The Finney School of Real Life

The customer centric focus of Six Sigma methodologies cannot be sidelined for any reason whatsoever. Although the end results of Six Sigma implementation (such as improvement of bottom line profitability and lean management) are quite significant, the ultimate value addition comes in the form of the return of satisfied customers. In the business world, constant pressure for innovation stems from increasing changes in customer demands and global technological challenges. Companies that get to the top and stay there are there in the first place because of their commitment to change through Six Sigma initiatives.

Six Sigma And The Customer

Six Sigma, a quality management tool founded on statistical approaches and devised by Motorola, helps improve customer satisfaction through significant changes to cost and product utility. The entire approach is innovative; with the implementation of Six Sigma, instead of attempting to fight with mechanics, the focus shifts automatically to strategies and integration of efforts.

Some companies are taking initiatives to take the Six Sigma methodology to customers, outside company walls and actively involving them in an effort to integrate them into the process. This approach is proving to be a resounding success by placing these corporations ahead of competition.

Engaging The Customer

Today’s customers are wary that they get nudged into buying products by customer savvy marketers in the clutter that we call “the market”. Six Sigma works to make things clear to the customers by sharpening the cutting edge (value) that customers are looking for in a product.

The customer is engaged strategically at a stage when plans are being drawn up. By listening to customers and involving them in the process, the company can gain an in -depth understanding of why they are moving in the direction that they are moving, locally as well as globally. This approach also helps in building trust and loyalty.

Companies like Motorola, who implement Six Sigma, go beyond product development and profits in their commitment to customers. In addition to their regular help line, they have established another line dedicated to this purpose. Customers can use this line of communication for more detailed questions relating to either product or service, and track the status of their original question. This is a classic example of individual level quality demands being met through Six Sigma implementation.

Looking Ahead

Another strategic approach has been taken by GE Commercial Finance, and is a true revolutionary step in the commercial lending business. The ACFC initiative (At the Customer, For the Customer,) clearly showed what the customers needed and why, with over 30% of them answering, they needed Six Sigma. Effective communication with customers has made GE a favorite among consumers. GE has successfully implemented the initiative and in addition, is now sharing its Six Sigma experiences with smaller customers who can’t afford to implement Six Sigma in their own companies.

With the “belts” working from the front, companies can get into a win-win situation with their customers because of the feedback they receive. If this approach directly benefits the customers, it benefits the companies too. However old or large the company is, it gets to interact with its customers one-on-one. The positive result of this is seen in further building of a company’s customer base and increased profitability. The goal of matching people with projects, made possible with Six Sigma, brings about a win-win situation for all.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

Some businesses have brochure content, articles and research that would be valuable resources in a niche website. But it isn’t keyword optimized, and to do so would take more money and time than it took to put together the rest of the site. What can you do?

Get the electronic versions of the material and divide it up into pages of 250 to 350 words. If you only have hard copies, scan the material in, using the editable text option in your scanner’s software.

Divide the text up, using headings and subheadings, into a quicker “web read”.

Link any studies or charts with descriptive links, which do better in search engines and are clicked on more often by readers than generic links.
Make sure headings and subheadings are edited so they contain relevant keywords. Read through the text and make some quick substitutions of words - basically changing terms such as “it” “that” and “the product” to more specific words, keywords, as long as the meaning of the document doesn’t change.

Pay attention to the titles on each page, making certain main keywords are included in each of the page titles.

Write highly descriptive keywords in your meta tags for your page descriptions.

Good new content is very important to both search engines and your site visitors. Search engines will spider it and recognize the site as one with deep content. With original content you will keep your visitors on your site longer, and they’ll be more likely to return.

Karen Kari’s articles and more information on the affiliate business can be found at:

http://www.affiliatebandit.com

http://www.advertisingcellar.com

http://www.billionfreeads.com

If your inbox is anything like mine, you’ve probably recieved your fair share of Product Resale Rights offers. Often times you’ll be offered anywhere from one to a hundred or more products, ranging in price from $17. to $500. Trying to figure out What You’re Allowed To Do with them can be a confusing process.

If your package comes with Basic Resale Rights, It will give you the right to resell it and that’s usually it. Most of the time it comes with it’s own sales page, which all you need to do is add your payment link and upload it to your web host. It is also the least expensive. Your probability of profit is increased since it virtually cost you nothing to get started. Basic rights range in price from $17. to $97. and are very easy to profit from. However, this option is not generally viral since you don’t have the right to claim it as your own or give it away. It must be sold and can’t be included in another package or sold in Auction Sites. These restrictions are defined in the Read Me File contained in the zip file in your download.

If your package comes with Master resell rights. It will also come with its own sales page. Your options are increased with this package. You will have the right to resell it, bundle it with other products, sell it at auction sites or give it away. It will usually cost more than the Basic Rights since you have the right to do more than the Basic Rights. You will also get everything you need to get your site up and running. On occasion it will come with marketing tools such as banner graphics, solo ads, classified ads, etc.

If your package comes with private label rights. One particular type of private label rights gives you the right to claim it as your own. It is generally ready made and the only changes you can make is to put your name on it.

Another type of private label rights is not a finished ready to sell product. All you get with this one is the raw source code. Usually in an MS Word document. This will require someone a bit more advanced in their ability to design and set up either a web page or insert the information in ebook format. This type basically gives you the right to do just about anything you want with it. You can change it, claim it, add to it or omit parts of it. Selling the Master resale rights an resell rights may also be an option. See what the terms and conditions say.

As with any product or service you decide to sell on the internet. You’re going to need to look at some things.

*Is this product or similar product being searched for?

*If so, How Many?

*If the product is being searched for a kazillion times. Chances are you’ll encounter some pretty stiff competition and is probably not a wise choice.

*Have you seen similar products on the web?

Resell Rights are a great alternative to creating your own products. You’re going to have some basic skills such as, the ability to edit the html in your pages. Use an FTP program to upload the pages to the web. A web host and domain name to upload them to. If you posess these basic skills you’re ready to make money with your newly acquired Resell Rights package.

Devise your marketing plan to include pay per click ads, ezine ads, writing articles, joint ventures, and publishing your own newsletter.

It won’t be long before you’ve got customers coming out of the woodwork. If success is what you’re after, Get to Work. There are no free lunches on or off the web. Despite what your bombarded with. There are no Get Rich without doing any work programs. If you find one, Please send it to me.

Art Luff is Not a Marketing Genius or Guru. He’s Just an Ordinary Guy Trying To Make a Go Of It In this World. Jump on Over to http://best-resale-deal-ever.com/ and Subscribe to his Informative Affilate Marketing Newsletter. His approach to Marketing affiliate programs will awaken your imagination and keep you coming back for more!

Pop quiz: name the fastest way to online success?

If your answer is product creation, then you would have to
reconsider the time and effort needed to come up with
merchandise that would sell.

If your answer is telecommuting, then you would have to remember
that such is almost tantamount to being an employee and working
for a boss, albeit, in the comforts of your own home.

The answer is quite clear. The fastest way to online success is
something that does not require an onerous financial investment,
if ever such is demanded which is rare, and something that does
not entail product conceptualization and execution. It does not
even require other obligations like the retention of a payment
processor or the installation of a digital delivery service.

Affiliate programs have long been hailed as the easiest and
speediest way to earn a fortune online, and for good reasons!
You won’t have to build your own products and test-drive them to
death. You’d have an entire inventory of proven products to
choose from! You won’t have to come up with a digital store that
would process payments from a variety of payment solution
options in the World Wide Web. This would be provided for as
well. You won’t have to hire an expensive copywriter to prepare
a sales page for you. One would be provided, with a proven
conversion rate at that.

What’s best is that you won’t be limited to only one affiliate
program to join. You could enroll in as many affiliate programs
you want! The more programs you join, the better your chances
are of earning a lot!

Affiliate programs, of course, are agreements between an
affiliate merchant and an affiliate, which would be you, for the
latter to pre-sell the products of the former. For every
successful sale that the affiliate would refer to the affiliate
merchant, the affiliate stands to earn a commission. Not just
piecemeal commissions, mind you. But generous commission in the
range of 20% to 95%!

The keyword in affiliate programs is pre-selling.

Pre-selling is very much different from actual selling. You
won’t to concern yourself with the usual demands of actually
distributing a product for profit. All you have to do is to
market the affiliate merchant’s products and drive people to
affiliate merchant’s sales page. Thereafter, the affiliate
merchant’s system would take care of the rest, from accepting
and processing payments, to delivering the goods, to customer
support.

So how do you effectively pre-sell an affiliate product?

You would be given an affiliate link for every product you would
choose to pre-sell. The trick is in displaying this affiliate
link in as many places in the World Wide Web as possible, so
that it would be exposed to many people.

Here are some proven strategies you could employ to drive people
to the affiliate merchant’s sales page en masse. Hopefully, the
probabilities are much higher when you manage to generate
referrals in droves.

* ARTICLE MARKETING. Write an article about a topic related to
the affiliate product you are pre-selling. Include a resource
box which contains your affiliate link. Submit the article to as
many article directories as you could find. A lot of people
refer to these article directories for information, and once
they read your piece as well as your resource box, you’re bound
to win some referrals.

* FORUM MARKETING. Join as many relevant forums as you could
find. With your membership in each of them, you’ll be allotted a
signature box where you could place your affiliate link. Your
signature box would appear in every post that you would make.
Try to make informative posts instead of sales pitches, as the
former have been proven to perform better.

* BLOGS. Blogs figure prominently in search engine page results.
Having your own blog would help your promote your affiliate
links. Simply pattern your entries as reviews or informative
pieces with suggestions, and strategically place your affiliate
links therein.

* HEADQUARTERS. Having your own website would help centralize
your promotional campaigns. You could have your links displayed
like products for sale, even though you’re just pre-selling
them. All you have to do is to generate traffic for your website
through some marketing strategies and search engine optimization
(SEO) techniques.

These are just some of the more popular ways of pre-selling the
affiliate merchant’s products. Remember, there is always
strength in numbers, so try to drive as many people as possible
to the affiliate merchant’s sales page, and you’re quite
guaranteed to enjoy a rewarding experience with affiliate
programs.