Tips for Companies Trying to Clean Up Their Act
Despite pressing economic worries, the environment remains a top concern for consumers the world over. And 
that means environmentally-friendly business practices are as necessary for the bottom line as they are for the planet, says Joe Veilleux, president of Euromed USA (euromedusa.com).
“Being a producer of natural ingredients for pharmaceuticals and health supplements, we’ve always held environmentalism as a major company value,” says Veilleux, a registered pharmacist.“We’re glad to see that, even when people face unemployment and other economic hardships, they’re still committed to green practices.”
Recent polls, including BCG’s annual International Global Green Consumer Surveys taken throughout the recession, reveal an unwavering commitment to environmentalism, he says.
“Even at the height of the recession in 2008 and 2009, more than a third of consumers said they were willing to pay a little more for products that are better for the environment,” Veilleux says. “A majority said they consider a company’s environmental credentials when making purchasing decisions.”
Euromed recently earned “green” ISO 14001 certification for its Barcelona factory by meeting stringent criteria established by the world International Standardization Organization, which sets standards for sustainable and environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.
“In the five-year process of re-engineering our factory to meet the ISO 14001 criteria, we learned a lot that can benefit other companies,” Veilleux says. “Some of the steps we took cost little to nothing; others were, frankly, expensive. But all companies today need to be aware that consumers are looking at what they’re doing to – and for – the planet, and they’re making buying decisions based on that.”
These are some of the initiatives undertaken at Euromed Barcelona, which manufactures herbal extracts and natural active substances for customers in the United States and Europe.
• Recycling biomass – the company’s manufacturing waste product. We’ve found different ways to recycle the post-extraction biomass, depending on the product involved, Veilleux says. “Much of the residue is sent to companies that specialize in creating bio-gas – specifically, methane, which is used to generate power,” he says. “However, the residue left from milk thistle has such a high nutritional value, it’s actually used to feed farm animals. We ship the waste product to a company that dries it out and cleans it before it’s added to feed for pigs, chickens, cows, and the like. The biomass is given away for free, he adds.
• Wood pallets become compost. At Euromed, wooden pallets are reused until they can’t be used any longer. “At that point, they’re sent to recycling facilities, which use them in composting products,” Veilleux says. This step was easily accomplished by working through waste management companies.
• Printer toners get refilled. Empty toner cartridges are shipped to the company’s supplier, where they’re recharged and returned for use. If not for recycling, the toner cartridges would be deposited in landfills.
• Cleaner air and water. The company purchased new equipment to accomplish these goals, including on-site wastewater treatment and water purification plants, and equipment to decrease atmospheric emissions.
All totaled, Euromed spent $1 million to $2 million to upgrade its factory. It was money well spent, Veilleux says.
“We’re excited about the certification because it verifies that we’re one of the world’s leaders in environmentally friendly production,” he says. “That’s very important to us — we rely on plants, the Earth’s natural, renewable resources,not only for our business but for our personal health.
“We have a special interest in making everyone aware of how vital it is that we all take steps to prevent environmental damage.
About Euromed USA
Euromed USA supplies standardized botanical and herbal extracts and natural active substances for use in the pharmaceutical, health food and cosmetics industries. By extracting the necessary chemicals, the company can guarantee its products meet the precise chemical specifications necessary. Euromed was founded 40 years ago. Its parent company is the 100-year-old Rottapharm-Madaus corporation based in Italy.
Category Archives: Integrated Marketing
SeeMail iPhone App Revolutionizes Photo Sharing and Social Media
Author’s note: this is something I’m not sure I would use all that often, but I did check it out and it works pretty well. Might be fun for parties, weddings, family reunion type things. I guess if you want a still photograph, instead of just an iPhone movie this would be the app. I look forward to their adding a few more social media platforms.
LOS ANGELES, CA (August 23, 2012) — A revolutionary new iPhone app for photo sharing called SeeMail allows users to add voice notes to photographs and is now nominated for the prestigious iMedia Next Wave Start-Up Challenge competition. No other app has ever blended photos, captions, locations, and audio like SeeMail. SeeMail is not another endless stream of photo sharing. SeeMail is personal, intimate, beautiful, fun and easy and brings storytelling to social media. iMedia’s Next Wave’s competition focus is on highlighting early-stage technology companies redefining the mobile marketing industry. SeeMail was chosen from a pool of hundreds, as determined by iMedia’s Next Wave Advisory Board to participate in Phase III, (community voting) of the Challenge and voting can be completed online at http://www.imediaconnection.com/iMediaLists/2012/breakthrough-next-wave/mobile-entertainment/SeeMail/.
How it works: SeeMail creates a unique style of mobile message inspired by the idea of sharing the story behind the photo
1) Choose a new photo, or select from your library or Facebook albums
2) Record a SeeMail AudioT.ag™ – just tap the record button and record your voice or anything going on around you
3) Add a caption to your photo
4) Postmark your current location – powered by FourSquare
5) Share privately with your SeeMail friends
6) Share publicly with Facebook and Twitter
7) Play and share SeeMail on the web
SeeMail 1.4 is now poised as the next social media powerhouse. New features include:
Facebook Sharing: Some moments need to be shared quickly. So now you can share a SeeMail to Facebook, even if you do not share directly to another SeeMail user. So, you can public post a SeeMail without sending it directly to another person.
Twitter Sharing: By popular demand, you can now share your SeeMail’s to your Twitter account. If you have multiple twitter accounts set up on your iPhone, you can share it to multiple twitter accounts at the same time from inside the app.
Full Web Experience: Every SeeMail that you share to Facebook or Twitter will automatically populate to your personal SeeMail Web page.
Try It Out Feature:It’s a great way for new users to experience the app without logging into Facebook. View a welcome message and compose your own SeeMail to be sure it’s right for you.
SeeMail can be downloaded for free at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/seemail/id429509393 and additional information can be found at www.seemail.com.
Using Chat Sites as Viral Marketing
It helps to create a better brand awareness. In case of websites, it drives more online users to the portal. The literal meaning of viral is word of mouth, but when used in unison with modern internet technology and social media, it means huge, actually colossal. Chatting has been immensely popular ever since its inception. Adept internet marketers craftily used this technology for effective marketing.
Chatting and creating customized chat rooms
Chatting rooms are always buzzing with members and guests. Understanding and analyzing, which rooms, your target audience are situated is vital. If you don’t find any suitable room, create a room for this purpose. No one likes to chat about selling/buying and no one would be interested to know what your product/service is all about. You have to connect with your chatting partners. For example: If you are selling gaming consoles, try and name the chat room after online gaming.
Share inspiring video clips
According to top-notch internet marketing consultants, the art of growing business through chat media is not easy. It has to be planned and implemented to perfection. Do all these perfectly and success is guaranteed. Honest interaction with your audience is the top-most priority. After you have maintained a trustworthy relation with your unseen or potential customers, you can use video clips to further your marketing message. Nothing is remembered more or nothing entertains better than videos. You can have videos creatively made that speak about the latest products or about the company’s reach or a video tutorial that simplifies procedures for your consumers.
Create a troubleshooting platform for chat rooms
A brilliant marketing idea is to create a chat service on your own website. Using the latest technology, host an online seminar on your preferred topic. Convert the chat room into a troubleshooting ground; meet your consumers, pay an attentive ear to what they have to suggest or complain. You can append some interesting online events in your chat room that totally engages them. Also, make it point to provide them a prior intimation of the event.
Combine online viral marketing and traditional viral marketing
This viral marketing may time to gather online consumers. Wherever you chat with your prospective clients, request your chatting partner to spread a word about the respective product/service. This is the best form of online viral marketing fused with the traditional viral marketing, which made David Ogilvy an advertising genius. In this way, you are assured of multiplied online users with whom you interact via chat and events. And the other sector of offline consumers that will also increase slowly, but surely.
Pinterest and chatting to grow businesses A famous social site-
Pinterest hit 10 million US unique monthly users; this is faster than any independent website. Unlike other social websites, they allow to share photographs, videos only. Their goal: Join their members if you have to share any interests with them; But still many medium size businesses are making handsome profits through Pinterest. Isn’t chatting for viral marketing the same’? Think about it.
Written by Julieth, Visit Mezeechat is a great tool for chat online.
What Is Consumer Social Networking and How It Can Benefit Your Business
Consumer social networking is harnessing the variety of social media available so consumers can determine the usefulness and value of a product. Not a few have turned to this sort of information sourcing to gather the whats and hows of a product. The reason largely lies on the strength of market feedback and the personalized touch seen in exclusive pages, which give consumers details they don’t normally receive in most other product ads. All income brackets and both genders participate in social consuming with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and Myspace taking their roles as leaders of this trend. With the vast market at their disposal and the efficiency with which they can reach out to this audience, businesses have much to gain from plumbing the potential of consumer social networking.
Expanded Customer Service
Customers are the fuel of any enterprise and social networks have done an extraordinary job in bringing together people from different walks of life, living locally and abroad, into one portal. Consumer social networking lets consumers address their questions and concerns about a product or service and lets the business respond timely in return. The range of feedback also gives the business a sampling of their market, providing the business leverage in knowing where to improve on and which of their marketing strategy works.
Advising Customers About New Products and Services
Reading a Twitter message doesn’t take 10 seconds but the site is popular enough to get a message across to a group who know another group and another group ad infinitum. A business web page can also be streamlined to highlight the freshest products and services it has to offer to its followers and possibly to others who are interested in its latest outing or teaser. Social networking sites gives businesses a platform to list down their advantages over competitors and highlight facets of the product that consumers are looking for.
A Way to Reward Consumers
Taking customer service a step further, businesses can use consumer social networking to reward customers who have been loyal to their products. Through specials or loyalty programs, businesses can attract more customers and keep the existing ones satisfied as they get to own not just their initial buy but more than what they expected. If they tell their friends and families about how cool a brand is for that, the better.
Introducing a Product Through Different Media
By using social networking sites, businesses can advertise products from photos to videos to write-ups. The additional feedback contributed by consumers adds to the knowledge of potential customers who might be looking for more reasons to convince them to finally purchase.
There are various ways to introduce a product and get in touch with customers but not every one of them may be effective. One way businesses can learn about this aspect is through consumer social networking which serves both a way to relate with customers and advertise a product. By taking advantage of this trend, businesses not only level with the customers but also share the good points of their product in more ways than one.
Julian Hartley is a social media consultant for one of the top talent management firm, DianliC.com.
The toys we have on our iPhones
Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I have always enjoyed technology but find something new every day. In writing my grocery list I noticed that my notepad on my iPhone has speech recognition software. Thinking myself very clever I composed a short note on my notepad and cut it and pasted it into a text message to send to my wife. Having thought this absolutely wonderful are you then cut a note and started to pasted into my WordPress blog. Much to my surprise I found that the blog site also house Word recognition software. Our iPhones grand.
You have to go through and edit some of the translations but generally this saves an immense amount of time. Especially if you are trying to type on an iPhone, I am no where as good as my kids are at that.
I always enjoyed writing blogs, but sometimes the act of typing takes longer than it takes for a thought to get out of my mouth.
With my new discovery I can speak as quickly as the thoughts enter my head and record them at the same time. People sitting next to me on the train might think I am talking into a robotic device but then after all I guess I am. This entire blog was my first attempt and written entirely on speech recognition software from an iPhone 4 ain’t excuse me. There have been no editing at all so excuse some of the grammar and misspellings but all in all I think this is a very valuable tool.
DOING SEO AFTER PANDA UPDATE
Google regularly updates and changes its search algorithm. After the Panda update, many website with high rankings, found that the rankings had dropped like a stone. It seems Google is trying to reward websites which are high in quality over the countless junk sites. The websites whose rankings dropped were mainly those which had bad HTML, poor SEO and broken links. Therefore, the strategy after Panda has to be changed, in order to get good search engine rankings.
SEO strategies which have diminished value after Panda:
* Mass Link building – though it still works, it seems that it’s the days are numbered. Google search engines will start detecting these sites and they will be doomed.
* Article marketing in bulk – this will go down the same path as mass link building. Since mass articles generally have spun or duplicate content, they will be easily spotted by the search engines.
* Exchanging links – two-way links, multiple links etc are already obsolete. For ranking purposes it seems to be an outdated strategy.
* Buying links – Google has always frowned upon this practice and bans sites which indulge in it. It may not be a good idea for SEO.
* Repetition of anchor text – repetition of anchor text is not a good way to improve rankings. It is better to have a variety of keywords, which helps direct the search towards the site.
SEO strategies which work after the introduction of the Panda update:
Even after Panda, by using a combination of good content and SEO, you will be able to maintain a high rank. These are some of the techniques which will help in getting and maintaining a good rank with search engines.
* Guest Post blogging:
The links that you place in your guest post, work very well in directing traffic towards your website. Guest posting should be one of the foundations on which you build your website. If your guest post is published in well-recognized authoritative sites, then the benefits to your site are immense.
* Article marketing:
Article marketing through Ezine articles and Articlebase do help in SEO ranking. However, they are now not as effective as they were before. They do help in SEO strategy since the articles contain original content and the link to your site.
* Social media:
Though the use of social media does not help in SEO, it adds votes in your favor from a very wide base. This will help you in gaining recognition and also helps building your brand image.
Use of better quality blog content which have been SEO’d:
Though content are not the only criteria for building a website, good quality content will please visitors and have spin-off benefits. Even here the use of SEO is relatively important since your keywords will help keep the message focused.
Get recognized as an authoritative source:
Instead of doing unethical things to stay ahead of the competition, by supplying high quality content, which can be backed by reliable sources, you will be respected as a person whose writing can be trusted. It is wise to know which niche you are well versed in and stick to it; instead of trying to be a “Jack of all trades and master of none”.
Use natural link building, on-page SEO etc.:
When you are building a link, contained within the original content, then it should be to a related topic to seem natural. This way Google will not treat it as spam. Even today, it is relevant to have your content with good SEO.
Panda has forced a rethink on SEO strategies. SEO done by hand is bound to be safe from updates. If you create quality content which matches the SEO, then you will not face any problem with your ranking. By assiduously building a site, you will be benefited in the long run.
Author bio:
Tom is a regular contributor to www.make-a-web-site.com
VIDEO: Best marriage proposal ever
CLICK ON THE PHOTO
When Isaac Lamb decided to propose to his girlfriend, Amy, he knew he wanted to do something over-the-top. but not even Amy was prepared for the elaborate proposal he staged with 60 of their closet friends and family members. The video went viral – and has already amassed almost 6 million views on YouTube at last count.
The video even got Bruno Mars’ stamp of approval!
Congrats to Isaac Lamb and the future Mrs.. I don’t think I could’ve made a better music video for this song. Thank youvimeo.com/42828824
Bruno MarsHow to Use Google Plus for Your Business
There are a lot of things that businesses can do to boost their online profile and get more traffic to their websites. One of these things is taking advantage of the social media craze. By jumping on the social media bus, companies ensure themselves that they will get in contact with people on the internet who are geographically close to them and who are somewhat interested in the goods and/or services that they provide. Google Plus is a great social media website that can help you and your business take off! If you are thinking about using Google Plus to help advertise your business, then here are a few things that you should keep in mind as you go about creating the online profiles that you will need in order to do so.
Get Your Feet Wet
The first thing you should do is register and explore! Google Plus is a pretty intimate social media site where the things you share are very specifically stored and kept track of in the Google Plus profile that every user has to create. You need to look around the website and see what you like about it. Because there is so much to it, it might be necessary to keep a main focus at the center of your business Google Plus website and feature a link with more information about specific things that some people might want to know about. Google Plus is the perfect place to find people in your area who have already expressed interest in your line of business. You can add these people to your Circle of Friends. Once they are added to your Circle, they can access all the information on your Google Plus page. If it so happens that they hope to get more information about your company, they can just click the link and be taken straight to your website.
The website is the most important part of an online marketing ploy. You have to make sure that your company’s website is both engaging and aesthetically pleasing. If it is too boring or hard to manage, then people will get tired of working with it. If it is ugly or difficult to read because of brash color schemes and too flashy graphics, then the people who are brought to the website from Google Plus will be turned off by the appearance and exit out of it.
Working With a Pro
If you aen’t very up to speed on web design, there are web design companies that will do what they can to create a great website for you. By hiring another company to do web design for your website, you can be sure that the website you end up with will be everything that you need it to be.
Micah Castro is a freelance writer for Skyhook Internet Marketing who specializes in Web Design Phoenix and interactive marketing.
It’s All Geek to Me
Many people earn degrees based on their interests, it only makes sense, right? However, let’s face it, not everyone has same interest and maybe your run slightly (or highly) more to the nerd side. Sure you would love to be musician or draw concept art for car makers, but that just isn’t your thing. You are far more into Dungeons and Dragons than designing buildings. If so, here are some degrees you might like.
Astronomy – If you wish you could boldly go where no man has gone before, well now you can, at least in your mind. If long night and large telescopes intrigue you then why not study astronomy? Granted, this can be pretty intense and mind boggling at times but deep down inside, you know you would love every minute of it. You might even get lucky and discover a planet or an asteroid about to hit the earth.
Physics – Physics and any other type of physics have a lot of overlap. If you like colliding invisible particles in multi-billion dollar pieces of equipment then you should love this field. If you know what a mass spectrometer is, or how to use one then you definitely need to major in this. Once again, this is no casual stroll through academic America, it is pretty tough stuff to wrap your head around, but you can do it. Just don’t look too closely too quantum physics, that stuffs insane.
Math – If you are math addict then you have little choice but to major in math. For some reason, geeks everywhere seem to love this subject and somehow they actually understand it. Teaching would be your most likely option, but if you learn your advanced stuff you could get into programming, code breaking or the exciting world of accounting. If this isn’t for you, do what I did and go for…
History – On the entirely different end of the nerd mass spectrometer you can delve into the depths of history and the liberal arts. Learn about the battles epic battles with knights and maybe reenact some of them yourself. Antiquities, artifacts and folklore are yours to master. You can even specialize in a military masters degree. If worst-comes-to-worst, you could at least get a job at Medieval Times.
Which bring us to literature, the cute, shy sister of history. Everyone has seen a bookworm or two in their lives. You know, they are always reading. They read in the car, they read while working out, they read while they eat and they fall asleep while reading. Are all books nerdy? No, but most are. For those who love to explore the vast plains of the unbridled imagination then literature is for you.
Which leaves us to the more important and eternal question, what will you do with these degrees? Well, it is true that many people end up doing something not related to their degree at all, teaching is the most obvious choice. You can go and be an inspiring influence and younger nerds who were once just like yours and let them see just where they will end up.
Jeff Jordan lives, breathes and writes in sunny Southern California. He mainly writes about education. automobiles, navy education, real estate and pop culture. He would write about romance and dating but sadly knows nothing about it.
The Significance of Lead Scoring in Marketing Automation
Marketing automation platforms – those that allow ‘dripped’ marketing by email, text message or another form of contact – have become incredibly popular as more consumers integrate the internet into their daily lives.
What is ‘Lead Scoring’?
Lead scoring refers to the process of choosing how close a lead is to purchasing based on where they are in the prospect cycle. For instance, if a prospect visits a website and spends two or three minutes browsing around before entering their email address into a form and leaving, they would likely score very low. Conversely, a prospect that has clicked through from a marketing email, browsed an online shop and added items to a shopping cart is likely very close to making a purchase, and would score much higher.
Motivating the Prospect to Take Action
Lead scoring is the best way to make marketing automation software work with high efficiency. Leads that are already close to purchasing or have made a purchase in the past are going to be turned off if they receive marketing material directed at cold prospects and brand new leads. By using a multi-step marketing campaign, leads can be coaxed to higher and higher scores and eventually converted when they are ready to purchase or end up making an impulse buy. Leverage marketing automation software to continually provide more and more motivation for the prospect to respond, and they will take action accordingly.
Creating a Long-Term Conversion Plan
The vast majority of prospects won’t convert the first or second time they are contacted. As a matter of fact, research suggests that prospects – especially those being contacted via email – may take up to ten or more contact points before they are converted into paying customers. This is where marketing automation software comes in handy; these automation platforms never forget about a prospect, and can be set to contact them with new content indefinitely. Invest the time and resources in creating a long-term contact and conversion plan for your prospects and with a few tweaks along the way it is sure to pay off.
Without a doubt, modern marketing automation software platforms offer marketers the ability to connect with leads and prospective customers far better than has been possible in the past. As long as campaigns are planned, executed, analyzed and optimized for improvement, there are few better ways to market to leads generated online.
John is a small business owner, and contributing writer for Aprimo marketing software.
