also found a profitable niche serving Super Bowl events.  
2. Referees watch replays on a tiny screen, but other people prefer something bigger. While the ref is still under the hood peering at that miniature screen, viewers at home have already made their minds up about the call, because they are sitting back in comfort and watching the game on a wide-screen HDTV. In 2009, retailers sold 61 percent more HDTVs in the week before the Super Bowl than in the previous week. The business lesson goes beyond television equipment–an event like the Super Bowl can be used to create a perceived deadline that prompts buying behavior.
3. Memorabilia lets fans make the most out of their bragging rights. When either the New Orleans Saints or Indianapolis Colts wins the Super Bowl XLIV, the fans of one of the franchises will wear the victory on his or her sleeve–and coffee mug, license plate, or anything else that can be stamped with a team’s logo for 2010 and beyond. Don’t feel restricted by whether or not an item has anything to do with watching football. In fact, the more unconventional it is for an item to carry a football logo, the more in demand it might be. And this years super bowl featues two teams with potent offenses to make it a spectacle worth watching and remembering for a life time.
4. What’s an armchair quarterback without an armchair? Furniture retailers also benefit from the Super Bowl, as fans seek a larger couch to accommodate their guests, or the perfect recliner from which to watch the game. This line of thinking can be stretched to promote sales of any household item that is used when entertaining. With two hall of fame quarterbacks – Peyton Manning of the Colts and Drew Brees of the Saints managing the game, a new reclining armchair for all want to be NFL quarterbacks will most likely be the hottest selling item for Super Bowl XLIV.
5. Some women know how to take a man’s mind off of football. A racy Victoria’s Secret ad during the Super Bowl once drew 1.2 million visitors to their Web site. After all, what better way to celebrate victory or take the sting out of losing? The point is, even a product as far removed from football as lingerie can use the Super Bowl as a promotional focal point and boost sales to kick off the new year earnings.

How Your Business Can Benefit from Super Bowl XLIV

Here are some quick tips on using the Super Bowl XLIV to benefit your business:

1. Highlight items for use while watching the game. Get creative about this–it doesn’t have to be an obvious fit like televisions and snack food. It can be as simple as Peyton Manning and Drew Brees quarterback dolls that can be used by the opposing fans to get into the game at this years Super Bowl parties.
2. Revamp your website design to feature a Super Bowl theme. Incorporate some football-related content for either the Indianapolis Colts or the New Orleans Saints teams to play on interest generated by this years game.
3. Predict the Super Bowl XLIV winner between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints and plan on putting  the winner’s logo on your products on the night of the game. It’s actually been done with coffins, so there really are no limits!
4. Create Super Bowl promotions. Look at your products and services from a football perspective, so you can do things such as tweaking your pay per click campaigns to tie into Super Bowl-related terms, or using football trivia and fun facts to draw people to your Web site - do you know how many super bowls the Saints have won in their franchise history? Has a rookie coach ever taken an NFL team to the Super Bowl? If you don’t have an ecommerce website, get an online merchant account today and provide online credit card processing capabilities on your website.
5. Use promotions tied to the final score to get customers to return after the game. This can stretch the benefit of the Super Bowl out by a few extra days and weeks, and prolong your sales as we try and recover from the deepest recession since the 1930s Great Depression.
6. Use temp staffing and call center outsourcing to ramp up capacity. Don’t let capacity constrain you from taking maximum advantage of the promotional potential of Super Bowl  XLIV.  Temporary staffing, telemarketing and call center companies can provide you the flexible capacity to handle the surge in volume during the next two weeks.

Internet marketing has gained popularity in recent years, accelerated further by the current economic climate. Internet marketing is more targeted and measurable than traditional advertising. However, recent research data shows that telemarketers can convert almost 60% of calls into sales leads by using customized templates and scripts for specific customers. Additionally, telemarketing can qualify the customers before setting up the appointment by asking a few questions unlike internet advertising where it is not as easy  to qualify the user based on a click to your website.

The good news for online advertising is that the advertiser can choose to pay for performance where you can choose not to pay for the number of times that the ad appears on a particular site online but pay only when the user clicks on your ad and lands on your website.  This helps reduce the “marketing waste” and reminds us of  John Wannamaker’s quote which is so relevant today “I know half of my marketing dollars are wasted…I just don’t know which half!”.  On the other hand, the purpose of telemarketing is to make calls, qualify business leads and setup appointments for your sales team to close them into sales. Telemarketing companies get paid on number of calls made and not number of appointments setup. This has made it difficult for them to compete with internet marketing based on the “pay for performance” message that is so heavily used by internet marketing companies to shift more dollars online. But, if you are looking to target a specific customer such as the 14.6 million US small businesses or consumers with household incomes of $100K+ it may be more cost effective and easier to do so with telemarketing than online marketing.

Online marketing has gained more popularity because it is non intrusive compared to telemarketing that is often considered intrusive specifically when it comes to targeting individual consumers. The government has also passed several regulations including the “Do-Not-Call” lists so that consumers can register their phone numbers if they do not want to receive intrusive calls from telemarketers. However, telemarketing companies are still very much in demand when it comes to qualifying and targeting business leads and setting up appointments with business owners and decision makers.

Online marketing provides marketers with several options such as search engine marketing, search engine optimization, banner advertising and social media marketing. Each of them serves a different purpose depending on whether the marketer’s objective is to looking for a direct response or create an impression. It is important for every marketer and business owner to better understand the sophisticated internet marketing solutions and practices before allocating marketing budget to them or you will overspend and waste half of your marketing dollars on them. In comparison, telemarketing is very simple as its purpose is to make calls, qualify business leads, setup appointments and fill the sales pipeline so that the sales rep or account executive can  follow-up and close the sale.

To conclude, online marketing and telemarketing are both effective. But, its important for marketers and business owners to know their marketing objective, understand the various options and select the one that will best address their specific business needs.

The realities of the new economy are reflected in CFOs changing career goals. A recent survey revealed that considerably fewer CFOs today seek CEO positions than five years ago (5 percent in 2009 compared to 52 percent of CFOS surveyed in 1990).

While fewer opportunities exist for CFOs to make the jump to CEO positions, the skills and experiences CFOs possess make them strong CEO contenders in the changing economic landscape. 

CEOs are not made with cookie-cutters; it takes years of appropriate experience to build to that position. Here are some of the professional experiences that contribute to the making of CEOs in this new economy:

Internet Marketing

The clamp on marketing budgets for fiscal year 2010 is unyielding and businesses are trying to cut corners without compromising on customer acquisition strategies and customer loyalty programs. The pie is shrinking,  to make their companies grow CEOs will have to steal customers from their competitors. The internet allows CEOs to increase the return on advertising spend (ROAS) and customer profitability by reaching customers wherever they are online, generating qualified sales leads and closing deals with fewer heads and by minimizing waste. Focus on Return On Investment (ROI) initiatives are dominating these economic times. A CFO who can bring an appreciation of the cost and revenue anatomy of an organization is uniquely positioned to help with implementing efficient online marketing strategies such as social media marketing, SEO, pay per click, affiliate marketing to generate new revenues at much lower costs resulting in higher profit streams.

VOIP

Any business with a broadband connection can use VOIP phone systems to enjoy the same features as expensive PBX systems. Apart from the low cost of calls and user friendly features, VOIP phones reduce the need for travel as they have built in advanced capabilities like video and web conferencing and require only one network for voice and data; they also allow easy integration with CRM applications.  The person who can articulate how an organization can make the transition from the traditional systems to the new ones and can do that with some eloquence, who can exhibit the courage to cut costs without creating significant insitituional trauma is one who exhibits the kind of leading-edge mentality needed by a CEO in 2010.

Call Centers

What is one thing that small and medium businesses with limited budget and resources have in common with Fortune 500 companies that boast of thousands of customers?  It is probably the common conundrum of how to serve existing customers profitably. Many businesses, these days, are turning to 24/7 call center companies that can handle large volumes of both incoming and outgoing customer calls to address this challenge. A call center essentially engages in receiving and resolving customer complaints. Customers hardly ever call to express satisfaction in a company’s products or services. However, what if these dissatisfied customers are somehow tapped and turned into life-long customers of the company. This is exactly the business proposition of call center companies. CEOs must have a tolerance for risk and be willing to try new things, including outsourcing customer service to outsourced call centers that operate round the clock to enhance customer loyalty.

CEOs have to balance the financial imperatives with the realities of the economic times and resolve conflicts that arise between operations and finance, which all fall in gray areas of managing a business. Making the jump from CFO to CEO takes a lot of energy and commitment and a willingness to do whatever it takes. Some individuals, once they discover the actual job requirements of the corner office, find they do not want to be CEOs after all.

Every business is the brain child of an entrepreneur. The recession may have put a cap on spending limits and risky initiatives, but it is still a good time for entrepreneurs to thrive. Entrepreneurs with a finger on the pulse of latest trends in the market can leverage technological advancements to their advantage.

The internet is a power-packed tool that enables businesses to sustain profit streams with minimal upfront investments. Small and Large businesses can acquire and reach customers in new markets from their living rooms or office or from their mobile RV as did Philip May who left a middle-management job at Hewlett-Packard (HP), moved his wife and two kids out of their Silicon Valley home, loaded them into a 37-foot RV and hit the road. The plan?  Tracey and Philip started a mobile, RV-based business. (OK, they’re on their third business, but this one, Philip says, has legs.)

The Mays have been to the 48 contiguous states while discovering the freedom and terror of running their own business — TechnoRV, which sells gadgets to the RV community on the web and at number of RV shows held nationwide. Their income is substantially less than it once was, but the Mays’ new gig has its perks.

E-commerce

E-commerce websites are ideal storefronts. Without incurring the overhead of sales people, real estate, equipment and utilities, businesses can offer their customers better deals while making sizeable profit streams. E-commerce solutions companies can help you offer your products and services online by launching your online storefront within hours instead of weeks or months. Customer friendly features such as live chat and online product recommendations can be incorporated to improve customer experience, move products and encourage repeat visitors.

E-commerce solution companies make sure the technology behind the website is robust and can perform with thousands of visitors a day. They also make sure the website design looks appealing and attractive to the target audience. Website designers can also help develop the right look for the business.

Internet Marketing

However appealing and high performing an e-commerce solution  may be, it will not deliver the expected profits without internet marketing. The website’s presence, products and services need visibility to attract the target audience. Search engine marketing and pay-per-click qualify customers and direct them to the website. Businesses can also use social media to spread brand awareness. Customer issues can be handled in forums and discussions. Social media marketing is an effective way to reach your target customers on the internet. Internet marketing firms take advantage of these latest internet trends such as social media, viral videos, seo to acquire and reach customers for small businesses that are on a tight budget.

E-commerce solutions and internet marketing are two of the most important  areas that small business owners can implement to get ahead in 2010. Research from surveys conducted by interviweing small business owners and partners  indicate  internet marketing firms are set to thrive in 2010.