Best Checkout Buttons (Reprint From Viralogy.com)
What follow is the complete article from Viralogy.com. If you would like to read the article on their site visit this link: http://viralogy.com/blog/ecommerce/examples-and-analysis-of-the-top-ten-best-checkout-buttons-in-the-world/
The Checkout button must be clearly visible, large, trust-worthy, and attractive to encourage the shopper to take the final step toward making a purchase. Below you will find the top ten best Checkout buttons along with an in-depth analysis of what makes them excellent.
At the end of the page, we have included the .PSD to an optimized Checkout button that you can utilize for you eCommerce store.
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80 Percent of Students Can’t Scan QR Codes
Quick Response (QR) codes have become very popular in the past couple of years. Marketing firms love them and they can be seen pretty much everywhere, including on my current cup of coffee. Surely QR codes must be going gangbusters given all this saturation. One study set out to find out just how many people understood these QR codes.
The study consisted of over 500 college students and the results were quite interesting. About 80% of the studens could identify a QR code but only about 21% were actually able to scan one. It should be noted that about 80% of the students had smart phones and thus had the ability to actually scan the codes.
When asked what do with the code some people had no clue while others deduced that they should be able to get the job done with their cameras. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be since the scanning of QR codes actually involves downloading software to ones phone. When told this, many of the students simply said no thanks to downloading the required program.
How does this information affect us as marketers? For starters, it is important to note that this particular group study is one that is extremely technologically advanced. If they can’t figure these things out, how in the world do we expect the older generations to make use of these codes? The first step in gaining QR code acceptance will come when smart phone makers provide the required software directly on the phone.
The second part which we have more control over, is content related. If people are going to take the time to scan a QR code then the end result better be worth it. Simply connecting the user to your homepage is not enough. It would be best to connect the code to specific parts of your website such as a sweepstakes or contest of some kind thus providing an incentive to actually use the code.
There are many very good uses for QR codes at the moment. Some examples include animal and luggage tracking. However, it will be a while before they become a true part of the everyday advertising world. Until then all we can do is work hard to deliver a solid message that makes the QR codes worthwhile.
Starbucks Free E-Books Are Not Free
This particular story somewhat disheartens me. I’m a big fan of Starbucks and also enjoy reading e-books on my Barnes and Noble Nook. So when Starbucks decided to start offering up free e-books on a weekly basis it got me a little excited. Starbucks has been offering free weekly Itunes downloads for awhile now and that has worked smashingly. It has helped introduce new bands and music to a new audience for free. Surely this is a win a win. With that in mind surely this free e-book thing will work just as well, won’t it?
With the release of their first free e-book offering The Night Circus by Erin Morgestern we see that this deal is not as good as it would seem. It would appear that those people lucky enough to download this title for free found a bit of a catch when they got to page 330 of the 400 page book. Upon reaching this page the reader is greeted with a message that informs the reader to buy the book if they want to see the final 70 pages.
Now the blog posting introducing this new idea does actually say that the book is an extended sample. However, this is not noted anywhere else including the cards that are given out in the stores. This may not be a situation where Starbucks is acting in a shady manner but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth. After all, one can browse the Barnes and Noble e-book store and come out with hundreds of free samples of books. Overall it makes sense that they are not offering an entire e-book for free given that they cost ten times what a song will. It’s really my fault for getting my hopes up. Oh well off to Starbucks anyway.
http://mynorthwest.com/11/545861/Starbucks-free-ebook-offer-irks-some-customers
Warren Buffet’s Ten Rules
Warren Buffett is without a doubt one of the most successful business men in the world. Like many others that reach his heights he began understanding business at a very early age. He even counted his bicycle and watch as a tax deduction when he filed his taxes at the age of 14. There is no doubt a lot that can be said about this man. His ten rules for success provide a clear understanding of his philosophy in life.
1. Reinvest Your Profits. This makes sense not only in the stock market, but in a small business as well. Entrepreneurs who bleed all the profits out of a business find that they may struggle to grow the business into something larger and more valuable.
2. Be Willing to be Different. Buffet didn’t make his fortune by following the crowd. Instead, he invested when everyone else was panicked, and sold off when everyone else was buying. That strategy always beats the market. Doing what everybody else is doing – the same way they are doing it – is the recipe for becoming average. Nobody pays extra for “average”.
3. Never Suck Your Thumb. After you gather the information you need, make a decision. To Buffet, any time wasted to get to a decision is just “thumb sucking”. Success comes from immediately grabbing every opportunity that you can recognize.
4. Spell out the Deal In Advance. Your bargaining position is never stronger than before you are committed. So, advantage of that opportunity to spell out the details and specifics of any deal before you start. This is especially true when working with friends or family.
5. Watch Small Expenses. In the investment world, this translates into watching not just the returns offered by investment funds, but also the fees charged by the fund managers. This is so true in every aspect of small business and personal finance, as well.
6. Limit What You Borrow. Buffet claims to never have borrowed a significant amount of money. His advice is to remain debt-free, and then save and invest money. This is a very counter-cultural (see #2) contrast to those who preach getting rich using Other People’s Money.
7. Be Persistent. This is an advantage that the small entrepreneur has over larger, more established competitors. Persistence and ingenuity can, and often does win against large odds. If you’ve done your research, taken care of the details, watched your expenses and stayed out of debt, your success through persistence may only be a matter of time.
8. Know When to Quit. Don’t throw good money after bad. Resist the temptation to salvage a bad deal with a last-minute home run.
9. Assess the Risk. Buffet recommends thinking through both the best-case and the worst-case scenarios. This helps clarify the risks and rewards for any venture, which is critical to the decision making process.
10. Know What Success Means. Buffet doesn’t measure success in terms of dollars. As he says, “When you get to my age, you’ll measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you.” Here is wisdom.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7280569.stm