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When multigenerational communications consultant Cam Marston first warned HR people that the ‘generation gap’ threatened to become a chasm into which good but misguided intentions and company profits could tumble, they said the idea was ‘cute’ but took no action.

Twelve years have passed since Cam Marston, a consultant who specialises in multigenerational communications and marketing, told an assembled group of HR professionals that a generation gap of mammoth proportions was looming. Since then as the cracks have begun to show in offices across the developed world, tens of thousands have flocked to his seminars and snapped up his book Motivating the “What’s In It For Me?” Workforce (Wiley, 2007), anxious for someone to explain what the heck is going on!

Those HR professionals who once chuckled at the idea are now on the phone daily, begging Marston and others like him to help deal with the chaos caused by managers with one set of values and expectations and two generations of employees with completely different values - the recruitment headaches, the low staff morale, the retention problems, as well as the increasingly perplexed management who just don’t understand what makes those young people tick.

The key to motivating young employees is to understand they have very different values from people in preceding generations, says Marston.

He believes the ‘Generation X-ers’ (people aged between 28 and 42) and the ‘Millennials’ (people aged 27 or under) have rejected the traditional workplace values that so inspired the ‘Matures’ (people aged 62 or over) and the ‘Baby Boomers’ (people aged between 43 and 61). Younger workers are less loyal to their organisations and more possessive of their free time.

Time-honoured traditions don’t interest Millennials and Generation X-ers, says Marston. “Their definitions of loyalty, time and success are often quite different from those of the Baby Boom generation. They are unconcerned about how things have always been done. They don’t care how their managers got where they are. They are focused, often single- mindedly, on what it will take to get where they want to go.”

The Matures (who make up about 5% of the workplace) and the Baby Boomers (about 45% of the workplace) invested in the concept that if they worked hard, they would climb the corporate ladder, and eventually earn rank and privileges (’perks’). The Generation X-ers and the Millennials don’t share that same definition of success and therefore present a challenge to those now in ‘control’ - the Baby Boomers in management.

“The younger generations view their predecessors’ experience as a warning, not a road map. And the traditional rules of management, motivation and reward fly out the window.

“Many employers say that this is precisely what they’re seeing. They describe how this simple change in philosophy is having enormous repercussions in the way they manage, motivate, recruit, and retain employees. To remain competitive in their workplace they have to change everything from how they communicate with employees to the reward systems used to motivate them.

“The key to an organisation’s future success is understanding how the Millennials view the world and using that knowledge to motivate them in a way that works. Here’s a hint: meet them where they are and they will achieve your underlying goals; try to force them to fit your definitions and they will run for the door every time.”

Strategies like that can explode your small business quickly, that’s why I’d suggest you go right now to http://www.freemarketingbook.org and request a copy of Jonathan Jay’s new book “Marketing Secrets of a Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneur”
Copyright SuccessTrack 2009

Businesses use marketing aids to boost their marketing efforts and to communicate their message to potential customers. It is very important for businesses to stay in touch with their customers and to keep them informed about new products and services, as well as to make them aware of recent developments. It is only through an effective marketing tool that a business can achieve this.

There are many marketing aids that a business can use to carry out their campaign. One effective marketing method is the use of flyers. Flyers are very functional, as well as cost-effective. If there are budgetary constraints, flyers are definitely an excellent solution.

When it comes to flyer printing, it is important to print the flyer exactly as it has been designed. Various companies offer flyer printing services to help businesses meet this requirement. It is best to seek professional assistance from a professional flyer printing company in order to be sure that your flyers are printed the way you want them to be.

When choosing a flyer printer to produce your flyers, there are a fewvital elements related to the completion of the flyer printing project that must be considered. These elements include the text that will be printed on the flyer, the production cost, the advertising cost, and most importantly, the overall budget. The easiest way to comply with your printing requirements is to find a flyer printing company that offers services that are within your budget.

Flyer printers can be found via the Internet. There are many printing companies available online that specialize in flyer marketing. Select a company that offers high quality printing at affordable prices. Also, make sure that the equipment used by the printing company is well suited to your requirements. Flyer printers can use offset printing or digital printing services. You should also find out if the printer is capable of printing only short runs, or if they are capable of producing large volumes as well.

A wholesale flyer printer has the capability to print large quantities of flyers at an incredible pace. Because of this advantage, larger orders boast a smaller cost per flyer. With professional flyer printers, ordering flyers is both quicker and easier than printing them on the inkjet at home or in the office.

Along with discount prices, a commercial printing company should offer several custom options, enabling greater creativity to flourish. Flyers printed in the office can only be two sizes “letter or legal” unless each paper is trimmed individually. Flyer printers, on the other hand, have around nine standard sizes, with custom trim available.

A flyer printer should also be able to accommodate the needs of businesses when mailing printed flyers. When planning on doubling flyers as a direct mail piece, companies can use these services to avoid the time-consuming task of stamping and mailing the flyers themselves. Instead, this function can be undertaken by the flyer printer. Thus, a thorough and professional flyer printer can alleviate a company’s workload in addition to offering a cost-effective printing solution.

Adir Le writes for Printrunner on topics relevant to small businesses. Most recently he has written articles on sticker printing and flyer printing.

By now you realize that Green is no longer a fad. One of the large demographic groups that is driving environmentally safe products and concepts is the mommy blogger groups. These are mothers of young children who want non toxic products for their families, for their home and for a better environment for their children. There are dozens of mommy blog groups and thousands of mommy bloggers who join these groups. They spread the news, good or bad, about products incredibly fast.

They are viral marketing to the nth degree. They review products and let the world know what they think. As far as I know, they are all volunteers in this intriguing web of women with similar values that use all the social networking tools to make their point.

The second group are the socially conscious baby boomers, who once used their purchasing power to buy environmentally safe brands and are now establishing on-line businesses that are directed to environmentally safe green products and energy saving devices.

It makes sense if you think about it. After all this is the generation that read the Silent Spring (1962) by Rachel Carson and started looking for alternatives to pesticides. Back then they wanted to change the world and they did with their numbers, their powerful economic spending and their healthy, energetic lives.

If you are one of those boomers who recently decided to pursue your passion that you tapped into during the 1970s and have started a green business, you also are in the right place.

If you have recently lost your job as a teacher, or factory worker or retail sales person you may want to consider starting an on line business at home that captures the essence of going green.

Do it yourself projects are once more in vogue. Energy saving devices saves everyone money which means more people are thinking about environmentally safe and energy saving products. Boomers connecting with their environments continue to drive the demand for organic solutions and finding other alternative solutions for natural lawns and flowers. It is a great market niche because consumers are looking to the fast and easy way to grow a tomato bush or carrots or some kind of lettuce.

Baby boomers have more time available with children out of the home but they still want the easy way to get the job done. Focusing on the needs, desires and passions of the emerging gardening and energy saving consumers seems so natural.

Today it is not only social conscious Americans that focus on green products and services but also business owners and clients who are looking to save some money. Since April is designated as the Green Month it’s not a bad idea to think of going green in your business and telling the world that you are doing it. Just think about President Obama’s Green Energy Agenda. That is additional support you can count on.

My first suggestion to achieve high contact rates with the green benefits of your business is to appeal to consumer thrift. If you do have a green product the first thing you do is to demonstrate how it saves your client money. If you do not have a product let the world know you are saving money too by going green. I am more likely to approve of someone who knows how to save money which means that person has my trust. Saving money and gaining trust; could you ask for more?

For instance, I am saving up to 75 percent on lighting costs since I outfitted the lights in my office and home with the compact fluorescents. Although the initial outlay is pricy, the electricity savings over the life of a bulb is a no brainer. I can post that information on a blog as I am doing now or talk about it in a teleseminar.

The fact is many products advertised as green or organic can sway purchasing decisions. Companies and consultants can also position themselves as socially conscious to attract customers.

Here are some tips for promoting your green efforts to your market:

Tell the truth. Many products make exaggerated claims and that can really destroy your credibility quickly. Tell the truth in all marketing efforts.

Make concrete claims. The words environmentally friendly or sustainable without providing solid examples to back up the claim do not work. If your packaging is made from soy based products say so. If you have managed to reduce your energy costs, brag about it.

Provide evidence. Explain how you are making the world a better place. Are you and your staff volunteering on a regular basis at a recycling station or talking to school children?

Get help. Your clients and customers are becoming increasingly interested in environmental issues and business responsibility. Many boutique marketing and advertising firms have sprung up that specialize in branding companies as environmentally friendly and socially responsible. Getting professional PR help may be costly but the rewards will be substantial.

I invite you to learn how to market your online business by learning internet marketing even if you are new to doing business on the internet. Visit From Retirement to Career Change. com

To really profit from social networking sites, you must optimise your website not just for search engine rankings but for high visibility on social media sites too.

Implement changes to optimise your website so that it:

- Is more easily linked to
- Is more highly visible in social media searches
- Is more visible in custom search engines (i.e. is more frequently included in relevant posts on blogs and podcasts)

Social Media Optimisation (SMO) should be a priority for website businesses. Many sites are “static” - meaning they are rarely updated and used simply for a storefront. That’s a waste of technology and a waste of an incredible opportunity to get more eyes on you.

In SMO-ing your website, the five main rules to follow are:

1. Increase Linkability - To optimise a site for social media, you need to increase the linkability of the content. One way is to add a blog. There are, however, many other strategies such as creating white papers and thought pieces, or even simply aggregating content that exists elsewhere into a useful format.

2. Make It Easy To Tag and Bookmark - Content features like quick buttons are one way to make the process of tagging pages easier. Make sure that all pages include a list of relevant tags and look for places to insert a link (which comes up automatically when you go to tag a site).

3. Give Rewards For Inbound Links - Inbound links are paramount to rising in search results and overall rankings. They’re also a barometer for the success of a blog (as well as a website). Similarly, listing recent linking blogs on your site provides the reward of visibility for those who link to you.

4. Put Your Content on the Road - SMO is not just about making changes to a site.

When you have content that is portable (such as PDFs, video files and audio files), you should submit them to relevant sites which will help your content to travel further, and ultimately drive links back to your site.

5. Be A Mashup Supporter - Share the wealth! In the freewheeling internet world, it pays to be more open about letting others use your content. Although there is definitely copyrighted material out there, YouTube’s idea of providing code to allow visitors to cut and paste so they can imbed videos from their site has fuelled their growth. Syndicating your content through RSS (Rich Site Summary) also makes it easy for others to create mash-ups that can drive traffic or augment your content. RSS is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. Many news-related sites, weblogs and other online publishers syndicate their content as an RSS Feed to whoever wants it. That makes it a cheap, easy, and very dynamic way to reach your audience.

Strategies like that can explode your small business quickly, that’s why I’d suggest you go right now to http://www.freemarketingbook.org and request a copy of Jonathan Jay’s new book “Marketing Secrets of a Multi-Millionaire Entrepreneur”
Copyright SuccessTrack 2009

Do you have the perfect design layout for a brochure? Do you need to quickly get the word out about your company? Z fold brochures are a great way to accomplish your goals. Stop mailing out flashy brochures that immediately get thrown away without even a look. With Z fold brochures, you can send your brochure along with a personal note or letter in one envelope. This way you get your message out and the customer will be more willing to take a look at what you have to say and offer.

What Are Z Fold Brochures?

Z fold brochures are essentially just one sheet of paper. Most printing companies will take a basic piece of paper and print on it in a way that develops three separate pages or columns. This can be done on large or small paper sizes. Once the sheet of paper is printed on, it will be folded in a Z formation. For example, a regular 8 by 11 sheet of paper would be printed using the landscape setting at your printer. Each column would be 8 inches tall and the 11 inches would be divided among the columns, with the largest one being the front of the brochure.

Where Do You Get Z Fold Brochures?

You can print Z fold brochures on your own. However, unless you have a software program to help with design, a high end printer, and high quality gloss paper, you might find it is easier to hire a printing service. In most cases, you can purchase Z fold brochures at prices that are very comparable to other brochures. By hiring a printing company, you can also expect high quality results. Most printing companies guarantee crisp colors and lines or your money back. Instead of worrying that your ink is running out or your printer is leaving lines on your brochures, you can stop worrying and expect high quality from a printing company.

What Can You Advertise with Z fold brochures?

Z fold brochures can be used the same way any other brochure is used. Any design idea that can be used on tri-fold or bi-fold brochures can usually be adjusted to fit a Z fold brochure. Most printing companies have a variety of layouts available to choose from. These templates make it easy to take your pictures, logo, and text and place them in the predesigned spots. You can quickly make a professional look Z fold brochure with the click of your mouse.

As you can see there, are many reasons why Z fold brochures can work to advertise your business. Brochures are much cheaper than other advertising mediums such as television or radio. They also market directly to your target with a guarantee of being seen at least once. You can use these brochures to kick off a big sale or announce that your company is offering a new product. In either case, you will find that Z fold brochures are very effective.

Adir Le writes for Printrunner on topics relevant to small businesses. Most recently he has written articles on envelope printing and brochure printing.