Inspired Magazine - 10/2013

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Inspired to Motivate - www.kmartinmarketing.com

INSPIRED

October 2013

MAGAZINE

Helping Entrepreneurs Achieve Their Dreams FEATURING LPJ Coaching Skinny Fiber Gifts by La Bella Baskets Millie and Cupcake It Works! SoyL Scents Agragrami Fashion House

Self Discipline

Increase Your Self Discipline

Empowerment

Empowerment In Action

Email Marketing

An Essential Business Tool 1


INSPIRED

MAGAZINE

Contents

My Story

Why I created Inspired to Motivate; I hope you enjoy and understand the passion that is behind it all.

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October 2013

MLM

A powerful business concept for many reasons but the most obvious is for the type of income it can provide the network marketer.

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MLM

My Story

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Editor’s Note

13 Gifts By La Bella Baskets

Welcome to Inspired Magazine

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Self Discipline

14 Millie and Cupcake

How I Finally Became Self-Disciplined

Mildred Potash, Author

10 LPJ Coaching

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Empowerment In Action

3 Simple Steps To Help You Get Started

11 How To Expect The Best

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It Works!

Beth Huebner

Tammy Dowling

Turning A Negative Outlook Into A Positive One

12 Skinny Fiber

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Jamie Volner

Jennifer Clardy

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On the cover

EVENTS MARKETING

Self Discipline / Page 6 Empowerment / Page 16 Email Marketing / Page 26

7 Reasons Events Marketing Should Be Part of Your Marketing Strategy.

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Events Marketing

Targeted Visitors

18 SoyL Scents

26 Email Marketing

Kim Martin

An Essential Business Tool

21 World Ventures

28 Agragrami Fashion House

Interview with Vandana Talwar, Fashion Designer

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YOU ARE INVITED!

Santa’s Workshop Event

Kim Martin

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Videos In Viral Marketing Information - Communication - Distribution

25 Video Blogging

What Is Video Blogging?

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Inspired Magazine PUBLISHER Kimberly Martin kmartinmarketing.com DESIGNER Michael Cody James CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Vandana Talwar, Fashion Designer ADVERTISING AND MARKETING kmartinmarketing.com info@kmartinmarketing.com

OFFICE West Palm Beach, FL Reach us Phone (561) 623-7025 eMail info@kmartinmarketing.com

EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to our second issue of Inspired Magazine! My name is Kimberly Martin and I am the founder of Inspired to Motivate. I created this business with a sole purpose in mind...to help you discover your true passion, and to support you regardless of your career or internet marketing business. I am very passionate about helping you in this industry by inspiring you to push forward towards your goals. With my experience I have learned what works and what doesn’t work when building a successful and sustainable home based business. It takes passion and commitment to build your future and I’m here to help you and to encourage you. Always remember to Dream Big and Never stop no matter what obstacles come your way. Your time and effort will pay off sooner than later. The world needs your incredible talent!

Wishing you the very best in business!

Kimberly Martin Kimberly Martin, Editor kmartinmarketing.com 4

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About the Editor

My Story I am a single Mom of two beautiful children and an aspiring entrepreneur. The purpose of this article is to describe why I created Inspired to Motivate; I hope you enjoy and understand the passion that is behind it all. In 2010, I began to feel anxious, a lot, but couldn’t really understand why. I guess being a single Mom, taking care of the household, working a full time job, and general day-to-day activities just started building up. I started worrying about everything! My heart would pound harder and harder, faster and faster for no reason at all and it was really making me feel horrible. Then, I started having panic attacks. I would be driving to work or to the grocery store and feel like I just couldn’t breathe. I would start sweating and my heart would start pounding and I would feel like I was going to pass out. After about 10 or so episodes of this, I stopped driving for the fear of injuring myself or someone else. I still do not drive and if I ride in the car

with someone else driving, well...I panic. I was eventually diagnosed with severe panic and anxiety disorder. So, I figured since I wasn’t going anywhere and I was interested in becoming an entrepreneur and owning my own business that I would come up with a way to create a positive and motivating company. I have a passion for helping others and to help them succeed in their current business or help new entrepreneurs with the guidance that they would need to get their new business off to a good start. This is something that I am truly, whole-heartedly passionate about . Hence, Inspired to Motivate was created. In the social media world, I found it very easy to get started by created a Facebook page and inviting others to join for inspirational and motivational postings to help build self esteem, encouraging them to reach for greater goals, inspiring them to never give up and to continue to pursue their dreams no matter what obstacles they faced. By doing this, it also

helped me to grow into a stronger, more successful entrepreneur. If I could help just one person then I would have accomplished my goal. I eventually started blogging about similar subjects and began to have a following of other bloggers interested in my content. I have to say, it is a really good feeling to know that I have been able to attract and help people that are interested in what I have to say. In July of this year, I created the Inspired Magazine. The magazine was created with one purpose in mind...to help other entrepreneurs get the word out about their business and opportunity along with articles teaching about personal development and business skills that will encourage success in personal and/or business adventures. It is my passion and with God’s will to help you, as an entrepreneur, succeed. I hope that you enjoy the magazine and wish you the very best in every aspect of your life and business!

Kim 5


Kim Martin, Inspired to Motivate

“Happiness is dependent on self-discipline. We are the biggest obstacles to our own happiness. It is much easier to battle with society and with others than to fight our own nature.”

This article will discuss 3 methods I have used to increase my self discipline with great success. These aren’t the typical things you usually hear about when it comes to self development, but it’s really worth giving them a try. Each may sound a little weird, and do not really seem linked with one another, but these are methods I personally use. You will find the results speak for themselves. Tip #1: Force Yourself Out of Bed Early What you do in the early hours can carry momentum throughout the entire day. A sluggish start can mean a slow and lazy attitude for the rest of your waking hours. It can be a big boost to force yourself out of bed the moment you hear the alarm go off. I’m sure you set the alarm clock at a certain time for a reason. It’s also probable that you feel too tired to get up, and simply hit the snooze button, over and over again: “just 10 minutes more sleep, then I’ll get up!” Unfortunately, those 3 times of hitting the snooze button have just caused you to get out of bed half an hour later than you wanted to. You’ll find that you have a lot more

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energy and vigor if you force yourself out of bed the moment you hear the alarm go off. Yep, it’s difficult, but it’s worth it. It’s mind against body. Once you force yourself out of bed (no matter how tired you feel), it’s almost like you’ve won the battle. This attitude can remain throughout the day. It becomes easier to fight off laziness in other situations and tasks, resulting in a happier, more positive you. Tip #2: Ignore Desire There are some desires in the world that get us into trouble. These are usually things that you “feel” like doing, but really regret afterwards. They might be trivial, like spending money on something you can’t afford, or buying things on credit you don’t really need, or they may be terrible things, like cheating on your loved one. All of these things are “heat of the moment” temptations. They feel great at the time, and grant temporary pleasure, but the horror of regret afterwards can make it hard to live with yourself, and can cause guilt and shame. Staying strong in these moments of temptation will really help with self discipline. Usually, if you can hold off your desire for the duration, you will generally feel well rewarded and will become a stronger, more confident human being.


Tip #3: The Daily Task List When you have a list of tasks to do, it’s always better to write them down. It removes the stress of overwhelm, and helps focus the mind. Instead of feeling bogged down and helpless, you have an itemized list that you can tick off one by one - and boy does it feel good to cross those items off the list! To make things more advanced, it’s better to prioritize. Simply add a number (between 1 and 3) against each task, that indicates it’s importance. Then, be sure to start those tasks first that have highest priority. It doesn’t need to be any more complicated than that. And for those tasks you couldn’t do today? Just add the letter “T” to the task, so you’ll add that to tomorrows list. Doing this removes the feeling that you’ve failed to complete all tasks. Adding it to tomorrows list

can free your mind from worry, and leave you to relax a little in the evening. The daily task list does sound obvious and simplistic, but it is a very powerful tool for self discipline. Writing tasks down removes a lot of stress from the mind. You’ll no longer have that nagging feeling at the back of the mind that you’ve got too much to do. Instead, you’ll have a neat, prioritized list. Another nice advantage is the feeling you get when you cross an item off the list. It is very motivational, and can spur you on to complete the whole list. And there you have it. Use any or all of these methods to increase your self discipline. Try at least one of the tips above within the next 24 hours. You may well be surprised with the results!

“By constant selfdiscipline and selfcontrol you can develop greatness of character.”

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MLM

A Powerful Business Concept MLM is a powerful business concept for many reasons but the most obvious is for the type of income it can provide the network marketer. It is so powerful that many fortune 500 companies have used, some are still using, this business model to build their multimillion dollar empire. So why cannot the average person do the same? The answer is average people are already working some great MLM homebased businesses opportunities. Are you one of them? If not, now is an excellent time to get started. Millionaires have taken notice of MLM as a homebased business opportunity that average people can work into and build wealth. MLM is a huge, thriving industry in spite of all the negative publicity it receives in the media from anti-MLM enthusiasts. Many millionaires express how MLM is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in building a home-based business without having to work from scratch.

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Can you use some extra income? Most consumers would probably answer yes to this question. Everybody can use extra income every month. But where is this extra income going to come from? One obvious solution would be to get a second job. This option may seem to be the best solution but is really not. This is because the time you spend on your second job and the money you receive after taxes is not enough. Of course you will have to consider your reasons for getting a second job and why you need the extra income to determine if getting a second job is really the right solution for you. However, on the other hand, you can start working on your own part-time home-based business using MLM as your business opportunity. You can get started in the industry for nearly nothing. This is a big plus. How can you start working in an MLM home business opportunity you have heard so much about? Getting started in network marketing has become so easy that anyone can get started even if you do not have a dime to invest in your start up. The key here is to simply get started then never quit. Many legitimate MLM home business opportunities will allow you to get started for under $100. You can even find free opportunities with little or no overhead expenses and with great support from other members as well as the parent company. These companies will provide all the tools and system for you. You simply add your sweat equity, your working commitment, and persistence to the MLM home business opportunity. Remember to choose a well-established company that offers quality consumable products or services with an excellent management team and support to their distributors. Another important key factor is your commitment to the company and its products and services. Working for a home business MLM opportunity means that you should be a bona-fide user and marketer of the products and services you want to earn extra income from. In conclusion, MLM is a smart business opportunity sense for anyone wishing to start working at home. It cost next to nothing to get started, you get a proven system like you would if you bought a franchise opportunity, and you can be in profit in months rather than in years. Therefore, if you desire more income while still working a 9 to 5 job, or to build your retirement income, then you should seriously consider working for a home business MLM opportunity.

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How To Expect The Best Do you ever find yourself getting stuck in negative thought patterns and expecting the worst possible outcome in every situation? It’s a common mindset that proves difficult to change when you finally decide you’ve had enough. Unfortunately, negative thoughts tend to breed and multiply on their own - even when you’re not consciously trying to think negatively. The good news is that turning a negative outlook into a positive one just takes a bit of patience and persistence until the positive thoughts begin to take over. Here are three simple steps to begin forming positive expectations on a daily basis: 1) Develop self-awareness to recognize negative expectations. One problem with negative thoughts is that they often form below your conscious level of awareness, and you get so used to them being in your head that you hardly notice anymore. To turn the tide of negativity, you’ll have to develop a stronger level of self-awareness. One good way to start is by performing self-checks several times a day. Pay attention first to how you feel. If you’re feeling positive and productive, most likely you’ve been thinking positive thoughts. However, if you notice that you’re feeling irritable, pessimistic or stressed, you’re probably focusing more on negative thoughts. When that happens:

wake up, affirm confidently, “Today is going to be a great day! Everything will go my way and I’ll enjoy plenty of lucrative opportunities and fun!” When you encounter obstacles or problems, see them as opportunities to learn, grow and strengthen yourself, Perception is 99% of the game! If you simply work on shifting the way you look at the experiences of your life, you can easily conquer your negative thought habits. The more you focus on changing your perspective to emphasize the positive, you’ll empower yourself to create better circumstances in your life. Before you know it, you’ll be enjoying better and more frequent opportunities and attracting other likeminded, successful people to connect with.

(2) Challenge and change the negative thoughts. Believe it or not, it’s fairly easy to challenge and change negative thoughts with a little will power and concentration. For example, if you find yourself feeling doubtful about your ability to finish your work on time, you might engage in a bit of self-talk like this: “Okay, so I’m feeling a bit worried right now, but really everything is okay. I’m strong, I’m smart and I’m capable of finishing my work on time. I’ll do my best and everything will work out fine.” Even though nothing has changed in your outer circumstances, this type of self-talk can get you thinking and feeling more positive. (3) At the same time, while you’re changing negative thoughts to positive, work daily on developing a general positive expectation habit. Each day when you 11


I am sure some of you may think it’s just another weight loss pill...well it’s Not! Skinny Fiber is better than tons of other over the counter Fiber supplements because of the blend of all natural ingredients and it DOES work! I have a best friend of over 10 years and she and I and our daughters have been best of friends for years and she has tried EVERYTHING you can think of to lose and none of it worked...until Skinny Fiber...you can check out her before and after in my testimonies section. Her name is Dawnell. Also she has lost the weight which in turn has caused some of her other health issues to go away! So now I am taking the 90 day challenge and I have already noticed major differences. I used to get up 7-8 times a night to go to the restroom..now at the most I get up once. I had horrible night sweats...Not any more! I had horrible hot

flashes...Not any more! Vitamin D deficiency...GONE! Oh, and even better, I was so tired when I got home at 5 I went straight to bed...now I have TONS of energy...so much so that I started to go to the gym in August...before I was just too tired to go...Not any more! For those reasons alone...I will continue to take Skinny Fiber...and reap the benefits of weight loss as well. OH...and my husband has seen such a change in my sleeping, and energy that he started taking Skinny Fiber just this past week!! (for those of you that know him...he wont try anything unless he knows for a FACT it works). So don’t wait another day!! Order yours NOW! Start your 90 challenge!!! You have nothing to Lose...30 day money back guarantee!! -Jennifer Clardy

http://jclardy.SBC90.com/

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~ Gifts By La Bella Baskets ~ Jamie Volner www.giftsbybellabaskets.com (520) 307-8569


Mildred Potash, Author

For many children, the experience of bonding with and loving a first pet is an unforgettable time in their lives. Millie and Cupcake is the charming and educational story of a girl and her companion animal ‌ a different animal than many kids think of when choosing a pet. Cupcake is a rat, and readers will be enchanted as they learn what rats are really like: clean, loving, highly intelligent, trainable personalities who add immeasurable value to people’s lives. Follow along with Millie as she learns how to take care of her sociable, curious, and affectionate best friend.

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Mildred Potash, Author http://outskirtspress.com/millieandcupcake http://www.facebook.com/MillieandCupcake


“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” ~ Walt Disney 15


EMPOWERMENT IN ACTION Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere of a high aim the very roughness stimulates the climber to steadier steps, till the legend, over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself. – W. C. Doane If you’ve ever been stuck in a rut of inertia before, you probably know the sense of helpless futility that takes over your life. You want your life to change, but you feel powerless to do anything about it yourself. You may find yourself constantly making plans to improve your life, but never quite getting around to taking action because it seems so intimidating. Though taking action can intimidate and frighten you, it can also empower you! If you learn to use it effectively, it can provide the fuel to keep you moving forward toward more fulfilling life circumstances. When you do this, you realize that there was never anything to fear in the first place, and you’ll never get stuck again! Below are three simple steps that show you how to get started: 1) First, be sure you understand that your life is the way it is right now because of your hesitation in taking action! This is important, because you’ll understand the importance of moving forward no matter how anxious it makes you feel at first. Then, decide on one action to take to get the ball rolling. Think about your life right now, and ask yourself which situations you want to change first. You might choose your career, relationships, health, financial situation, or anything else that makes you feel powerless and stuck. Then think about one simple action you can take to inspire some positive change. It doesn’t have to be a huge action, just SOME-

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THING to start building momentum. 2) Once you’ve decided on your action step, you’ll have to push yourself to take it no matter what! This may seem incredibly difficult or even scary, but remember that most often the things you fear are not going to happen. In fact, you may not even have a clear reason for feeling scared – you’re just afraid of the “unknown”. Give yourself a pep talk or push yourself in any way you have to in order to move forward at least a little bit. After you take that first step, be sure to let go of any expectations of the things that will happen because of it, and allow yourself to feel great simply because you did something about it! 3) Repeat with the same step, and/or others. Once you’ve taken one step forward, you’ll need to keep pushing yourself to take others. Consider this: Even if you take a hundred small steps in a month, you’ll be putting forth positive effort to make changes in your life, which cannot help but bring about better circumstances! The good news is that taking action quickly begins to build momentum. Just as chronic non-action can create a cycle of negativity and stagnation over time, being proactive can create a positive cycle that continues to grow! It gets easier the more you do it, which eventually makes it seem almost effortless – and you continue to empower and strengthen yourself with every step you take.

“Without inspira-

tion the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks.” – Johann Gottfried Von Herder


Beth Huebner It Works!™ http://bethhuebner.stbwrap.com (218) 329-2497

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Events Marketing

7 Key Reasons Why Events Marketing Should Be Part Of Your Marketing Strategy When it comes to any corporate or company marketing strategy you would include plenty of social events to the list. When you add the social events into your marketing strategy, you are able to make contacts with many other associates and it will help your company or business flourish. One of the biggest reasons why you include events in your marketing strategy is the fact that you make so many contacts. When you make contacts you are able to find new channels and ways to expand your business, as well as, make your business grow by reaching new markets. You never know what you can gain from having new associates.

through what the others have to say. You will find that everyone talks about everything at corporate events and you find out a lot about what people think of you and the business. When you throw a party or social event, you can also introduce a new product. You may find that a social event is the perfect time to show off your new investment or allow your guests to try out a new product. It’s kind of like a testing, but an unofficial one. You can get an idea of how it would sell on the market by giving it to your guests. Then you can release it or forget about it depending on your guests.

Another reason to have events is to share with the public that you give back to the community. This is a key point for businesses that are big in one area. They grow and find success in the community and should give back to the community. It gives the company more of a public edge.

Another reason why you should put social events in your marketing is to keep your company name in the papers and on the minds of the community. When you do this type of marketing it is called reminder advertising. You are keeping the company and the products of the company in the minds of those who are in your target market and community.

Also, you should think about your competition. When you throw parties and such, you will find the opportunity to mix and mingle with the competition. You can get a feeling for their next move

You should also create social events so that the community and competition knows that your company is still in the good. If you can through huge social events for the company then it means

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that you must be making a profit, right? Well that’s what people are going to think. You should keep this in mind when it comes to any social event. Also, companies should throw events for the company just because it is a way to give back to the employees. They work hard all year long and a party every now and then will be a great benefit to being an employee. It will also make the company look better in the public eye. The community would be more supportive knowing that the company gives back to the community. There are hundreds of reasons why a company should invest in their employees. The more active that the company is in the community and society, the more they are going to get supported if they ever wanted to expand on other things. With social events you not only gain the public’s interest, but their support as well. That could be one of the most important reasons why you would want to create an event. Social events have a lot of benefits for any corporate or company’s marketing strategies. Planning an event can be time consuming, but it is worth it.


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To learn more watch the short Private VIP by invitation only video at www.travelpresentation.com

Kim Martin - Independent Representative http://kmartinmarketing.worldventures.biz 21


How To Attract Targeted Visitors You began your online business in order to make money, right? Well, it’s probably apparent you’ll have a greater chance of making more money from individuals who are interested in the kinds of products and services you sell. Let’s use the example that you run a website that promotes a product or service, which helps people lose weight. So, the types of people you want to find and visit your website are those who are interested in becoming thinner. Conversely, if a visitor to your website isn’t particularly interested in losing weight (but is instead searching the Internet because they’re interested in video games or gardening), then it’s unlikely that they’re going to convert into a paying customer. This is the concept of a “targeted visitor” – a person who is already in your website’s topic before they find your website and see the products and services you offer. It’s not hard to see why the most successful web

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business are those who get traffic comprised of individuals who are already interested in the products or services offered by that business. So it’s essential to your success that you build your individual website pages to contain and focus on the individual keywords that relate to your products and services. In addition, it’s likely that your appearances on a given search results page won’t be limited just to pages on your own website. The search engine is likely to find and list many “external” resources, too. These will include marketing-type materials that you may publish through other websites. Go ahead and type a generic search term or phrase into your favorite search engine. Chances are that near the top of the natural search results there will be links to external aggregations sites like YouTube and EzineArticles. This is something that you want to emulate as well.

So in order to make sure you’re driving the greatest number of targeted visitors to your website as possible, you first need to create a site in which each web page is focused on the particular keyword terms and phrases that you’ll identify. Second, you’ll support this by creating promotional materials (again, using the relevant keyword terms and phrases), and making sure these are properly distributed on the Internet. Finally, once your website is live, make sure to submit your web address directly to the major search engines. Each search engine has a page that permits you to do this: Google’s is at (http://www.google. com/addurl/?continue=/ addurl), and Microsoft’s is at (http://www.bing. com/docs/submit.aspx). The search engines would eventually find your pages, of course, but using these quick submission forms helps the process move forward more quickly.


“The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it’s possible to achieve the American Dream.” -Tommy Hilfiger

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Using Videos in Viral Marketing Information - Communication - Distribution More and more advertisers are adopting video as broadband continues to rise and ad-serving technologies become more sophisticated. Online video advertising is really taking off. Users’ attention can be captured and ads stand out from the crowd in an increasingly ad-cluttered online environment. It is true that video formats cost five to ten times more to serve than standard banners and they involve a lot more production and implementation work but they may well be worth all of that if they achieve greater response rates. Where to use online video if wishing to maxi-

mize its effect, is what advertisers must carefully consider. Video to be used on the Internet should be information and communication focused while video to be used on television should be focused on entertainment. Like everything else, there are good ways and bad ways to use video advertising. Right now most marketers are incorporating their audio-visual content into existing embedded ad formats like banners or over-content formats like pop-ups. Though this could reach a potentially large audience, viewers are likely to be less captivated and more

annoyed by these disruptive and distracting placements. Cached or streaming video on a specific destination site offers the best chance of interesting consumers in brand messages, but it is not likely to reach a large audience unless it generates a viral outcome. Whatever you come up with, don’t forget to make it easy to open and distribute. File size is important, as is the media format. If your viral video has been created for a particular type of software that not many people use, how will you get people to spread it like wildfire?

Blogging - The New Internet Marketing Tool Blogging is simple. No skills necessary. The simplest way to get your piece on the net is through blogging. Blogging is authentic. Real people share their real-life experiences, unscathed by paid advertising. Blogging is free. An opportunity for free webtime is definitely a bonus.

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Blogging builds credibility. Your readers will come to realize that they can depend on your posts for their own informational needs. Blogging builds your market Give your business a boost by effectively using blogging as an internet marketing tool.

If you’ve made a video the impact will be better if you send the clip as an attachment rather than stream it. It’s cheaper and, if you’re not hosting it, it’s more viral, too.


Video Blogging

What Is Video Blogging? Video blogging is the next generation of posting ideas and products over the internet. Everybody knows about text blogging. Now they use videos for a better way of expression. This form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is all worth it. If pictures say a thousand words, video blogging exceeds that by far.

even if they don’t need it.

A video blog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Video blogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.

If your business is just starting up, you can create a video blog right from your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a video blog.

Video blogging works with people on the internet expressing themselves. Now if you put this into a business prospective, you are in for a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you video blog through RSS, then most probably you are getting to your target market. People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of video blogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product

Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now image your product parading in all it’s royalty through a video blog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.

advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video. Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.

Video blogging is a great tool but Invest in a good web camera. The it also has it downside. It may slow higher its resolution the better the down the computer so others may output. And you like to present your steer clear of it. Download time may goods in the optimum way so get the also be time consuming especially if best one possible. Make a short story, customer is still on a dial- up connecor just capture your goods in one go. tion. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creBut don’t let those stop you. Let ativity juices flowing. video blogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep Lights are important in a produc- the text and pictures present in your tion. Make sure you illuminate en- presentation to accommodate all postirely the area you are going to use to sible viewers of your site. create your video blog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will Nowadays, the more creative you be. You can also use lighting effects are in presenting your product to the for added appeal to the presentation. market, the more you are likely to succeed. Video blogging offers an inShould you require sounds for your teractive way of selling. You involve video blog, you need a microphone. the customers. You instill in them Record your voice as a voice over for the advantage of your goods. And promoting the product and its benefit at times, those are enough to make a to consumers. Sounds are as impor- sale. tant as videos on a video blog. It is 25


E-Mail Marketing Emails are essential to

any marketing campaign. This is how you keep your business and products fresh in your potential customer’s minds. Getting a visitor to your site is one thing, but getting them to remember you over the millions of other websites out there is a whole thing in itself; especially when they’re interested in buying. Emails come at regular intervals to provide information to website visitors to help build credibility as well as get your business name in the forefront of their minds. This can be done in a couple of different ways. To get e-mail addresses to send your messages to, you will provide an opt-in email feature on your site so that people can sign up for updates on what you’re offering or for more information.

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Newsletters These are used to provide small articles in topics that relate to your business. For example, If you sell vitamins and minerals, your newsletter can offer articles on alternative health practices, etc. to show how important your product is to them. Newsletters can be sent to their email inboxes with the introduction to an article and a link where they can go to your site to read the rest of the article. This enables users to become familiar with your site and makes it easier to remember you when they decide they want to buy something you’re offering.

E-Courses You can have a sign up feature on your site for visitors to use to learn the basics about a topic. If you’re selling vitamin products, you can use an e-course to help teach your readers how to pick the best ones for different kinds of health problems. E-courses are typically sent over a 5-7 day period and are often offered for


free. This keeps your business name in their minds by reminding of it every day that the ecourse comes into their inbox.

thing later on that catches their eye and entices them to buy. The updates can also help bring in more traffic for your site. Those

who have already signed up for your lists will have friends, family, neighbors and co-workers that they could refer to your business by simply forwarding the messages on.

Updates For those who have purchased something from you or people who have signed up for this feature, you can provide them with updates on your products, discounts, freebies, etc. This way if you don’t hook a visitor into buying in their first visit they may see some-

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An Interview with Vandana Talwar, Fashion Designer, Director Vandana Talwar graduated from Raffles Design Institute Singapore, majoring in Fashion Design and established her own label in 2011. Agragrami Fashion House was born from her articulation of edgy fashion sense and versatile designs. Her fashion label derived from the word “Agragrami” True to its meaning “Avant garde” experimental or innovative. Vandana endorse this philosophy onto all her collections. Vandana Talwar designs for the women– for the empowering site of today who are not anxious to look deep within themselves and be true to who they are. Her apparels are not only flattering to the female’s curves and silhouettes but each design is a classic form-fitting numbers that will by no means go out of trend. Agragrami fashion House is a original, contemporary label, which reflects the spirit of its thrill-seeking, fun loving and adventurous founder. She focuses on balancing classic tailoring with edgy use of silhouette and colors, and constructing avantgarde silhouettes with classic details.

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When you first launched Agragrami fashion House, what were the objectives and inspirations set on your boutique and labels? Launching his/her own label is every design student’s dream and aspiration. It took me 2 years after graduation to gather enough courage to launch my own label “Agragrami” in 2011 and I have not looked back since. The objective at that time was entirely to put what I have learnt into practice and give it my best shot. It was also to create brand awareness and exposure before I make my next step. Of course, I also hope to enhance the looks of Singapore women through the interesting details, nice cuts, quality fabrics and flattery silhouettes. I started with my online boutique, and participated in Exhibitions, organized in different hotels in Singapore. In 2012, I participated in various fashion shows in Singapore to create brand awareness. In April 2013 I showcased my spring/summer collection in the “International Fashion week” in


Miami Florida, USA. Out of curiosity, why did you not label your creations after your own name but Agragrami? You use your own name only when people know who you are, or else, it does not serve any purpose. Agragrami is unique and gets people thinking. In fact, the word “Agragrami” means innovative, likewise, my designs have lots of experimental interesting details for the wearer to explore and have pleasure. You have extraordinary creative and innovative mind for fashion. What are the 5 things you think will be the new trend in 2014? My personal experience is that “trend” just serves as a guideline and should not be followed blindly. Instead, one should have their own style, own identity and personality and be confident of their own look. Once you develop self-confidence, you will look good in whatever you wear as you bring out the best in the designs. What is your creative thought process like? I must admit that I am adventurous and quite bold in “experimenting” the different looks; I go through trial and error before fine-tuning them. I explore the different variation and combination, and at the same time, have so much fun, “ job satisfaction” and sense of achievement in the process. The customers’ positive feedback and encouragement will spur me to work even harder and be more innovative in my “creations”.

Describe the general process you go through to design and produce a piece of clothing. Inspiration comes from everywhere, from art, paintings, books, music to everyday objects we see and feel. So after picking up inspirations and ideas, a theme will form. Once there is a theme, I’ll work towards it via fabric selection, sketching, drafting or draping, sampling and lastly production. I do not like to be restricted only by themes; inspirations but rather, I enjoy out-of-the box thinking away from the norm Agragrami by Vandana Talwar is made for the confident, strong and well-traveled women of today, who is full of zest and know what they want in life. In your own definition, what makes a woman modern and smart? The modern and smart women of today do not follow fashion trend blindly, they have lots of self confidence, know exactly what they want, is adventurous and bold enough to try new things and ideas, is financially independent, is seen and heard, dare to move out of their comfort zone and welcome new challenges. Do you think new designers should try to follow trends or follow their own ideals? This comes down to what direction the designers would like the brand to go. You might earn a quick buck when you closely follow trends, but that also means that you will be fiercely competing with the fast fashion labels; then again, by following your own ideals you must

learn to carve a niche for yourself, if you get lost in translating your clothes to customers, you might not be able to survive on your ideals alone. What else do you want to tell the world about you or your label? Agragrami is not a fast fashion label. We don’t mass-produce. We love to provide our clients, unique, high quality and time less pieces. Everything is created within our studio workshop without outsourcing so that we oversee exactly how our garments are produced. Agragrami Fashion house is a women’s clothing boutique that specially caters to the busy lives of women. Agragrami fashion house is a clear definition of class within the boutique as well as its essence of enclosure. Agragrami fashion House’s clothing selections and exclusive personal style services will allow our customers to find the style that best fits their lifestyle. We work hard to provide the best in customer service and quality lines to all our customers. We include the finest and highly experienced stylist to cater to your needs. We also offer our own exclusive pieces, Agragrami fashion House Exclusives. These pieces exemplify, what Agragrami represents: innovation, elegance, style, and class. We work tirelessly to keep you trendsetting and show stopping hot. Since we are an exclusive boutique, we only do one of kind pieces. No one piece will be duplicated. You will feel quality when you wear our exclusive pieces.

https://agragramifashionhouse.myshopify.com/ Vandana.agragrami@gmail.com Contact no- +65 90048406

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YOU ARE INVITED! Santa’s Workshop Event When: October 1 - December 1, 2013 Where: This Is An Online Event

http://www.facebook.com/events/165079767021918/

This is YOUR One-Stop-Shop for all of your early Christmas Shopping needs and/or gifts for birthdays, baby showers, anniversaries, teachers or even a just “because you deserve it” gift. This event is featured ONLINE so that you do not have to worry about getting up early and beating the crowds. Shop with YOUR favorite companies from the comfort of your own home. What a perfect time to start your holiday shopping!

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Inspired MagazineŠ

Interested in advertising in our Inspired Magazine? Contact Us: info@kmartinmarketing.com 31


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