Blue Oasis, Online Marketing Greenery

Whether your site is lead-generation or retail, you probably have a form somewhere. Here are some basic things you can do to optimize your forms.

1.	Indicate which fields are required by using asterisks next to these required fields. Ask yourself if the non-required fields offer enough value. If they don’t, remove them from the form. This could potentially make all fields a requirement — and if that’s the case, the asterisks would be overkill — which brings us to our next point.
2.	Only have them fill in required fields. Asking for too much information on a web form is like proposing marriage on the first date. We would all like to know our customer’s age, work title, phone number and address, but if you don’t absolutely need it, then remove it from the form. This will make the form shorter and less likely to frustrate the impatient, fast-paced visitor who may not feel comfortable exposing their personal info. Don’t let this be the reason why visitors are dropping off.
3. Clarify what you expect them to do. Doostang gives the visitor a dialog bubble explaining each field when the visitor clicks to fill out a field. This removes any potential confusion as to what information is being requested and could lead to a reduction in errors taking place if a field is filled out incorrectly.
4.	Offer reassurances when asking for personal information. Your visitors are concerned about privacy and security issues. You can offer a link to a privacy and security page so that the visitor can click to read and gain confidence.
5.	Clearly state what the visitor will get by filling out the form, and do it at the very beginning of the page. Tell them what the benefits are. There should be no question as to what they’ll expect once they fill the form out.
6.	Don’t ask people to submit. Call to action buttons should clearly state the action they’re about to take. Use colors and shading that make the button stand out effectively and, please, try to not use the word “submit” — it’s generic and misleading geek-speak.
7.	Offer contact information somewhere on this page and/or in the top-right corner of the site (on every page). Give the visitor a phone number and a “Contact Us” link. If they don’t feel comfortable filling out the form, persuade them to call and speak with you directly.

Are you willing to help fighting global warming?

Earth Hour is switching off lights for 1 hour. This concept has been widely spread throughout the world through the official website so that every single one of us will switch off the lights at 8 o’clock on March 29th, 2008 to help mobilizing the effort of saving natural resources. This will be the first step to fight global warming.

As mentioned in the official website, we’re able to decrease global warmth and emissions by 5% annually by using energy saving light bulbs, earth-friendly electrical appliances or just simply by switching off the lights.

According to the official website, Sydney started the Earth Hour operation since March 31st, 2007. It helped saving more than 10% of energy consumption which is equivalent to the energy consumption of 48,000 cars in 1 hour.

USA - Chicago, Canada - Toronto, Denmark - Copenhagen and the rest of the leading cities in the world will also be joining this meaningful event during March 29 this year. By spreading this news, i sincerely hope that everyone in Malaysia will be able to support this significant event. Save earth, save our future.

To understand more, please visit official website http://www.earthhour.org.

Life is perform-more-get-more basis, don’t you think?

You study hard, you get better result. You study hard, but you don’t get better result, something must be wrong somewhere. It’s either you have not concentrate enough, or you’re just too tired.

Everybody seems to live a different life. Some career high-flyers, some great artists, some just squatting around at the pedestrian walk doing nothing all day long. We all get something when we put in something. Result is just not going to rain from the sky.

It’s about willingness to sacrifice. Most of the time, in order to get something, we must pay a price. In order to get rich, we need to work hard. But there’s no 100% money back guarantee that you put in 20 grams of effort, you’ll get back 20 grams of result. But i’m 110% SURE that, you’ll get nothing if you don’t try.

I want to go Times Square. I don’t know how, i don’t know where it is, i don’t know whether or not i’ll get involve in accident when i’m trying to get there, i don’t know whether it’ll rain. Initially, i didn’t even know how to drive. But in order for me to get to Times Square, i go to driving classes, get a driving license first. Then, i’ll try getting a car, then i’ll pay for the petrol, and toll, and parking fee to go there. I want to go Times Square, that’s why i do all this. And, i made it. In the end of the day, i probably spent 2 years to do all this, but the bottom line is i made it.

What if i don’t want to do all this because someone might have hijack my car when i’m getting there, or i might not find a parking space when i’m there, or maybe my tyre will puncture and it causes so much troubles and mess. I’ll just stay put, sit tight, and watch. What will happen then? I probably will hope that Times Square will come to me instead and think that why would i want to trouble myself doing all that? Times Square should come to look for their customers. I probably don’t realize that it is impossible :) (LMAO)

None of the situation can be perfect though. But, in order for ME to get something, i know i’ll have to pay beforehand with sacrifice of time, a little bit of trouble and mess, and efforts. Nobody can be certain of things other than their own. So why dreaming away into details which you can’t cope with?

Cope with yourself.

Something good to share about the Angkor Archaeological Park.

Instead of going around siem reap town in Tuk Tuk, you can actually cycle all the way to Angkor Wat and other places. But please be advised that it’s dusty, dirty and humid. If you’re in love with greenery and fun outdoor activities, you shouldn’t miss it!

http://www.asiatrip.org/2007/11/06/itineraries-of-angkor-archaeologic

Cheers!

a4trip is recruiting new team members!

www.a4trip.com is a travel guide selling website which offer travellers comprehensive travelling contents. a4trip is recruiting authors, translator, designers, and people who’re passionate in online marketing.

Authors will be responsible for writing the contents for the designated destinations. Translator will be responsible for translating the contents into other languages. Designers will be responsible for designing tasks. Marketers will be doing all the marketing works.

Do leave me a comment if anyone is interested to join the team :)

I found this very interesting articles to share.
Top 10 Online Marketing Mistakes

Memorizing things might not be easy. But when it comes to certain conditions, we remember without extra effort. One of the way to look into this is through marketing. We know what the billboard says when we’re driving to work, we know which way to go.. we know not because we study and try remembering it by hard. We know it just because we do.

Watched “I am a Legend” by will smith? If you watched the Shrek everyday, you’ll know every single word in the movie. When it comes to marketing, we can increase the number of times our targeted users see us or our products. By increasing the times of marketing your product, it’s higher chance of converting them into your customer.

The higher the frequencies, the higher the chances. Although internet marketing is a little bit different, but it’s still applicable.

It was 31st December and we had a little gather around at some cafe nearby my office. It’s packed with people as it was the day everybody celebrated of getting 1 year older. I was running a little bit late, my friends were waiting and the 1st floor open area. Pin was with me. We settled down and ordered some drinks.

Not so long after, I realized it’s a bit hard for me to listen to what my friends are trying to tell because there are people singing live with the speaker at full volume. We had to yell at each other. So we kindly ask the waiter to come over and help us turn down the volume a little.

We spoke to different waiters 3 times. The 1st one and the 2nd one did nothing. The 3rd one was telling us to bear with the volume because they wanted to attract the passerby’s attention. It is a good try for a newly opened cafe but at wrong timing. The cafe is packed with people hoping to enjoy themselves but the volume is just over the top. Which one comes first? Serve your client at your best, or attract more attention to the cafe? Increase traffic? or increase conversion?

A few weeks after the new year celebration, i saw photostated flyers all over the place. Introducing set meals, 9.90 with whole bunch of things to choose. Good price, bad impression. Their strategy doesn’t appeal to me. What more they can offer if they couldn’t serve their customers well enough?

Mr Tan opens a store and hopes to do some business. He sells stationaries.
Customer A drop by and wanted to reload phone credit, but Mr Tan has nothing that customer A wanted, so customer A left.
After a while, Mr Tan thinks that selling stationaries alone is not enough, he starts to sell hand phone, credit reload and other mobile thingy as well.
Customer B drop by and wanted to buy some drinks, but Mr Tan has nothing that customer B wanted, so customer B left as well.
After a while, Mr Tan thinks that it’s a good idea to sell some snacks, candies, and drinks too.
When days passed by, the business isn’t getting any better and Mr Tan had to end his business.

In real world, we visited IKEA is because we hope to buy some interior stuffs with good design;
we stayed at Hilton hotel because we wanted prestigious accomodation;
we travelled to Bali because of their exotic culture.
Customers know them well for what they’re offering it’s because that’s what they do best.

So, what do you sell? is that what you do best?

For a quick check on Marketing Terminology and jargons and stuffs like that, probably you can pay the link below a visit.

Glossary of Marketing Communications Terminology
http://www.mshmgi.com/glossary,A,.html

Short, Nifty, Precise!