After pottering around on tweetdeck, I saw a number of my tweets flooding in. And all of them are mostly talking about the Ipad that is being launched right now as I’m typing this by Steve Jobs. Honestly Apple just keeps on raising the bar for themselves again and again. Not entirely surprised that they decided to make a blown up version of the iPod touch

For lack of a better description.

Apple has nearly dominated the phone market, at least to my eyes anyway – when I walk around in malls or on the street. Sure people still use the normal everyday hp like Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung. But at least 75% most of the time – where I’m at anyway – you will see a person with the Iphone.

The gadget people found that there is a market for those who want to be online all the time. Hence the gadget companies like Dell and HP came up with netbooks. Suppose to be the smaller and lighter version to laptops. But according to Steve Jobs, netbooks aren’t really cutting it and giving the right experience of surfing.

Hence they made the iPad. Talk about yet another way for the ever popular Apple to come shooting out of nowhere to try and topple a new market. Mainly the netbook category. Very smart

You know these days companies talk about the Blue Ocean strategy – which is to not compete in an existing market. Its obvious Apple isn’t listening and taking on the Red Ocean strategy approach. Diving head first to compete in a market where netbooks already reside. But in my opinion, if they want to battle it out Apple can.

Apple not only has fantastic technology to sell. It has another thing which is very very important in business and that is branding Really good marketing is what keeps Apple alive all these years.

This is even more important to us as Internet Marketers. Marketing is what will draw people to you. Marketing is the essence that will be that last bit of percentage to whether people will pick you over something that – possibly – could be cheaper. We should take a hint from Apple. Combine good products and good marketing, you get great credibility, support, and even greater sales.

So….. are you sold? Will you get an iPad?

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Business is not easy.
Making money isn’t easy.

Even more so when we try to aim high. We’ve been told it’s good to aim high – surprisingly not always by the people who we are closest too.. In fact it’s odd how the people who are within arms reach are even more negative.

My point is that when we have a set goal for ourselves. Doesn’t matter how crazy it is. We should stick to it. Focus and build on that goal. The hardest part I feel when we set a peak for us to reach, is that we have to learn how to self motivate.

Self motivation, is the starting point to psyche yourselves to want to do something. In the old days you have canons, and they used gun powder and one huge ball to shoot it at enemies. I’d like to think of self motivation as that gun powder. It is the thing that fuels and gears us to propel to greater heights.

But there comes a time, when we will feel down. It’s impossible to be positive all the time. As much as we’d like to believe and say that we are optimistic. There will come a time, when you will feel down.

These are times, when I can’t point out enough, how important it to be with the right circle. As in the people you associate with. People with common goals will motivate one another not to give in to the obstacles in life. Association with the right people, helps fuel… the fuel you need to reach your goal.

I can relate, since i come from a sales background. For those of you who understand sales. We need to put ourselves out there, in such a manner where we entertain people a lot. We are selling our service. It is because of good service, customers will want to come back to us and buy from us. I can only count the number of times, when I had difficult clients which managed to ruin a perfectly good day for me. Despite that, I was able to keep my spirits up because I had people who were in the same boat as me. They understood were I was coming from. They could relate to the difficulties sales people have, because they were in sales themselves. We talked, shared and motivated each other. And that’s what made me push myself harder to do and get what I want in life.

So it’s a good thing to keep yourself in check. Associate yourself with the right group of people. I’m not saying get rid of those who put you down, but maybe spend a fairer amount with those, who give you the right encouragement. Remember when it comes to business, pick the right people to work with and on another level, the right people to ‘hangout’ with.

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I’m sure many of you have seen the movie Avatar by now.. If you haven’t seen it yet though, do go watch it in the cinema and especially in the form the film was made for. In 3D!

For some this may just be another source of entertainment. I’m no film critic, however what can be overlooked sometimes in a film are the wonderful things you can learn from it. And I’m not just referring to its message on love and saving the environment, but more so the effect it has made on people and how it has maybe spurned a possible chain of encouragement in the movie industry. Reading up on the movie from a business perspective is truly fascinating and inspiring.

How so? Here are 4 things i learnt.

Pushing the Boundaries
James Cameron, like an outstanding director, is one with vision. He dreams big and that’s where most movies start out first as dreams in the head of these masterminds. Well known in Hollywood for being a demanding director, he always wants the best, pushing the limits so that his works are remembered by many for years to come. However, is being demanding and a perfectionist a good thing? Some may whine and say that’s not such a good thing because it may make you look like an ogre that is an idealist. However take a look at this way. If you want to do something, do it big or don’t do it at all. In the words of Donald Trump “If you are going to be thinking anyway, think big!”. Furthermore, if you demand yourself and others to be the best, you will be the best in what you do.

Detailed Research
With any business it is always essential to start of first with an idea. After which, the idea is conceptualize and the execution process is carried out. James Cameron had Avatar in his drawer even before Titanic was made, then it was only a draft. When he finally decided to produce the film, extensive research was made to ensure every detail about the world of Pandora could be brought to life. Details such as the creation of the environment, the language that would be used on this alien planet, would it be possible for this movie to be seen on a mass scale? On the same note, before any idea is executed, one always has to do their homework – which is research. Researching on the market demands, your competitors in that niche and finding quality products are essential to the success of your online business. After a thorough research is done, you will get a clearer picture on the execution of your marketing campaign.

Finding A Niche
This is probably like marketing 101, but is always good as something to consider. 3D was already in the market, however there weren’t that many films that were in 3D format and worth watching. Realizing that there was an untapped potential, Avatar has grown the market for the 3D film category. Avatar is clearly the most successful film ever made for 3D. The hype and hugeness of Avatar in 3D is definitely going to result in the need for more 3-D projectors to be rolled out in theaters. Great for the film, for cinemas and movie lovers alike. Finding your niche is always key. In relation with lesson #2, before the research process, it is good to have a clear target on the niche you want to venture into; for example dog training. Avatar was fortunate enough to kill two bird with one stone. The main niche the film catered for was the 3D market. but it was also received well in the mass 2D market.

Partner Creation
Take a look at the companies who joined up to make it work for their advantage. IMAX was obviously one of them, McDonalds was a big promotional partner, Mattel created Avatar augmented reality toys, and so on so forth.The people to really cash in from the movie would of course be 20th Century Fox. The movie alone had cost about $300 million plus to make along with another $100 million plus in marketing and advertising (The Big Business of Avatar – CNBC.com). Let’s not even look at things worldwide, even in my own country. The movie was sold out even before it was premiered. Buying tickets only got harder after the opening of the movie. It didn’t matter how early you wanted to get tickets they were either always sold out or with crummy seats. This is just an observation of how well ticket sales for Avatar (in 3D) were flowing in Malaysia.

Point is you see how much people can benefit when they pull their resources together. Sure these maybe big guns that we are talking about above. However in the same retrospect, partnerships or joint ventures happens a lot in online marketing. It’s highly important to build a network of contacts in your database. You never know when you will be able to help one another. Take for example McD’s is a fast food brand, but it was able to ride with the wave and marketing hype that Avatar had. At the same time, it is marketing for the film as more people will know about it whenever they head to grab a quick bite. It’s a win-win situation and I highly believe that it is always a good thing to work with others.

Those are things I got. Do you think there is more to the list?

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